《Super Electric Eel Avatar》 1 The Terrifying Electric Eel The people of Zhongyun City always said that, if you wanted your child to get a decent job but had no access to one, just send him to Zhongyun University! Zhongyun University is a third rate university that the neighboring counties looked down on but the locals were proud of. There was some jealousy, though, in the hatred from these neighboring counties. In 1958, the cities and counties nearby established six or seven universities at once, but, unfortunately, only this third-rate university in Zhongyun City survived. Nonetheless, some aspects of the culture of this university did indeed invite scorn. For example, as long as you were a registered resident of this city, it didnt matter if you had been to jail or had never achieved more than fifty percent on your exams. If you paid tuition, you were guaranteed a seat in the classroom within half an hour. No other university could to match Zhongyuns efficiency. Nonetheless, for a school with students from such diverse backgrounds to survive so long, it must have had some unique features. These unique features included the eight-door anti-aircraft artillery tank and the underground bomb-proof bunker donated this year. The bunker is more than twenty meters deep and covers tens of thousands of square meters. Also, two scrapped MiG-15 imitation J-2 jet fighters in full working condition except for dismantled weapons systems were donated for the mechanical engineering students to learn from. The software facilities are not bad either. Ignoring the antique equipment, which has been around since the school was founded and is treated like treasure, the guarantee of a job placement after graduation is sufficient to attract a large number of students. ---------- Chen Fan was frustrated. After bumming around in Zhongyun University for a few months, he had finally realized how foolish and naive he had been. He saw an unfamiliar face in class yesterday and he thought that it belonged to a new transfer student like himself. After asking, he found out that he was just a regular old student, but that he had not attended class for almost half a year. This shocked Chen Fan completely. One could actually attend school in that fashion? Man progresses because of the ability to recognize shortcomings and improve upon them. Chen Fan had always felt that he was one who strived for improvement. He was not able to skip school for half a year, but skipping class for a few days was doable! The next morning, he got up a little after 8:00 and had already decided that he was going to skip class. He had almost never seen the thirty-some students from his class in full attendance anyway; it should not impact anything if he skipped class for a few days. Chen Fan was studying the uncommon profession of Marine Biology. The name sounded like an extraordinary high-technology discipline to the layman, but it was actually exceptionally boring and also very useless. As implied by the name, marine biologists just fiddle with marine life, but who in their right mind would go and examine marine life? Then again, Chen Fan had never expected to learn anything useful. He had been ranked at the bottom of his class starting in elementary school and continuing through high school. He only wanted to choose an easy field to get through these four years. He was never cut out for studying, so even if he was sent to the number one globally ranked Harvard University for college, he still would not learn anything. Life was indeed boring for him, be it in school or at home. Chen Fan wasted his whole morning sitting in front of the computer. After ignoring his hunger until noon, Chen Fan finally went unwillingly to the kitchen. He had been too lazy to fix any food in the morning, and since it was already noon, the fats stored in his stomach had been used up. If he did not fix something to fill his stomach soon, the acids in his stomach were going to rise up to his throat again. Chen Fans parents had a five to six acre aquaculture farm in a village more than twenty miles away from the city. The farm was busy all year round and they were unable to get away, so Chen Fan, who was staying in the city, had to provide food for himself. Chen Fan had no "virtues" other than being exceptionally lazy. Due to his irregular eating habits over the years, he had developed gastric problems and his stomach would ache terribly at night. Even in such pain, he was too lazy to get medicine. Chen Fan always lived simply. He took out two eggs and a pack of instant noodles from the fridge, set some water on the stove, and sat there waiting for the water to boil. With a height of 1.78 meters and 65 kilograms, and due to lack of exercise over the years, he did not have a big appetite. This small amount of food was enough for lunch. After filling up his stomach, Chen Fan took out a few palm-sized fishes from the old-fashioned Haier fridge. Do not be mistaken; he did not have a habit of eating raw fish. He was going to feed these to his "pet". This "pet" of Chen Fans was quite exotic. Not to say that people do not have exotic pets; many people keep lizards, snakes, spiders etc, but all these are incomparable with Chen Fans. Chen Fan had an electric eel, a species nicknamed the "Slayer of the Amazon River". The electric eel is one of the few creatures in the world that can generate large electric currents. An adult electric eel, about two meters in length, uses the special muscles on the sides of its abdomen to produce a discharge of over 600 to 800 volts. How much is over 800 volts? Over 800 volts could easily kill an adult male within a short period of time. Yes, Chen Fans pet was indeed interesting. In the small living room of about twenty square meters, Chen Fan threw the fish one by one into the two-by-one meter glass fish tank placed in the corner. It was a little funny how Chen Fan came by this young less-than-one meter long electric eel. Although the electric eel is terrifying, it tastes as delicious as puffer fish. This electric eel was a gift from Chen Fans uncle, who specialized in selling aquatic products. The history of eating electric eel in China is not as long as eating puffer fish, and it only started to gain popularity in the southeastern coastal regions in recent years. Chen Fans uncle had intended to give the eel to Chen Fans family for them to taste. However, Chen Fan protested. How could this strange and exotic creature be eaten? He took ownership of it and kept it in an unused fish tank. The electric eel is a freshwater fish, and can survive on just normal tap water and some small fish. Other than changing the water, which was troublesome, there were no other care requirements that bothered Chen Fan. Chen Fan found himself scratching his head as he thought about changing the water. As electric eels cannot be touched with bare hands, it took him a long time to change the water. Since he obtained this electric eel more than a month ago, he had not changed the water more than five times. After he finished feeding it, Chen Fan looked at the muddy yellow water in the fish tank and scratched his head again helplessly. The water in the tank had not been changed for almost a week. This electric eel with its black back and yellow belly twisted its body from time to time and floated to the surface of the water. It was gasping for air and had long been disgusted with the muddy water in the fish tank. After hesitating for a moment, Chen Fan decided to change the water again. If he didnt, he was worried that this young electric eel might not be able to survive till the next day. It was really an extremely difficult task to change the water for the electric eel. He had to be very careful not to have any physical contact with it. If he touched it by accident, the consequences would be dire! Chen Fan first went to the bathroom and filled the big basin for washing clothes halfway with water. Next, he used a tuck-net to transfer the electric eel into the basin temporarily. It was not an easy job to manually change the water of a two meter long fish tank. Fortunately, with todays technological development, water pumps could be used instead. The fish tank and water pump were bought for decorative purposes three or four years ago when the house was renovated. However, they had been left idle since Chen Fans fathers whole tank of tropical fish died. It was not until about a month ago, when Chen Fan got this electric eel, that they were useful again. After dragging out a cord stand, putting the water pumps tubes into the water tank, and turning the switch on, Chen Fan sat on the couch and waited for the water pump to empty out the tank. Chen Fan sat on the couch with his legs crossed, listening to the sounds of the water pump at work and staring at the ceiling with extreme boredom. His posture was very unsightly. While he was daydreaming, the water pump beeped behind him, notifying Chen Fan that its job was complete. Anyone who keeps fish knows that if a fish tank has not been scrubbed for a few days, the surface gets covered with a layer of sticky grime. Although Chen Fan was quite lazy, he paid attention to cleanliness and could not stand seeing that sticky stuff! After cleaning up the substance in the fish tank, Chen Fan turned on the water pump again and filled the fish tank with clean water. Actually, Chen Fan would not have had to go through such trouble if it had been an ordinary fish. But this was not an ordinary fish; this was an electric eel. With the other nickname "underwater high voltage cable," the water pump would be damaged if placed in the tank with the eel. After the water pump filled the tank with water, Chen Fan switched it off and took it out of the tank. Then he picked up the tuck-net from beside his feet and carefully caught the electric eel in the big basin. The almost one meter long electric eel weighed more than twenty kilograms. Using the side of the basin for leverage, the handle in Chen Fans hand looked especially heavy. "Damn! This cant go on! How am I gonna change the water when this fella grows to two meters?" Looking at the electric eel alive and kicking in the tuck-net, Chen Fan was troubled. "How about I kill it and make some stew?" Stew or not, Chen Fan decided to wait and discuss the matter with his parents when they found the time to come visit. Cooking an electric eel was a difficult job, and he decided to leave it to his mother. "Damn, why have you grown again?" With the half-meter base and one meter tall fish tank, it took a lot of effort for Chen Fan to move the tuck-net back onto the edge of the fish tank. He turned the handle to get the electric eel to fall into the water by itself. After turning his hand ninety degrees, the electric eel succumbed to gravity and fell into the tank with a thump, splashing water and soaking Chen Fans upper body. "Bah!" Chen Fan quickly moved back a few steps and wiped his face with his hand. Obviously, the eel could not understand a humans thoughts. After falling into the water from half a meter up, the electric eel suddenly reacted like a frightened kitten and struggled hard in the water. Fish all have one thing in common: they jump to the surface whenever they get frightened. It has to be mentioned that Chen Fan was inexperienced. People who keep fish purposely do not fill the fish tank to the brim, so as to prevent any fish from jumping over the sides. Inexperience kills. The electric eel, with its snakelike streamlined body, was good at swimming. With only a struggling wiggle, it moved along the surface of the too-high water and jumped out! 2 An Outlandish Inciden While Chen Fan was still recovering, he saw from the corner of his eye the electric eel jump out of the water unexpectedly towards him. Unconsciously, he held out his hands and prepared himself to catch the poor creature before it fell to the ground. Chen Fan had obviously forgotten how dangerous the creature in front of him could be. The moment his hands touched the electric eel, he immediately felt an extremely powerful charge spreading across both of his palms and channelling through his whole body. Although the voltage of an immature eel was not as powerful as a fully grown one, letting out 300 to 500 volts of electricity was easy for the meter-long fish. "Uh" Chen Fan only managed an involuntary groan before he froze, as though placed under a spell that immobilized him. He fell towards the ground with stiff limbs, without loosening his grip on the eel. Due to his rotten luck, instead of falling forward or backward, Chen Fan felt numb as he fell to the right. From the direction he was falling, he was definitely going to land on the switch that turned on the water pump. As expected, after about five seconds of electrocution, Chen Fan fell on the switch. We all know that water conducts electricity. After a few seconds, water dripped off of him and into the switch. "Ah!" The combination of the electricity from the eel still jerking about in his hands and the constant electrical conductivity of the pump were like powerful bolts of lightning striking Chen Fan''s body. Lying on the floor, an intense numbness struck Chen Fan''s brain and took control of his body, making him shudder erratically! Not only that, but electricity from the switch kept flowing through his body and was continuously transferred into the electric eel he was still gripping. As if blatantly provoked, all of a sudden the electric eel let out an even higher voltage discharge of electricity, trying to compete with the voltage of the switch. How could the housing voltage compete with an electric eel that lets out 500 volts of electricity if its own electrical strength was only 220 volts? Due to the constant current flow of the positive and negative voltage, a very strong energy arc would be transmitted as the free electrons with differing intensities collide. This would occur if different electrical loads that are carrying free electrons meet. Boom! After being hit by the strong energy arc transmitted, Chen Fan shuddered vigorously and blacked out silently with the electric eel still gripped in his hand. Usually, household power terminals are equipped with circuit protection systems. If voltage instability or a short circuit is detected, the electrical connection is cut off automatically until the switch is turned on again. Although it seemed that a long period of time had passed, in actuality it was merely three to five seconds after Chen Fan caught the electric eel that he fainted. ---------- Without realizing how much time had passed, Chen Fan woke up. When Chen Fan woke up, all he saw was pitch black. He felt like he was breathing in a pile of burning ash, causing his throat to feel uncomfortably like it was being pricked with needles. It was as though the surrounding air was filled with dust. Am I in hell? Chen Fan was only able to speculate strenuously as he had lost all of his energy. He didnt even have the strength to open his eyes and observe his surroundings. "Wait, what''s happening?" Chen Fan was terrified about ten seconds later when he realized that there were two completely different sensations in his mind! Although both feelings made him very weak, the pricking in his throat was not as uncomfortable as the sensations in his mind. The previous difficulty with breathing was definitely better compared to whatever was happening now. After trying to open his eyes with all his might, Chen Fan was alarmed when he finally did and saw that he was sprawling on someone''s arm. Things got creepier. He looked up to find a very ordinary looking face that looked exactly like him! "Ah! Ghost!" Terrified, Chen Fan screamed at the top of his lungs. At that moment, Chen Fan felt as though his consciousness was suddenly switched with something else. He felt as if he had just been jolted awake from a dream and was finally able to let out his inner scream. Then things got even creepier All Chen Fan saw was the sudden drastic change of view in front of him. Due to being in a desperate situation, Chen Fan quickly threw away the black and slimy electric eel that was in his hands and stood up abruptly. "Ah!" Chen Fan felt a sudden pain when he saw the electric eel fall to the ground. As though somebody had hit him with a hammer, he felt an intense pain that spread rapidly throughout his body. Still reeling from the striking pain and burning breath, Chen Fan calmed down gradually and realized the electric eel lying stationary on the ground was the root of the problem. Without further contemplation, Chen Fan instinctually picked up the electric eel and put it back into the fish tank. "Ah...This feels good..." Once it was in the tank, Chen Fan immediately felt extremely relieved. He felt as though he had finally cleared phlegm that had been stuck in his throat for four to five hours. "Oh god, are you kidding me?" Looking at the electric eel in the fish tank, Chen Fan slapped his forehead in dismay and asked, "Can somebody just tell me what''s going on?" After some experiments, Chen Fan discovered something even more absurd than the body-switching. After being electrocuted by the eel, he could actually take control of the its mind! Chen Fan couldnt explain the feeling...it was as though there was another body that you could control freely even when you were still consciously aware. Even after racking his brain, Chen Fan still couldn''t come up with an explanation. Although he used to indulge himself in reading fantasy novels, it was still quite difficult for Chen Fan to accept this situation when something as outrageous as this had actually happened. However in reality, life is harsh. Things will still unfold in the way they are supposed too even if you can''t accept it. He chewed over this matter for the whole afternoon, and finally decided to accept this preposterous incident for the time being. After taking a stool and sitting in front of the fish tank, Chen Fan and the electric eel looked at each other with consternation through the glass. Apparently a mind was able to control two bodies and could switch back and forth between these two bodies without any difficulty at all. When his mind was concentrating on the eels body, his point of view immediately switched to the electric eel''s perspective. With a stroke of inspiration, Chen Fan tried swaying his body left and right like the tail of the electric eel to swim about in the fish tank. Using human movements to control an aquatic creature is obviously not suitable and did not work out well. The long and slender snake-like body of the electric eel wiggled aimlessly like a rope in the water because he couldn''t figure out the correct technique to swim forward. After trying for a while, Chen Fan discovered an interesting fact. Our lungs can breathe in air involuntarily regardless of species. However, the electric eel has an extra involuntary ability to generate electrical charges. The way the electric eel generates electrical charges is not complicated. It is actually associated with the special muscle tissues on both sides of the abdomen. There are thousands of stacked electroplaques in special muscles, and each transmits a certain voltage. The voltage accumulated by the electroplaques produces a high voltage that can kill or stun prey on contact. This voltage discharge function is similar to breathing, as it constantly transfers weak voltage to the eels surroundings. The electric eel can then induce its surroundings by interpreting the electromagnetic waves when a certain voltage is produced. Being able to sense the surrounding without using eye sight is not something strange. Snakes can trace small amounts of chemical elements in the air with their tongues, and bats use sounds to judge their surroundings. However, Chen Fan felt that the electric eels ability was more amazing than snakes and bats because it could not only use it to detect its surroundings but could also use this ability on itself too. This effect was many times more powerful than the visualization practice of the masters in martial arts novels. Possibly because the whole body of the electric eel was filled with electromagnetic waves, when Chen Fan intentionally tried to feel his own body, what he perceived was astoundingly precise. It was like the high definition three dimensional image of a specimen placed under an electronic microscope that has the power to magnify something two thousand times. This level of precision was only apparent when he thought of his own body. That being said, though the results were not as miraculously precise as before, his field of vision was still three hundred and sixty degrees without any blind spots when Chen Fan inspected his surroundings. This is even more efficient than a radar detector. There are a few specialized cells in the central nervous system of the electric eel that can detect the emission of weak voltage. After surveilling and analyzing its surroundings, the electric eel is sensitive to its aquatic environment. Somebody conducted an experiment a long time ago. Two electrical conducting rods were placed into a pitch-black pool of water with an electric eel in it. They discovered that the electric eel swam around the rods without making any contact. Once the current was switched on, the eel quickly swam away from the rods. This proved electric eels ability to judge its surroundings based on not only its sight but also its sensitivity toward electricity. On top of that, the electric eel can also decompose the water in its body into oxygen gas and hydrogen gas. The oxygen gas oxidises the blood by diffusing straight into the bloodstream. Because of this technique, the electric eel can live even in the shoals. The hydrogen gas diffuses into the gastrointestinal tract and is expelled out of the body through its mouth. ---------- Night fell and Chen Fan was still continuously switching his mind between himself and the electric eel while lying on his bed. He still couldn''t fully accept this outlandish incident, but his mind constantly reminded him that everything was real. "Oh my. What a complicated situation." Feeling as though his brain was about to burst, Chen Fan pulled up the blanket and decided to hit the sack to soothe his physical and mental pain. 3 Electromagnetic Radiation Chen Fan didnt sleep well all night. At the first glimmer of dawn, Chen Fan got out of bed with dark circles under his eyes and went to the fish tank in the living room first thing. Having finished over ten years of compulsory education, he never would have expected this. He felt like a protagonist in some novel. It was beyond strange. Eventually Chen Fan could not take it anymore. An animals self-control is extremely weak. Even though he only skipped one meal, Chen Fan was extremely hungry. This feeling was of course not from his own body, as he was used to irregular meals, but from the electric eel that he was tied to now somehow. He usually couldn''t care less what he fed it, and so the fish the eel ate were often old and stiff. Now the idea of long-dead fish for breakfast was distressing. The electric eels hunger was very uncomfortable, as if he hadnt eaten for three or four meals. Now that his mind was controlling the eels body, however, he could not bring himself to eat old raw fish. After thinking about it for a while, Chen Fan decided to change the electric eels diet. He ran to the kitchen and took some of the vegetables that he usually ate with his instant noodles, washed them, and threw them into the fish tank. Then, as the eel, he swam to the surface of the water to graze. Chen Fan grimaced in agony after one bite. He had tried raw vegetables before, but they hadnt been this hard to swallow. I guess its unrealistic to force a carnivorous fish to start eating veggies. Confused, Chen Fan decided he might as well just retract his consciousness to his own body and not care about the electric eel. Chen Fan regretted that decision before half an hour had passed. The eels hunger made him want to bite off his own tail. It was torturous. "Damn, damn, damn." It was a pity that cursing alone couldnt fill his stomach. Gritting his teeth, Chen Fan took out a few inch-long sauries from the fridge. The long, thin, silver-white fish in his hands were not the famed Yangtze sauries dubbed one of the "Yangtzes Top Four Delicacies." They were just the ordinary farm-raised lake sauries that only cost a few dollars for a kilo. Chen Fan tossed them into the tank and then switched back into the eels body. After much deliberation, his intense hunger finally defeated his willpower and took control of Chen Fans actions. "Ill just pretend Im eating sashimi." Looking at the small white fish in the tank, Chen Fan gritted his teeth and took a bite of the fish. He chewed a few times and then quickly swallowed. "Hmm? This taste" He licked his lips and enjoyed the slightly bloody aftertaste and the full feeling in his stomach. Raw fish didnt taste as bad as he imagined. Chen Fan decided to stick to it, and he quickly finished the remaining few fish in the tank. The eels body was small, though, and after finishing the sixth one his belly was more than full. "Awesome" Chen Fan burped, a few bubbles forming at the corner of his mouth. Chen Fan had nothing to do after eating, so he laid spread eagle on the bed. Chen Fan had always enjoyed daydreaming about crazy things, but now that something crazy was real... It was like how some people fantasized about a ghost-human romance when they had nothing to do, but if a female ghost really appeared, they would be terrified. Chen Fan had to force himself to face this no matter how weird it was. Lying on the bed, Chen Fan started to think about what to do. Although this "replication" of his was not as exciting as those in novels, those were all imaginary. His was real. How about going to the river and electrocuting some eels or tortoises to sell? With this one-of-a-kind ability, the first thing Chen Fan thought of was how to capitalize on it. However, he quickly nixed this idea. He had no idea how much those would sell for, let alone how to find them. "Damn it, If only electric eels were saltwater creatures! I could go search the seas for antiques from sunken Tang and Song Dynasty-era ships. Selling those would make a lot of money!" Chen Fan sighed at the idea. Zhongyun City was a coastal city; Chen Fan often watched programs on local TV about ancient sunken ships discovered nearby. The ships were always full of valuable bowls and vases from the Song and Yuan Dynasties, or silver and gold ingots from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, or other ancient treasures. Thinking about oceans made him think about his major, marine biology. Although he almost never paid attention in class, he still had some general knowledge of marine life. Strictly speaking, there was not much difference between freshwater and saltwater fish, except for the salinity levels in their bodies and the amount of salt they filter from the water. Freshwater fish had high levels of salt and protein in their blood and body fluids, and the concentration was higher than that of the surrounding freshwater. This made freshwater flood the body through osmosis to try to equalize the salinity. Freshwater fish constantly release water in order to maintain the higher salt levels. If a freshwater fish like the eel entered saltwater, the concentration of salt in the saltwater would be much higher than the fish have in their bodies. The osmotic pressure in the ocean water would draw water from inside the fish. A saltwater fish would have the physiological regulatory mechanisms to filter the salt back out of their bodies through their gills, but a freshwater fish would not have that ability. It would drink the ocean water in an attempt to replace the lost freshwater. The electric eel, like a saltwater fish, could also use its liver and gills to break down the salt in water, but not well enough to survive in the ocean. It would be overwhelmed by the salt. Thinking of the almost endless amount of treasures in the ocean, Chen Fan felt depressed and was going insane. "Theres a heap of treasure but no way to reach it! " He sighed helplessly and decided to make a trip to school tomorrow to ask the "experts" there if they had any solutions. He was silent all night. Early next morning, after feeding his electric eel avatar, Chen Fan grabbed the same bike hed had for four years and rushed to school. Zhongyun University was situated in the northern part of the city. It was about an eight mile ride from Shangcheng Gardens where Chen Fan lived. After arriving at school, Chen Fan did not go to class but went straight to the office building. When he reached the office at the corner of the second floor, Chen Fan took a few breaths and gathered his thoughts before knocking at the door. "Come in," came an elderly voice from inside the room. Chen Fan edged into the room. A desk stood right in the middle of the room, with huge piles of files and books surrounding it. "What can I do for you, young man?" A man with graying temples raised his head from a pile of documents on the table and pushed his glasses up his nose. "How are you, Professor Wang! Im Chen Fan from section seven. I used to attend your lectures and I have a question for you." The bespectacled, stooping elderly man in front of him was one of the three ancients of the school. He had been teaching there for 41 years, and had received several nominations and accolades from the province. He had also received second prize in the National Natural Science Award in biology. "Oh, Chen Fan..." Professor Wang put down his fountain pen and thought for a moment as he massaged his forehead, "I think I remember you. What is your question?" Chen Fan hesitated, then asked, "Would an electric eel be able to survive in the ocean after a period of salt adaptation?" "Electric eel?" Professor Wang wondered why this former student was asking an obscure question like this. He had an answer though, and gave it to Chen Fan after a few seconds of thought. "No, the salt-tolerance abilities of freshwater creatures are developed after a long process of biological evolution. To change its adaptability to the surrounding water, Im afraid it would take more than ten generations of breeding with the most scientific methods. It would take at least ten years." "Ah" Chen Fan sighed disappointedly. Refusing to take no for an answer, he asked again, "Are there any other ways?" Professor Wang laughed and asked, "Why are you so interested in this, young man?" You could use electromagnetic radiation or pulsar rays to stimulate the fish pituitary gland, making it secrete huge amounts of growth hormones for the liver and gills, thereby enhancing its ability to breakdown salt. Gene therapy can also change the arrangement of DNA, causing it to mutate to resist the invasion of salt. But" The elderly professor paused and touched his chin. "There are many theories, but none could be put into practice. These are all non-hereditary changes. Not only is there a high cost to the research, but it would be completely unprofitable. No one has done this type of experiment before." "Electromagnetic radiation?" Chen Fan asked with a thrill. He tried to hide his excitement, but it was impossible. He looked like a man with a mission. 4 Biological Gene-reforming Machine "Yes, electromagnetic radiation could work. The amplifier could use electromagnetic radiation to stimulate the secretion of growth hormones from the pituitary gland. However, the pituitary gland of fish is different from humans and the waveband needed to stimulate it is also different. A corresponding waveband needs to be found." "Professor Wang, thank you very much!" After getting the answer he wanted, Chen Fan swallowed, thanked the professor, and dashed out of the office. All he wanted to do now was to reach home as soon as possible so that he could carry out his plan. Although Chen Fan did not pay much attention during lessons, he still understood the basics and related concepts. Electromagnetic radiation impacted cells differently, depending on the levels used. If the frequency of electromagnetic radiation corresponded with and excited the cells, cell metabolic activities would increase greatly and its mitotic division would speed up. However, if the frequency exceeded the degree of acceptance by the cells, the cells could degenerate rapidly and die. In the worst case scenario the cells would mutate. In other words, electromagnetic rays were actually electromagnetic waves. Electricity and magnetic field were like two sides of the same coin, as the electric current generated a magnetic field while the changes in the magnetic field produced an electric current. When electromagnetic rays achieve a certain frequency, it can be freely transmitted about in space. Although Chen Fan''s electric eel avatar currently couldn''t let out a freely transmitted electromagnetic ray, releasing electromagnetic rays within its body was still as easy as drinking a mouth of water. Chen Fan laid on his bed when he got home. After calming down, he switched his thoughts to the body of the electric eel and carefully fixed in his mind the image of the oval-shaped pituitary gland. Stimulating gill and liver growth would indeed be a long and complicated process. Also, its impossible to count the number of fish in the ocean larger than the eel. Chen Fan feared that with the little body of the electric eel, he would be easy prey in the vast ocean. Chen Fan decided to temporarily ignore this matter. Fumbling the technique for stimulating the pituitary gland to secrete a massive amount of growth hormones was a more pressing danger for the moment. The growth hormones of humans are circular or oval in shape. However, Chen Fan was in the dark when it came to the hormonal cells of an electric eel. An electric eel''s pituitary gland was only a little bigger than a pea, so Chen Fan decided to go layer by layer, making sure he didnt overload the gland. The pituitary gland was the most important hormonal secretion gland after all. It could secrete many types of hormones, including growth hormones, thyrotropin, adrenocorticotropin, gonadotropin, oxytocin, prolactin, melanocyte-stimulating hormones, and many more. Looking at the pea-sized brain of the electric eel, Chen Fan decided to divide it into twenty equal, circular parts and stimulate a different part every three days. The electricity-producing organs of the electric eel were freaking awesome. They did not just randomly generate electricity. In his mind, Chen Fan could see the pituitary gland as precisely as if he were looking through a microscope. He took a deep breath and carefully instructed the inactive voltage in his body to stimulate the specific region of the gland that he was working on. Because it was his first attempt, Chen Fan didnt know the correct frequency of electromagnetic waves to use. He could only start patiently at the lowest frequency and increase it gradually to prevent any unexpected incidents. After all, the electric eel was now a part of his body. If the electric eel was damaged, Chen Fan''s consciousness would also receive corresponding damage. The first attempt: There were almost no changes of the cells on the surface of the pituitary gland. The second attempt: He began to feel a mild numbness and the rate of cell division increased a little. The third attempt: The numbness got stronger and the rate of cell division increased significantly. ----------- The seventh attempt: The numbness turned into a tingling sensation and the rate of cell division increased shockingly to fifteen times the norm. The eighth attempt: He was unable to continue during the eighth attempt, as the tingling sensation changed into an unbearable burning sensation. Chen Fan decided to use the electromagnetic frequency hed used in his seventh try. He slowly stimulated the endocrine tissue cells under the membrane of the pituitary gland with an extremely weak voltage. The cells started to divide frenziedly and ten times more rapidly, as though they had been injected with stimulants. That being said, the cells only occupied a few square millimeters of area, even though they looked like they were everywhere. After an hour, all the targeted areas were stimulated. Chen Fan''s taught nerves relaxed instantly and he swam to the waters surface with his mouth wide open gasping for air. This was a tedious job, as the slightest mistake would lead to unpredictable consequences. Chen Fan had no choice but to focus all his effort on it. The upcoming task was much simpler. He just needed to stimulate this area in the following days and feel the changes in the eels body. On the third day of waiting, Chen Fan was depressed because the electric eel did not grow rapidly as he had expected. Instead, there was a baffling big white spot on the lower part of its body. Although he was quite depressed, Chen Fan would definitely not give up. He changed his targeted region and tried to stimulate the secretory cells in that region repeatedly for the next three days. However, the result was still not satisfactory. Although it did not cause the growth of the white spot, he instead felt a strong urge to mate. May God have mercy on this poor electric eel that is only a pre-adolescent child! Without giving up hope, Chen Fan tried another region... After experiencing more than ten baffling changes, finally, after the fortieth day, something exciting made Chen Fan burst into tears. Since yesterday, the electric eel''s appetite had begun to increase drastically as though a high power grinder was placed in its stomach, digesting all of the food in a split second. "There''s hope!" Chen Fan thought about it excitedly while chomping on the meat of poor fish. Thinking about the previous attempts at stimulating the pituitary gland, it was neither the growth of a baffling white spot on its abdomen nor a strong urge to mate for no reason. In fact, he did not experience anything weird except that he felt like he couldnt stop eating. He must have coincidentally stimulated the main secretion spot of the growth hormone. Because of his understanding of the pituitary gland, Chen Fan was able to categorize the hormones that were secreted according to his body symptoms. Luckily, things continued to be in his favor After about ten days, Chen Fan was astonished when he found out that he had grown longer by two meters or so. "Oh God, you love me so much!" looking at his suddenly longer body, Chen Fan was extremely excited. Professor Wang, who was a biologist, as well as others studying biology would be so envious of him if they knew that he could transform into an electric eel! Chen Fan thought about it happily as he chewed the delicious fish. After all, no matter how amazing humans were, they still could not generate a high voltage, sense their surroundings by relying on the brains special structure to detect electromagnetic radiation, nor decompose water into oxygen gas and hydrogen gas like an electric eel. In particular, the concept of combining the discharge and induction of electromagnetic waves was just too overwhelming. To a biologist, it was simply a perfect "biological gene-re-forming machine"! Only God knows what monster exceeding humans expectations could be created out of this. However, the growing body subsequently caused a major problem. The two-meter fish tank seemed to have difficulty containing an electric eel that was of similar length. On top of that, Chen Fan had to spend at least 20 RMB per day just to buy fishes to feed this electric eel that has a stomach like a black hole. Chen Fan was not from a wealthy family and his parents were always away from home. He had only 800 RMB for his monthly expenses. It was obvious that he could not afford the extra few hundred RMB he spent daily on food for the electric eel. Chen Fan had already used up almost all of the money in his piggy bank for this month alone. The expenses would probably increase in the following month. 5 Ghost! "This cant go on!" After feeding the eel a few kilos of small fish reluctantly, Chen Fan looked at the almost two meter long electric eel with its shiny black back and bright yellow belly, and could not help but let out a long sigh. There were five more days till the end of the month, but he was left with only about 70 RMB. Chen Fan had even thought of killing the electric eel, but this avatar was so entrenched in his mind that even missing a meal would make him feel uneasy. Chen Fan really did not want see what "suicide" felt like; if things backfired and he died from pain, there was no way he could be compensated! After another sigh and more thinking, Chen Fan decided to push forward with his plan. He had long thought of how he could make the electric eel survive in saltwater, but he had been busy helping the electric eel "put on weight" and had not had the time to figure it out. The electric eel had been too small previously and might have encountered danger in the ocean, but now it was almost than two meters in length and could generate over 800 volts of electricity. Even if it met some humongous creature, the eel should be able to make it feel squeamish. Chen Fan was an impatient person. Once he made up his mind on something, he would get down to it immediately. There were only so many hormones in the pituitary gland. After studying the pituitary gland of the electric eel for over ten days, Chen Fan had gained a huge amount of precious experience, and had committed it to memory. Focusing his thoughts on the surface of the pituitary gland with much familiarity, Chen Fan chose two areas of a few square millimeters, and then used his self-emitted electromagnetic waves to stimulate them. These two areas were the pivots controlling the liver and gills. Strengthening them alone was not enough. Chen Fan ran to the kitchen and got a bag of salt, and then sprinkled tens of grams into the fish tank. Any environmental changes in an animal''s surrounding would cause a series of reactions in its internal structure. If this animal were strong enough, it would live on after adapting. Otherwise, it would lose its ability to survive in nature. The electric eels adaptability to the salt content in the water was not exactly weak. After putting the salt into the fish tank, Chen Fan only felt slight discomfort at the gills. "Hahaha, seems like you like strong flavors too!" Feeling confident, Chen Fan poured in another half of a small bag of salt. After scrimping and saving for a month, Chen Fans replication finally managed to just reach the requirement of surviving in saltwater. About thirty-five grams of salt could be extracted from one liter of saltwater. Through Chen Fans calculation, the electric eel replication could just manage to withstand this amount. One month was not really a long time. As its growth hormones had stopped being stimulated, the electric eel only grew another ten centimeters, and its appetite had also dropped significantly to a slightly acceptable size. "Oh God, from now on, young outstanding talent is finally gonna appear in the Chen family!" Looking at the "result" of his "labor" accumulated over the last two months, Chen Fan started rambling in his excitement. However, he turned gloomy soon after. Although Zhongyun City was only a few miles from the sea on the east, it would not be an easy task, sending the electric eel to the seaside! Chen Fan did not trust hiring a transport, but the only vehicle he had was an old bicycle. A bicycle was unlike a car. Even with tires full of air,, the journey from his house to the seaside was already enough to tire him out. After a few unrealistic ideas flashed through his mind, Chen Fan scratched his head and finally made up his mind to secretly bring the electric eel to the seaside late at night. Chen Fan took a glance at his obsolete Nokia phone and realized that it was just after 4:00 in the afternoon. He went into the bedroom and turned on the computer, then logged on to tiexue.net. He drank some water as he earned points by replying to comments. Chen Fan frequently visited Tiexue.net. He had registered a sock puppet called "Xia Zhong Cang Jian", and was an anti-Japanese and anti-American young man in every sense. Surfing the internet was a great way to kill time. As Chen Fan was engrossed in those adrenalin-pumping words and pictures, the sky turned dark and tiny stars sparkled and decorated the dark sky. "Ah" Rubbing his eyes, Chen Fan let out a big yawn. He looked at the time on the table and saw that it was already almost eight. After getting up and stretching himself a little, he casually cooked a packet of instant noodles to fill his stomach. Chen Fan took the plastic cover off the fridge and filled it with water in the bathroom to test if there was any leakage. Being an international brand, Haier Group naturally would not cheat people with inferior goods. The almost two meter long plastic cover was in perfect condition, and also extremely flexible. Since the plastic cover could be sealed tightly, Chen Fan put it into the fish tank feeling relieved, and then maneuvered the electric eel to swim into it. After getting the over ten kilogram electric eel out with much effort, Chen Fan refilled the tank. Looking at the thin plastic cover, Chen Fan could not put his mind at ease. After searching, he found another two polybags to put over it. Luckily, Chen Fan''s apartment was on the first floor, and it was not too difficult to get the bag out. It was already after 9:00 when he pushed his bicycle out from where he stored it. As Zhongyun City was not a touristy city, only the streetlamps above Chen Fan''s head kept him company on the road that night. Even though he bumped into a few pedestrians, they went straight past him and no one bothered asking him why he was carrying an extremely suspicious-looking bag on his bicycle. The weather was a little unusual. It was almost May, but the outdoor temperature hovered around ten degrees Celsius at night. As he went closer to the sea, Chen Fan felt the approaching seabreeze hitting his body, giving him goosebumps. After more than half an hour, Chen Fan finally reached the beach nearest his house. Chen Fan sneezed, then untied the polybag on the bicycle and moved it to his back. He was still tens of meters from the sea, and the bicycle was unable to move on the rocks. "Wahaha, beauties of Zhongyun City, I, Master Chen Fan, am about to become extremely wealthy and marry all of you one by one!" Looking at the sea a stone''s throw away, Chen Fan went into sexual fantasy and shouted at the sea with a sleazy smile on his face. The moment he thought of his electric eel avatar going into the ocean, and that he could control it thereafter and seize the antiques from the sunken ships as he pleased, Chen Fan felt excited to the point of being unable to control his own emotions. Usually, when he saw speeding name-brand cars and gorgeously-dressed women on the streets, Chen Fan fantasized about he himself becoming as rich as those men, having both cars and beauties. Now, heaven finally took pity on him, and he could transform himself and become a millionaire. After shouting for joy, Chen Fan took in a few deep breaths to calm down. The sky was dark and the road was not well constructed; it would be terrible if he was careless and fell onto the rocks. Chen Fan carefully weaved through the rocks and saw a white beach and the sea beyond, with waves before before his eyes. "Don''t move!" Just as Chen Fan bent over to untie the polybag, a crisp female voice suddenly shouted beside him. "Ah, ghost!" Chen Fan was scared stiff by this sudden female yell, and he started shouting at the top of his voice. 6 The Police Although the voice was clear and melodious, to Chen Fan it sounded creepier than anything he had ever heard. No matter how courageous you were, your response wouldnt be any better than Chen Fans if you suddenly heard a shout in the middle of the night on a desolate beach. "Bah, coward!" He heard a disdainful shout behind him. Chen Fan was about to abandon the eels bag and make a run for it. Xie Xiaoya had had a bad day, and she was not in a good mood. At the police station that afternoon she had been lectured by her superior (who happened to be her father) for being so clumsy. Her father thought her paperwork, which was jotted down messier than a kids doodle and difficult to understand, was not good enough for a 22 year old. To make matters worse, a thief on the bus stole her phone on the way home. The thought of this afternoons theft made Xie Xiaoya flush. She couldnt muster up the courage to tell anyone that she lost her cell phone. She was a police officer after all! It was really embarrassing that a thief had stolen things out of her bag. Technically, it was her fault. She should have worn her police uniform instead of the fancy new clothes that she had just bought from the mall. That evening during dinner, she felt gloomier and unhappier every time she thought about the incident. She lied and told her parents that she was going to meet up with some old school friends. In the end, though, she went to the beach to relax. It was only a stones throw from her house. As the saying goes, bad luck ruins everything. Xie Xiaoya couldnt agree more with that. Just as she was cheering up, she saw a man walking towards her in the distance. She planned to walk away and avoid any interaction, but then she caught sight of the long bag that the man was carrying. The sky was dark and Xie Xiaoya couldnt get a clear look at what was going on, but she began to feel uneasy. She couldnt help but think that the man fumbling on the beach in the middle of the night with a bag as tall as him might be a vicious murderer trying to hide the body. He might have come to the beach to fill the bag containing the dead body with stones and cast it into the sea to destroy the evidence. Thinking about similar scenes in movies, Xie Xiaoya felt a lump in her throat and cold sweat on her palms. While she was crazily imagining how she would intervene, the suspicious man unexpectedly let out an evil laugh and shouted, "Muahaha, to all the pretty ladies in Zhongyun, I, master Chen Fan, am about to become extremely wealthy and marry all of you one by one!" Xie Xiaoya, whos mood was quickly deteriorating again, could not wait to dash forward immediately, press him flat on the ground, and beat him up. Then, she might even strangle him alive, put him in a bag full of stones, and cast him into the sea after hearing Chen Fan speaking grandiloquently. He definitely brings idiocy to a whole new level! After hearing his pompous speech, Xie Xiaoya hated this man from the bottom of her heart. Looking at this brainless coward, Xie Xiaoya was relieved that he didnt seem like someone who had the courage to commit a murder. As a woman, if she ever happened to bump into a dangerous man, her small size would definitely put her at a disadvantage. However, as a police officer, how could she just stand by idly and act against her conscience if she met someone suspicious? "What are you doing carrying a polybag that big to the beach in the middle of the night?" Although there was an indescribable fury that couldn''t be erased in the bottom of Xie Xiaoyas heart, she controlled herself and did not pick up a stone to hit the guy. "Ah, s-so actually your not a ghost!" When Chen Fan turned around, he saw that the person who scared him was a slim, fair, and gorgeous woman with a gracefully curved body. She was just shorter than he was. "Y-y-you scared me!" Chen Fans face showed lingering fear and doubt. He stammered when he spoke, stroking his chest exaggeratedly. He really couldn''t figure out why there was a woman as beautiful as any movie star standing in front of him. She had a sharp chin, slender legs like exquisite porcelain, and the tight white T-shirt she was wearing did nothing to hide her figure. Chen Fan thought foolishly that she was a mermaid who secretly came ashore to experience human life. However, when he looked at her fair and clear face he saw exasperation, resentment, anger, and rage, Chen Fans heart skipped another beat. Did I say that out loud by any chance? "Stop babbling. I''m a police officer, so hurry up and tell me whats in the bag." Xie Xiaoya wanted to get straight to the point instead of beating around the bush and wasting her time talking to this guy. "Oh, police!" Chen Fan gazed at the goddess Xie Xiaoya and instantly thought of many special terms to describe her and her melodious voice. Even the word "police" sounded harmonic when describing her. "You...you" Xie Xiaoyas pretty face blushed as she pointed her thin fingers at Chen Fans face, trying to find a suitable word to scold the hideous guy in front of her. She was so angry she was struggling to think clearly. His tone did not respect her position, and his expression was predatory. It was impossible for Xie Xiaoya to miss what was going through this guys head. She was young and pretty; the internet had taught her all she need to know about guys like him. Seeing that the pretty policewoman was about to burst with anger, Chen Fan quickly came up with a reason to interrupt. "Officer, there is only an eel in my bag. I kept it for half a year and it grew too big. It cant fit in the fish tank anymore, so I am going to release it back to the sea." "Eel? You are here in the middle of the night to release an eel?" Xie Xiaoya asked with complete disbelief. "Yup, thats absolutely right. I have school during the day and dont have much spare time, so I had to come during the night," Chen Fan replied while untying the string on the plastic bag, revealing the electric eel. "Eh?" it was not like Xie Xiaoya imagined, so she went to have a closer look. "Why is your eel so fat?" Her night vision was quite poor, so Xie Xiaoya could only faintly see a blurry black figure through the semi-transparent plastic bag. However, her instincts told her that there was something fishy about this "eel". "Uh, I think its quite fat too, thats why Im about to release it back into the sea. This fellow can no longer fit in the fish tank." "Hum!" After staring at Chen Fan for a while and seeing that he was still letting out a silly sort of smile, Xie Xiaoya, who was a little embarrassed, gave a snort, stamped her foot and turned and began to walk away. "That scared the hell out of me!" Looking at the beautiful officers graceful figure, Chen Fan mused, "But thenshe is damn hot! Whoever has the chance to marry her should be extremely pleased!" Xie Xiaoya, who was already some distance away, suddenly turned and looked back. Although he did not speak loudly, somehow she managed to hear his words crystal clear. Xie Xiaoya felt like she was about to explode in fury as her anger rose up. Her fair face blushed and turned green. She even started to have difficulty breathing. She clenched her teeth, turned around, stared sharply at Chen Fan, and decided to imprint the look of this guy in her mind. She decided secretly in her heart that if one day she caught this guy commiting a crime, she would make sure he knew the meaning of true "pleasure". 7 To the Treasure In the dark night, Chen Fan couldnt see that Xie Xiaoya looked as though she wanted to swallow him alive. Right now, he only wanted to get the electric eel into the sea. Putting actions to his thoughts, Chen Fan dragged the plastic bag to the shoreline. He stepped on the soft sand, letting the cold seawater hit his ankles. For the past few days, Chen Fan had been mixing salt into the water in the fish tank until it had the same salinity as the ocean in the hopes that the eel would be used to its surroundings when it finally entered the sea. When Chen Fan let the eel swim from the suffocating plastic bag into the ocean, he felt refreshed and comforted at once. "Woohoo!" Chen Fan had almost suffocated on the way to the beach in that poorly ventilated environment. Now that he could finally make his way into the sea, he was going to have a good swim. After swimming freely for a while, Chen Fan started toward the stone shelf on his left. The electric eel had complete control of itself now, so it had to find a safe place for hiding. Afterall, he could not concentrate on the eel 24 hours a day. After the eel found a crevice to hide in, Chen Fan rode his bicycle home. Laying on his bed, Chen Fan quickly shifted his consciousness to the electric eel. The eel could now release electricity to around ten meters, which meant that any movement within ten meters would not escape Chen Fan''s electromagnetic induction. The dark waters would not be able to hide anything from Chen Fan''s awareness. It would be absolutely correct to say that the ocean has the richest life in the world. Chen Fan only took a casual glance and discovered dozens of species of organisms, some of which even a person who grew up near the seaside like him had not seen before. Chen Fans electric eel avatar was already famished from the long night, and the most important thing now was to fill its stomach. Among the dozens of species of fishes nearby, Chen Fan chose a fish commonly seen on local dining tables. Its scientific name meant "small golden sardine," but locals usually called it "small sardine." It had a cylindrical body that was slightly flat at the sides, and both sides of its belly had a pale yellow line. Its body length was generally around twelve to fifteen centimeters. It was very popular with locals due to its tender flesh and few bones. A school of over twenty small sardines was resting around a deep red coral shelf, totally unaware that death was approaching. Controlling the eels body, Chen Fan secretly swam closer until he was about six to seven meters away from them. Seeing that he could not go any nearer, Chen Fan immediately used the nerve center in his brain to command the electricity-producing muscles at the sides of the belly. At once, a charge of up to six or seven hundred volts rushed from the electric eels tail to its head. After both positive and negative charges collided, they spread out to the surrounding water. A human being would faint from being electrocuted in that range, let alone the sardines that were only ten centimeters long. Over twenty pitifully small sardines lost their lives to the overbearing voltage before waking up from their dreams. It happened so fast that they didn''t have time to struggle even once. Chen Fan did not bother with how his "food" and the surrounding electrocuted fish felt. Seeing that his dinner had all turned upside-down, he quickly swam forward and took a big mouthful of the nearest fish. "Hmm, not bad, just too salty!" An animal''s taste buds are different than that of a human being. Chen Fan did not think the raw fish tasted horrible, but he had the mindset that he just needed to be more courageous. Chen Fan swallowed seven or eight fish at one go, and let out a satisfied burp before blowing a few air bubbles out of the corner of his mouth. Having nothing else to do after filling his stomach, Chen Fan used electromagnetic induction to fix in his mind the image of that wrinkled oval shaped pituitary gland. Due to environmental and dietary restrictions at home, Chen Fan had not dared to limitlessly stimulate the eels growth hormones. Now that he was in the ocean, he had to make good use of his time to increase his body size. Since he could never eat all the fish in the ocean, Chen Fan would not worry even if he grew to 10,000 meters. Chen Fans avatar of course could not grow to be 10,000 meters. Growth hormones were limited. If they werent, everyone would be able to grow to Yao Mings height by consuming growth hormone drugs. Be it human beings or animals, there was a fixed period for the bones to grow. After the growth period ended, the epiphyseal plate slowly merged and closed up, and the body would stop growing. At this time, if there was an oversecretion of growth hormones in the body, it would stimulate the growth of the distal phalanges, facial bones, soft tissue, and so on, thereby causing the limbs, facial organs, and internal organs to grow asymmetrically. For example, people with dwarfism can only take growth hormones for treatment when they are still in puberty. There would not be any effects when they were adults, even if they took in a truckload of hormones. The electric eels development period was around three years. Chen Fan had less than two years at the most to prompt growth. After spending half an hour stimulating the pituitary gland, Chen Fan withdrew his mind from the hidden crevice and returned to his thoughts. Chen Fan rubbed his forehead, took off his clothes and threw his blanket over his face before passing out. After concentrating intensively for half an hour, Chen Fan was way too exhausted to think of other things. The next morning, Chen Fan skipped class yet again. Now that he had this avatar in the ocean to find treasure, how could such an insignificant thing like going to class be more important? At the thought of finding treasures in the ocean, Chen Fan could not help but grin. In todays society, finding treasure underwater was much more difficult than working on an archaeology dig on land. Retrieving something out of the water was dependent on the underwater environmental conditions, such as water visibility and undercurrents in the ocean. It was extremely difficult to operate; just finding the shipwreck location was not sufficient. First of all, it was extremely unrealistic to depend on machine operations for underwater retrieval, and it was necessary to hire specialized and experienced divers. If the water was not too deep, just people with diving experience could still do the job. However, if it was a shipwreck deep under the ocean, it would be necessary to spend large amounts of money to hire expert divers who had deep sea pressure and decompression training all year round. However, deep waters meant that the divers only had very limited working time underwater. Otherwise, the divers bodies would suffer from irreversible harm. Besides that, it would cost hundreds of thousands of RMB to rent a professional fishing boat just for a day, and this amount wouldnt include the advanced detection equipment. Anyway, this was not an issue for Chen Fan. As long as he could find the shipwreck location, he could control the electric eel to go inside the ship through the gaps, and then use its teeth to bring up small valuable items from the wreck. Chen Fan had read on the internet that archaeologists reckoned that there were close to three million shipwrecks in all the oceans in the world waiting to be explored. Many of those shipwrecks would have priceless artifacts or treasures on them. Although Chen Fan doubted the number of shipwrecks, he had to admit that they really were countless. Just in the local news, Chen Fan had seen no less than a hundred stories on the discovery of ancient shipwrecks. Other than the few situated in shallow seas, most of them remained undisturbed on the deeper seafloor. Zhongyun City sits north of the Yangtze, bordering the East China Sea. In ancient times, it was once on one of the main water routes leading to Japan and Korea. Its number of ancient shipwrecks had accumulated over the dynasties and was definitely in the quadruple digits. Ten days ago, Chen Fan had targeted a key search area in the sea. At over twenty nautical miles northeast of the electric eels hiding place, the seabed there was more than 230 meters deep. That area was also one of the ancient water routes with numerous shipwrecks. How to conceptualize 230 meters? Only five percent of divers in the world could work in waters that deep, and they could stay down no longer than one could eat a meal. After shifting his thoughts to the electric eel and electrocuting some small fish to eat, Chen Fan put his belly on the seafloor and started swimming northeast. He had eaten a few more fish than he had the night before. He was bloated, making him look like a pregnant female eel. 8 Treasure Keeper Even though Chen Fan was moving more than 20 nautical miles per hour, it would still take him at least six or seven hours to reach his destination. Chen Fan had lunch on the way, finally reaching the specific search area after more than seven hours of swimming. At a depth of more than 200 meters, Chen Fan was able to feel the water pressure even as an electric eel. The feeling pressed on his whole body, making the muscles and organs in the abdomen feel like a hand was clenching them. After taking a deep breath, Chen Fan controlled his body and swam slowly around the area. Since he could still see, he did not have to worry that his electric inductance only had a range of 10 meters. Withstanding the great pressure, Chen Fan swam along the seabed. The water pressure at a depth of 200 meters may have been a little difficult for Chen Fan to swim about, but it was considered an easy task for the creatures that had lived here since his ancestors era. Along the journey, many fish stared at Chen Fan "curiously." Once those creatures that harbored questionable intentions towards him experienced a bit of a shock, they did not have the guts to take a bite of him anymore. The ocean was indeed boundless. After searching on the seabed for about two hours, Chen Fan felt like his body was pressed by a steamroller, but not even an aluminum can could be found. He even nearly got eaten by a giant grouper! "So damn unlucky! I thought it was only a rock since it lay motionless in the sand." Looking at the greenish-gray colored grouper, which was nearly three meters long and had thorny long fins on its back, Chen Fan felt his anger building up in his stomach. If his reaction had been a bit slower, the ugly monster might have bitten him in two. "When I become stronger, Ill definitely eat you as my lunch every day!" Swimming up past the grouper into shallower water, Chen Fan prepared himself to bully some weak fish to release his anger. His electric eel avatar was starving as he had stimulated its pituitary gland greatly yesterday. Now, it was as though there was a big grinder in his stomach that digested everything he ate. His stomach began to growl again, although he had taken his lunch not that long ago. There was nothing to eat in the ocean but fish, so Chen Fan ate a new type of fish for every meal. Thinking about the cheapest little fish that he used to buy for the eels meal, Chen Fan now thought that was not how the life of an eel should be. After a short post-meal rest, Chen Fan dove back to the bottom of the sea. If asked for a phrase that could describe swimming in the ocean, Chen Fan would not hesitate to say, "What a colorful and dazzling view!" Fish with fins of yellow, green, blue, and purple, and coral reefs of every color caught Chen Fans eye. He even thought that he might go color blind if he kept looking at them for a long period of time. However, if he were to be guaranteed with a sufficient supply of treasures, Chen Fan was willing to exchange those for the eyesight of the electric eel. He still had electromagnetic induction after all. However, things did not turn out to be as great as Chen Fan imagined them to be. After swimming three days in the sea, Chen Fan had difficulty finding anything man-made, not to mention an ancient sunken ship. "Oh God, there has to be a limit to your jokes!" Chen Fan sat on a coral reef and felt like crying from boredom, but not even a drop of tears trickled down. Three days had passed, and all he got after working so hard was pain all over his body. Nothing else. He began to think about catching some abalones, lobsters, sea cucumbers or other valuable seafood to sell. "This will be my last time trying! If I still cant find anything, then I will just catch and sell some abalones," Chen Fan stated clearly to himself. After a good rest he started his work. While swimming along the seabed, Chen Fan''s eyes automatically filtered out the long coral reefs that looked like sunken ships. When you have studied something for a long period of time, youll be an expert in it eventually. Chen Fan was not as excited to look for sunken ships than he had been at the beginning of his search, even when he spotted a weird looking coral. Chen Fan was about to swim across a dense line coral reefs when he caught a glimpse of a small piece of log protruding from the back of a coral. A feeling struck him like lightning. "Ah" Although that piece of log was seriously corroded, its perfect cylindrical shape made him certain that it was definitely something left behind by humans. Judging by its rotten look, this log was surely more than a hundred years old. "Amitabha, God bless me, God bless!" Chen Fan was filled with emotion. Excitement, doubt, nervousness... Mixed feelings overwhelmed him. Swimming over the coral reef, Chen Fan got a good look at the log and was filled with happiness. The log was a dozen meters long and there were four upright cylindrical poles at the front and back of it. Beneath the poles was the ancient ship that Chen Fan had dreamed of. "C-calm down! Remember, y-you are someone who has been in big situations before! " Extreme happiness took over all his other feelings. After quite some time, Chen Fan calmed down and exhaled deeply, "Huh. Damn, I almost lost control!" After steadying himself, Chen Fan immediately controlled his electric eel avatar and swam forward. When he was close to the ship, Chen Fan controlled the body of the electric eel and released a low-frequency voltage. He used the electromagnetic induction to examine whether the ship was filled with valuable goods. The part of the ship that was exposed looked complete. When he saw the bottom of the ship, though, Chen Fan discovered that some tragedy had befallen the ship. The bottom of the ship had a crack about a dozen meters wide in the middle. "Was it because of a hurricane?" Chen Fan wondered, but that seemed wrong. A hurricane couldnt break the ship in two. "Whatever!" As long he could make money out of it, Chen Fan decided that there was no point in wondering. Positioning himself on the shells and corals that covered the deck and using his induction ability, Chen Fan felt that the ship had quite a large amount of valuable items. The ship was more than forty meters long and divided into two decks. The upper deck was mostly small rooms that were separated from each other and a few warehouses that stored daily goods. Chen Fan located his target on the lower deck. There were twelve storage rooms of different sizes. Five of the rooms stored silks and tea-leaves, but the others all stored porcelains. Chen Fan was chagrined though. The vertical crack at the bottom of the ship destroyed most of the porcelains completely. That being said, there were still at least 1,000-2,000 well-preserved pieces. The most valuable treasure in the sea is neither the gold and silver taken from European wrecks nor the tusks of elephants and horns of rhinoceros that are stolen from Africa. For somebody who has knowledge of this area, they will only set their eyes on Chinas globally renowned ancient jade porcelains. China''s porcelain had always been the favorite of the world''s antique traffickers. Although ancient cargo ships didn''t have the thousands of tons of loading capacity that modern ships had, loading 10,000 pieces of porcelain was still a piece of cake for a medium-sized cargo ship with a hundred tons of loading capacity. The ancient Chinese sunken ships were like a huge magnet that were constantly attracting the eyes of treasure hunters from all around the world. It was also a big green light for foreign scavengers from the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, and other Southeast Asian countries that were unable to scavenge from their own sea floor. Some claimed fishing as a cover in order to divide the treasures in the Chinese sea. Their only payment was a portion of those treasures, shared equally among them. Feeling the porcelain that was stored in those rooms, Chen Fan''s heart filled with mixed emotions again. To be clear, his mixed emotions had nothing to do with him stealing the treasure. It was the thought of the shameless treasure hunters who stole from in his countrys territory that troubled his heart. While swimming along the gap near the deck of the ship, Chen Fan increased the output power of the voltage so that his electromagnetic induction could be transmitted further. Suddenly, Chen Fan sensed a commotion from the cabin of the ship that was about ten meters in front of him. Immediately after that, he noticed a six meter long fish swimming in a rush towards him. "Ah! What the heck is that? " Without thinking twice, Chen Fan immediately controlled the electric eel to swim back out of the wreck. As he swam out of the cabin at top speed, he heard a burst of sounds from behind. All Chen Fan saw was the body of a shark with large pupils, short but wide caudal fins and a row of finely serrated teeth following closely behind him. 9 Man-Eating Shark "Oh god, why did you send this fella to act as guardian of the treasure?" How could Chen Fan, who stayed by the sea all year round, not know this menacing creature? This shark, now five meters away, was known as the "Man-Eating Shark". This species of shark could grow up to fourteen meters long. It had a particularly fiery temper and was known to attack fishing boats and human beings, making it as detestable as the great white shark. This particular man-eating shark was dismayed. It had just had a hearty meal and was returning to the shipwreck for its usual afternoon nap, but was awakened by some unknown creature. Infuriatingly, this thing could release nauseating voltage like a torpedo. As the powerful leader dominating the seas all year round, he had to teach this unfamiliar creature a good lesson. One that was both lively and bloody. Seeing this shark that reeked of blood, Chen Fan almost cried from anxiety. There was totally no point in swimming away. With the electric eels speed, the shark could easily catch up with it. Chen Fan was also not confident in his only method for self-protection. He had had a hard time dealing with that three meter long grouper earlier, let alone this rough and thick-skinned shark. At that instant, Chen Fan quickly turned on the voltage in his body to the maximum power and lashed its tail. Yes, lash the tail and escape! Big bro, please dont come after me, my flesh doesnt taste good! Chen Fan prayed in his heart as he swam with all his might. Most animals have the same revolting behavior. If a dog barks madly at you and you run away frightened, then it will definitely chase after you immediately. But if you pretend to squat down or go after it, it will definitely be the one running away. Of course this didnt work for all dogs, like the wolf-like tibetan mastiff, german shepherd, bernese mountain dog, or bulldog, but it worked for most. Unfortunately, with a name like "man-eating shark," this predator would not be deterred. Initially it hesitated because of Chen Fans high frequency discharge capability, but after seeing it flee, its years of hunting instinct told it that this strange creature in front of it definitely belonged to the prey category. When was an animal at its highest speed? At the moment it caught its prey, without a doubt. The shark covered a distance of over ten meters easily, stirring up a surge of ripples at lightning speed in its wake. However, when it reached for Chen Fan ferociously, there was a soft rumble and the sharks thunder-like body unexpectedly softened as if suddenly struck by lightning. The long body hit the bottom of the sea, waves of muddy sand erupting around it. This shark must have been through countless horrifying hunts to grow to this length, and also counterattacks to survive until now. After being struck by voltage and sinking to the bottom, it did not retreat but advanced instead. It immediately swung its steel-like tail fin and swept it at Chen Fan. How could the electric eel avoid the swift shark? Chen Fan was thrown to the bottom of the sea by a tyrannical force before he could dodge. "Ah!" Chen Fan was in pain and let out an earth-shattering scream. Although it had succeeded with one blow, the shark was no better off. After that powerful electric shock by Chen Fan, it felt numb all over and was moving sluggishly. Both the eel and shark suffered in their first short battle and neither gained anything out of it. After the bad experience, both parties parted immediately, swimming a safe distance away. As an electric eel with a humans reasoning, Chen Fan naturally would not choose to fight it out with the shark. The burning pain on his back reminded him of how ferocious that shark was. Chen Fan was thinking that if he had not released the high voltage to numb the fish, his spine could have been broken by that strike just now. His own safety was the most important thing. Chen Fan did not hesitate to flee after releasing a few waves of voltage. However, how was the simple-minded shark able to understand Chen Fans thoughts? Its beasty nature reminded it that since the enemy fled, it had to give chase. A shark that could grow to this length was definitely not an inexperienced hothead. Throughout the chase, it stayed more than ten meters behind Chen Fan, where the voltage was much weaker. It followed suit when Chen Fan increased speed, and also did the same when Chen Fan swam upstream, like a sticky candy stuck to Chen Fan. Chen Fan was going crazy and kept cursing inside. However, cursing itself could not solve the problem; he had to get away. Chen Fan could not believe that this shark could continue following him and not give up. He had obviously underestimated the shark. It was known in the ocean for its endurance. With each powerful push through the water, the shark made sure to show that it was very patient. After following behind Chen Fan for an hour, it was still full of energy and enthusiasm without any signs of tiredness. "Oh god! Why did you let me get into trouble with this psychopath!" Chen Fan was in deep agony as he felt the beast cut through the waters behind him. That beast was as cunning as a fox. When Chen Fan released slightly higher voltage, it immediately tossed its tail and swam far away. After a few seconds, though, it waved its enormous body and came up close again. By now, Chen Fan already knew what this beast was up to. This shark intended to tire Chen Fan out before he attacked up close. Chen Fan felt miserable. The sharks attack speed was really too fast. Although he could use electric waves to block its path, it was useless if he could not strike back in time. It was clear that Chen Fan did not have the ability to compete in endurance with a shark often called "devil". After swimming wildly for more than half an hour, Chen Fan was already very tired and almost could not move his tail anymore. "Damn! Are you glue?" Furious, Chen Fan turned and gave the shark a murderous stare. He had wasted his energy fleeing the whole day and was exhausted. "Lets fight it out. At the most Ill just give up this avatar!" Chen Fan roared, his eyes red, and spearheaded the attack. He definitely did not have the patience of snakes. Holding his breath, Chen Fan displayed his fastest swimming speed at that instant and jumped forward. An electric eel does not have very sharp teeth, so its most effective method of attack had to be its strong voltage attack. As he jumped, Chen Fan controlled his spinal nerve and released the last trace of energy in his body. The shark obviously knew that this blackish thing was also not one to be trifled with. At the instant when its body felt the strong voltage, it dodged to the side with its large and yet flexible body. The shark had rough skin and thick flesh, and it was a distance away, but the high voltage released by a two meter long electric eel still affected its movements. Seeing that the sharks speed had clearly decreased, Chen Fan gritted his teeth and followed closely, moving his tail with all his strength. The already exhausted Chen Fan could only hold the intense discharge for a little over ten seconds. Within this ten seconds, Chen Fan could only do his best and give it a shot. However, due to the severe disparity of their bodies, it was close to impossible for Chen Fan to electrocute the shark to death. 10 The Fattening Plan If the shark could roar, it would have. Its whole body numb, the shark turned sharply, opened its bloody mouth, and dashed toward Chen Fan. Chen Fan, who felt rather than saw the shark turn, managed to dodge the attack just in time. Twisting with all his might, he managed to escape what would have been a fatal blow. Even so, he did not escape unscathed; the sharks razor-sharp teeth nicked the eels cheek, leaving a white gash. The shark considered retreating at this point, the potential meal not worth the high electrical charge. Chen Fan noticed the shark beginning to retreat, but could not keep up the high voltage. As the charge weakened to only a few dozen volts, the sharks numbness decreased as well. With regained feeling came renewed spirit. It was not going to retreat! The shark charged Chen Fan again at top speed. "Ah!" Chen Fan had calmed a little at the prospect of the sharks retreat. When it renewed its charge, Chen Fan succumbed to a depthless fear, screamed again, and swam for his life. This vicious shark would not give up after being attacked. To catch up with its prey, the shark flicked its tail faster than a piston engine. I''m so dead! Exhausted, Chen Fan couldnt generate a trace of electric current. Watching the shark gain on him, he was ready to close his eyes and wait for his death. "Wait! What was that?" In the moment before his death, Chen Fan noticed an intricate orange-red coral with a cave about the size of a small pail down on his right. He was like a drowning man given a straw. In milliseconds, Chen Fan was full of adrenaline. With new energy, Chen Fan twisted like a rope and managed to get into the pitch-black cave. Bang! As soon as he got into the cave, it started shaking as if there were an earthquake. Small pieces of coral rained down on his head. Chen Fan knew the shark had crashed into the coral. He could smell blood. The cave was big enough for Chen Fan to turn around. As he did so, he saw that the shark''s entire face had coral and stone pieces sticking out of it. The sight made Chen Fan laugh out loud. When Chen Fan realized the shark had no intention of leaving, he stopped laughing. Stirred into a frenzy, it swam back and forth at the entrance of the cave. "Oh God. Its testing my patience!" Half an hour later, the shark still refused to leave. After resting a bit, Chen Fan decided to shift his consciousness back to his own body. Since the cave would be safe enough for the eel for the time being, he simply went to sleep. The encounter with the shark had given him a headache. ---------- Early the next morning, Chen Fans intense hunger woke him up just as the sky was beginning to brighten. The shark from last night was gone. It had probably run out of patience. Still uneasy, Chen Fan stretched out his head cautiously and looked around. There were no large fish around. He waited patiently for a little while longer until he was sure there was no danger. "When am I going to leave if not now?" Chen Fan didn''t want to hang around in this area anymore. The sunken ship was very attractive, but if he lost the electric eel avatar, it wouldnt matter if it was a mermaid! Escaping was a matter of strategy. Chen Fan chose a path with few jagged stones along the way to prevent sharks from jumping out of nowhere. After swimming for a long time, Chen Fan reached the sea by Zhongyun City, and dared to breathe a sigh of relief. "It is too difficult to stay alive in the depths of the East China Sea!" At that moment, Chen Fan was reminded of the proverb about a mountain filled with treasure, but without a road that led to it. It had taken him a lot of effort to find a sunken ship loaded with porcelain, but there was a shark blocking his way. Chen Fan erupted with anger inside whenever he thought about yesterdays incident. After a hearty meal, Chen Fan returned to his first hiding place. Yesterday had taught Chen Fan that a few tricks up his sleeve would not do him any good if he could not think and react in crucial moments. Once he was full, Chen Fan fixed his thoughts on the pituitary gland, targeted the growth region, and stimulated it wildly without stopping to rest. He decided not to look for any treasures for the time being because treasure hunting would only put his life at risk if he didnt possess a certain level of skills. His goal was to grow enough to win the battle against the shark guarding the ship. Anything was possible. If science could change a persons gender, Chen Fan could make this eel grow. Certain feed could help a pig can gain two pounds per day. Chen Fan''s electric eel grew much faster. ---------- "Hey brother, do you think were catching fewer fish because of the ghosts we keep hearing about? If this keeps up, there wont be enough money for me to take a girl out!" A mottled wooden boat drifted along in the blue sea, and in it stood a youth wearing overalls stained with oil. While pulling the fishing net in with all his might, he turned and shouted at a young man sitting on a tin lid next to him. "Last time it was because of a big shark!" The young man on the lid looked at his little brother, slowly pulled out a Marlboro cigarette from his shirt pocket, lit it, and took a deep puff of the cigarette. As white smoke poured from his nose, he said: "Uncle says that less fish for us always means a big fish somewhere near." "Wow, Marlboro costs more than ten dollars per pack! Brother, give me one too!" As soon as the younger brother saw the expensive cigarette, he put down his fishing net, wiped his hands on his overalls, and ran to ask his brother for one. "Get away!" The young man slapped away his younger brothers hand, telling him to smoke his own cheap cigarettes. "Stingy," the younger brother muttered and asked, "Why do you still come to this area every time if you know that theres probably a big shark here?" "Im here to catch it!" The young man chuckled evilly and took out a homemade steel harpoon. "Look, I even got this ready. All we need to do now is to wait for it to show up so that I can stick this in its forehead!" "Ah! We could make a lot of money after catching it. Even a small shark can sell for thousands! "Yeah, of course!" The young man replied vaguely. He dusted his clothing and went to the edge of the boat to pee. "Brother, wait for me. Let''s see who can pee further!" 11 Poor Shark The "big fish" that wantonly devoured small fish in the sea and convinced most of the rest not to settle down nearby was none other than Chen Fans electric eel avatar. For the past two months, with Chen Fan''s arduous efforts, the eel had grown from two meters and 100 kilos to eight meters and over 600 kilos. Eight meters long was two meters longer than the shark. Chen Fan could now release a charge of up to 2,000 volts, and his electromagnetic induction could reach 30 meters. How strong was 2,000 volts? Hmm...friends who were interested to know could dismantle their socket and touch it with their hands, then multiply that feeling by eight. A gentleman would bide his time and wait for the right opportunity to seek revenge, but Chen Fan thought himself a weasel, so he decided to seek revenge now. Chen Fans new speed made his previous pace feel like a snails in comparison. It took him less than two hours for a journey that used to take him over six. Chen Fan was elated. As he swam in the deep sea, he noticed a change in the appearance of the surrounding creatures. When he was two meters long, he was like a little shrimp that could be bullied by anyone. Now, they were the shrimp and Chen Fan the willing bully. When the shipwreck appeared before him, Chen Fan approached determined to kill. "Ho ho, little shark, Brother Chen Fan is here to play with you!" Chen Fan started to release a charge when he was still 30 meters away from the shipwreck. The shark was not out wandering today, so Chen Fan was not disappointed. Although the charge he released weakened slightly as it traveled the 30 meters to the shark, it was still strong enough to provoke it. The brutal fish rushed out from the shipwreck with a murderous look, ready to hmm it was dumbstruck! Wasnt that long black sea serpent-like creature in front of it the same fella it almost ate a few months earlier? He how did he grow so long in two months? What did he do, eat fish feed? "Little thing. Come bite me. Come on!" Seeing the clearly hesitant shark in front of him, Chen Fan reduced the amount of electricity he was releasing, reverting back to the charge he released two months prior. He swung his tail casually, trying to provoke the shark. Although it had a fiery temper, it was not a brainless fool. It fully understood the situation it was in. Chen Fans tail was tiring, but the shark was still swimming at a distance and did not dare come forward. Chen Fan did not have the patience to waste time. The shipwreck before him was like a magnet, pulling his attention. "You blockhead!" Chen Fan cursed and then shot forward to attack. The electric eel was approaching; the competition between the intelligences of shark and human would soon be over! Aware that there was no nauseating electricity, the six meter long shark was very confident it could bite off the eels head in the first attack. The slender black electric eel looked amateurish with its twisting and turning attack. It was so slow! The shark as large as a bull on the other hand and had such instantaneous explosive power that sprinter Usain Bolt would stop and stare. Its abrupt acceleration could leave a cheetah far behind. It was terrifying yet breathtaking! The shark hurtled thirty meters in a second. Last time they met, Chen Fan could flee before a head on fight. A careful person would not battle unprepared! Since he dared to act so boldly this time, he must have been very confident. The shark chuckled to itself as it entered the ten-meter range and only felt a weak charge. It did not understand that Chen Fan was only using this charge to sense his surroundings. When the shark was close to Chen Fan, still moving at lightning speed, it felt the slightly numbing charge suddenly shoot to the eels maximum. In that moment, the muscles in its whole body spasmed before its brain could react. The shark rolled its white belly across Chen Fan before sinking to the bottom of the sea. "Dumbass! You think you are more intelligent than a human?" Fully relying on electromagnetic induction, Chen Fan did not bother to look at the fish even once. Having solved his shark problem, he could now enter the shipwreck to get the treasure. After twisting and turning into the ships hold, dodging shells and seaweed everywhere, Chen Fan was completely stunned by what he saw. His mouth fell open and bubbles formed. At the bottom of the ships hold beneath shattered pottery lay neat stacks of porcelain, still white and pretty even after hundreds of years. "Oh. My. G-god! Since you have given me the chance to strike it rich, how...how could I not act on it?" At that instant, Chen Fan was overwhelmed by the huge amount of wealth in front of him and fluttered emotionally for a while before calming down. Although Chen Fan did not possess professional knowledge of antiques, he knew that the value of porcelain did not increase with its size but with its detail. It was the small items with exquisite workmanship that could fetch sky high prices. There was so much porcelain in the ships hold that Chen Fan had a hard time choosing from it. The small white glazed bowl, the flower plate with a lady painted on it, the narrow-necked flagon Looking left and right, Chen Fan really had no idea which one to take. Be it in ancient or modern times, the products that China exported to the rest of the word were usually the pick of the bunch. The stuff in the ships hold looked a dozen times more exquisite and beautiful than the porcelain Chen Fan saw in antique shops. 12 Got the Treasure It was half an hour later that Chen Fan finally picked his pieces. The electric eel''s mouth was quite large. If opened to its maximum, Chen Fan would be able to carry eight to ten pieces of porcelain in his mouth. He was cautious, however. If he took that many pieces back, not only would he have difficulty hiding them, but he would also be in major trouble if they caught the eyes of the wrong people. After taking a long time to choose, Chen Fan finally decided to bring two items back. He thought hed see how it went. He still didnt know how much they would sell for. One of the items was a porcelain disk about 30 centimeters wide in diameter. It was painted a vivid crimson, and its edge was carved with mystical clouds. It was exquisite. Although the second item was much smaller, the artwork was just as intricate. It was a small bowl with four different butterflies covering the outside. Delicate and white as snow, it was only a few centimeters wide in diameter. The most astonishing part of the bowl was its wall. It was unexpectedly thin, like the traditional Chinese art paper used for painting or calligraphy. Chen Fan was sure that it was only a millimeter thick. These were divine works, no exaggeration. He held the small butterfly bowl and the crimson disk in his mouth and kept turning back to look at the treasures. He was reluctant to leave the other antiques behind. Chen Fan stopped worrying because he only needed a couple hours to swim back and forth from the wreck to the beach. The eel was much faster than it used to be. He did not have time to fool around, though. As soon as the electric eel swam out of the sunken ship, it floated up about 10 meters from the surface of the water and swam as fast as possible towards Zhongyun. When Chen Fan arrived at the beach it was after nine in the evening, and he hadnt had time to eat on his way back. He did not dare to let the electric eel return to its original hiding place, so he found a soft and secluded place nearby to hide instead. He was afraid of accidentally smashing the porcelains in his mouth on the rocky cave. After settling the electric eel down, Chen Fan quickly got out of bed. He grabbed his backpack, cleaned it of a thick layer of dust, slung it over his shoulder, and rode his old bike to the beach. "I am going to be rich!" Chen Fan shouted as soon as he reached the beach. He hopped off his bike, dumped it to the side, and lunged for the water. Not minding that he was knee deep in the ocean, Chen Fan closed his eyes and fixed his mind on the electric eel. In spite of its hunger and exhaustion, he managed to make swim carefully to his feet without breaking the porcelain in its mouth. He had been shocked by the pieces beauty when he was under water, but holding them now, Chen Fan realized that he had greatly underestimated the ancient workmanship. The porcelains had "Made in the years of Chenghua, Ming Dynasty" stamped on the bottom, and they felt as smooth as silk when held. They were so perfectly made. After wrapping them carefully with old newspapers, he stashed them in his backpack and settled the electric eel in its original hiding place. Although he was in a hurry, Chen Fan was extremely careful on his way home to maneuver around potholes and bumps. There was no way he was going to break these antiques. Chen Fan couldnt sleep at all that night, just like the night after he had first encountered the electric eel avatar. ---------- Bajing street, north of the main road in Zhongyun City, was a centuries-old street famous for selling antiques. The street was about five hundred meters long, and there were shops on both sides. One side of the street specialized in antique jade and porcelain, the other in calligraphy and paints on stones and gold. It was nine o''clock in the morning. The owner of the Ya Yun Xuan antique shop was passing the time playing with his Chinese Hwamei bird that hung in a cage by the door. Glancing up accidentally, he noticed a young man about 20 looking around. Anyone that was in the business for long knew potential sellers on sight. "What do you want to sell, young man?" Since the young man was dressed in plain clothes and carrying a stuffed backpack, he knew that this young man was going to sell to and not buy from his shop. "Uh, I want to sell two pieces of porcelain!" As soon as he had gotten up that morning, Chen Fan had been desperate to turn his treasures into cash. After feeding both himself and the eel, he had gone to the local antique street with his two antiques. After looking around for a while, Chen Fan had set his eyes on this antique shop that was full of porcelain. "Oh, porcelain? Take it out and let me have a look!" The young man was an amateur; it was like he had "I dont know what Im doing" written on his face. The owner could smell a great deal on the horizon. He stood up and invited Chen Fan into his shop eagerly. "Okay!" Chen Fan took the knapsack off his shoulder, put it on a glass cabinet, and carefully removed the layers of newspaper protecting the two pieces of porcelain. After Chen Fan placed the two treasures on the glass cabinet, the store owner smiled and held up the crimson disk. He examined it for a moment, then said to Chen Fan: "Oh, you just pulled it from the sea right? I can still smell the fish!" "Yeah. Got it just a few days ago from Pingtou bay. What do you think? Its from the Ming Dynasty. If you offer a reasonable price, I promise I will not hesitate to sell it." Looking at the shopkeepers joyful face, Chen Fan had seen no reason to hide the origin of the items, but he didnt give away where he found them. Because the bay was close to the ancient border, fishermen nearby might have seen something like these before. "I... Let me examine it for a little while more!" The shopkeeper would not have expect that a normal boy like him could have possessed such exquisite and ancient porcelain. With his years of experience, he knew these to be authentic Ming treasures. His only concern now was price. He needed a "reasonable" price that wouldnt drain him dry. The shopkeeper put down the crimson disk and carefully picked up the butterfly porcelain bowl. It was smaller than his palm. Although the shopkeeper tried to mentally prepare himself, he was overwhelmed with the paper-thin edges of the bowl. This... its... it''s eggshell porcelain! Suppressing the rapture in his heart, the shopkeeper quickly took out a flashlight from under the counter. He held the bowl over it gently as he flicked the light on. Chen Fan and the shopkeeper gasped. The tiny antique bowl was illuminated by the flashlight, glowing as bright as the moon. The four butterflies came to life. The light made everything look misty and surreal. "Oh my god, that''s freaking awesome!" Chen Fan blurted out, filled with excitement. "The real shits not over!" Feeling excited too, the shopkeeper replied to Chen Fan in the same manner. The name "eggshell porcelain" implied great art. Ancient people used to say it was "as thin as a cicadas wings" or "as light as floating clouds." Since it was so thin, this kind of porcelain was extremely fragile and would crack if it was not handled properly. With modern technology, it was not difficult to mass produce of this type of porcelain. Antique eggshell porcelain, however, was very rare. Although the shopkeeper had seen it a few times, they were incomparable to this, always rough and not well decorated. "Follow me, and I''ll show you the product of the wisdom of five thousand years of Chinese Civilization." The shopkeeper said nothing more and walked into the back room, still holding the small antique bowl. 13 Get Rich Overnigh The shop owner closed the door immediately behind Chen Fan, and then poured some water into the small bowl. He shone the light through bottom and gently shook the bowl. At that instant, Chen Fan felt many things as once. "Like a dream. It''s like in a dream!" Chen Fan couldn''t find any other words to describe the scene in front of him. Under the strong flashlight, the ripples shaking gently in the bowl released circles of surging wave-like stripes that mixed together with the butterfly paintings. The images were projected on Chen Fan''s and the owner''s bodies like an elegant and beautiful Chinese landscape painting. Looking at the dumbstruck Chen Fan, the owner swallowed and said, "Young man, I shall be honest with you. I guess you don''t need me to explain to you why it''s called eggshell porcelain. I want to tell you, of all the eggshell porcelain produced in the town of Jingde in the history of the Song Dynasty, those produced during the Chenghua years have the best workmanship. Although the workmanship of the modern creations has improved, they are too new. You know antiques! They have to be old,and this small bowl of yours looks as good as new!" The owner looked regretful. He blamed his excitement for showing off in front of this rookie. Great, now even this idiot knew the bowl was very valuable. But then, this guy didn''t look like an idiot with his money-minded expression. "Since they are so precious, then I guess you must like them very much!" After recovering from his shock, Chen Fan grinned from ear to ear, "Name your price. I''m a straightforward and easygoing person, I won''t say a word more as long as the price is reasonable." "Young man, for these two pieces, I''ll give you this much." After some consideration, the owner raised two fingers at Chen Fan. "2 million RMB?" Chen Fan opened his eyes wide at the owner''s fingers and shouted. "Ahno no!" The owner was shocked by Chen Fan''s reaction, and almost dropped the porcelain in his hands. He wished he could chop off his fingers right now. Why did I raise my fingers? 2 million? You might as well just kill me! "T-t-two hundred thousand!" The owner said softly, wiping sweat off his brow and looking at Chen Fan''s thirsty stare. Chen Fan frowned and pointed at the small eggshell porcelain bowl. "Are you sure? Those worn-out antiques on TV could easily be auctioned for a few million RMB! Look at mine. Isn''t such a beautiful piece worth a few million RMB? Moreover, the crimson plate came with this. They should easily be more than a million RMB!" "Bro, those at auctions are all from government kilns!" The owner scratched his head and almost cried out, "If these two items of yours are government made, there will be lots of people fighting to get them for five million or ten million RMB, let alone two million! People in antiques nowadays pay attention to status. At one auction, an enamel lantern-shaped vase from Qianlong was sold at a sky-high price of eighty million RMB." "Crap, if these two were bowls and plates used by Wu Zetian for her meals, I wouldn''t be here!" Chen Fan raised his head and cut off the owner''s words, "But come on, add another few hundred thousand!" Chen Fan had already researched on the internet the difference between government and common kilns. Since the end of the Yuan dynasty, a special marking had been inscribed at the bottom of government pieces. Although these two porcelain items were beautiful, they did not have the "government" label. There was huge difference between the price of government made and common pieces. It was like the price difference between an Alto and an Audi, although their names only sounded a little different. "Bro, you think I''m paying in Vietnamese Dong? Add another few hundred thousand?" After hearing Chen Fan''s words, the owner shot back with a gloomy face, "At the most, I can only add another 2,000 RMB!" "2,000? Come on, 250,000 RMB, or I''ll leave!" "I''m only running a small business!" The owner gave a pitiful look, "How about...I add another 500?" "250,000!" Chen Fan was still insistent. "Bro, it''s really not possible!" As soon as the owner''s voice started to fade, Chen Fan packed the two treasures back into his bag and left him. He threw "I''ll go find another buyer!" over his shoulder before leaving the store. "You...you" The owner held back his words. He had not given a low price in the first place. It was very good to earn more than 10,000 RMB for two porcelain items. Although eggshell porcelain was not common, it was not extremely rare. Among the famous traditional varieties of Jingde Town, it was one of the special crafts products that had long enjoyed a good reputation Looking at Chen Fan leaving, the owners heart ached, "Ah...young man, I... I''m really not making much profit!" Eh? He should be chasing me out to agree on my price! Chen Fan walked a few steps outside and felt a little depressed when he turned his head and saw that the owner had not chased him out. Was the price I stated really too high? The owner was vexed at himself for not adding a little more and earning a little less, but Chen Fan returned less than ten seconds later. "Boss, I''ll sell them to you for 210,000 RMB!" "Ah!" The owner had already given up hope, but when he realized that things had taken a turn for the better he quickly stood up from his chair, "Sure sure, take a seat and have some tea first. I''ll go get the money right away." "Mmm, please be quick!" Chen Fan pounded loudly on the cedarwood table at his side, crossed his legs, poured a cup of tea from the Yixing clay teapot beside him, and started drinking big mouthfuls from it. He was very uncouth. Money makes the world go round. In less than ten minutes, the pleased owner ran in with a black plastic bag. "There, I just withdrew this from the bank. Count it, it''s 210,000 RMB exactly." The owner pushed the plastic bag to Chen Fan before he could catch his breath. Looking at the 20 stacks of 100 red 100 RMB notes on the table, Chen Fans head felt light. "N-n-no need!" After roughly glancing over the money, Chen Fan stuffed it into his backpack with shaking hands. He left the two treasures behind and walked zigzag out of the shop. "Lalala, I''m a happy little donkey!" Chen Fan had just become rich overnight. The day before, he had still been a pitiful man with less than 100 RMB. But now, he was carrying enough money to buy a 120 square meter house. At this price it wouldnt be in an ideal location, but he also foresaw that these huge sums would appear more and more frequently in the coming days. "My dear ride, youve been with me for three years, but today, I''m gonna say goodbye!" Chen Fan patted the seat of his worn-out bicycle and revelled in his fantasy of a better life in the near future. Once he got home, he immediately spread the stacks of notes all over the living room and rolled on top of them. If he hadnt been afraid of disturbing the neighbors, he would have sung out loud to express his excitement. "Beauties, cars, mansions, watches, yachts, bodyguards, nannies...hmm, I must have them all!" Curling up on the heap of notes, Chen Fan raised his hands in front of him and started counting his planned purchases on his fingers one by one. 14 Wansheng Breakfast Nook What is the first thing that you will do if you get rich? Spend money of course! Chen Fan got out of bed early the next morning. After washing his face, he held the backpack full of cash in his arms. Hed put the money back in the bag before he went to bed. He felt uneasy keeping so much money in the house, so he decided to deposit 200,000 RMB in the bank. Besides, paying by card was more glamorous than paying by cash. He went to open a savings account with Jianshe bank, which was just around the corner from his house. After taking a number, Chen Fan waited more than 20 minutes for his number to be called. Finally, the teller called, "Customer A063 please proceed to counter no.7! A063 to counter no.7!" 200,000 RMB was not a lot for the teller. She was used to seeing a hefty amount of money every day. However, when a young man in his twenties, with no charisma nor proper dress, took 200,000 RMB from his backpack, she got suspicious. She was amazed as he laid out the money on the counter stack by stack. It took a while to set up an account because the average looking finance manager in his thirties that guided Chen Fan to the customer service counter started introducing various kinds of insurance policies and fund management programs non-stop. Oh god, there must be an end to this! Finally, after spending a lot of time rejecting the business manager, Chen Fan managed to open his account. He carefully put his ATM card away and called a cab. "Hi, please take me to Wansheng breakfast nook!" The Wansheng breakfast nook was familiar among the locals. Famous for its crab roe dumplings and ice fish porridge served with sea cucumber, Wansheng had been around for a few dozen years. Chen Fan had heard a long time ago that the food served at Wansheng was delicious, but because of the expensive prices, he had never set foot in the shop before. Since he was filthy rich at the moment, he had to get a taste of the legendary "aphrodisiac soup" by any means necessary. "Damn, this is definitely a high-class place!" Chen Fan could not help but mutter when he arrived. Luxury cars like the Audi A6 series, BMW 5 and 7 series, and Mercedes Benz 3 to 6 series occupied the whole front pavement, within roughly 300 square meters. There were only a few lesser cars, including a Buick Regal and a Volkswagen Passat. Normally, if someone had invited Chen Fan to have breakfast here, he wouldve considered twice whether to accept the offer to make sure he didnt humiliate himself. However, the situation was different now. Not only did he have a lot of money right now, but he had an electric eel that could bring him more. Chen Fan could afford to be arrogant! The easiest way to get somebodys temperament to change was to give him a million dollars. Due to his new fortune, Chen Fan entered the cafe without hesitation as soon as he got out of the cab. The two-story building had white walls and a green tiled roof, giving it an antique look. "Good morning, Sir!" The moment he stepped into the cafe, two young hostesses bowed and greeted him with smiles. Oh Twins! Chen Fan was astonished at the identical hostesses. Even the small moles on their noses were in the exact same spot. Suppressing his desire, Chen Fan smiled awkwardly at them and went inside hurriedly. "It''s indeed a regal experience!" The mahogany tables and chairs in the hall were designed to look ancient, and the waitress walking back and forth to serve the dishes was beautiful. Chen Fan was surrounded by extravagance. Looking around, he found that the seats were all occupied by middle-aged men, all dressed nicer than he. Everybody had an aura of success. After walking around for a while, Chen Fan finally found an empty table in the corner. "Sir, may I take your order please?" The waitress asked him with her sweet voice. As soon he had sat down, a waitress wearing a classic pale blue sleeveless cheongsam with a sweet smile on her face had walked towards him, stood at his left-hand side, and handed him a menu. Although he felt overjoyed, he maintained his composure, randomly flipped through the menu, and ordered two sets of crab roe dumplings, a bowl of ice fish porridge with sea cucumber, and a bowl of sliced yellow pickled radish. "Thatll be out for you in just a moment!" The waitress replied with a sweet smile. She turned and walked back to the counter. As soon as the waitress walked away, Chen Fan punched his leg to release his excitement. No wonder people were always boasting about this place. It deserved its reputation! After a short while, the waitress in the blue cheongsam came back with Chen Fan''s order. "Sir, please enjoy your meal!" she said with a sweet smile. "Thanks!" Chen Fan nodded. Deep down he had the urge to squeeze the waitresss butt. Looking at the waitress walking away, Chen Fan suppressed his evil thoughts, scooped up the legendary "aphrodisiac soup" with a white porcelain spoon, and drank it. "Oh, it tastes better than a Mongolian cows milk!" Enjoying the creamy, cheesy texture, Chen Fan savored the soup for a long time before he swallowed. In addition to the ice fish and sea cucumbers, the soup included a large variety of expensive aphrodisiacs, which were especially good for the kidneys. That is why it was known as the "aphrodisiac soup" among the locals. Its also why it cost a few hundred RMB. Chen Fan was about to eat a steaming hot golden colored crab roe dumpling when he glanced away from his food. Like all the other men in the cafe, his eyes fixed on the figure that had just entered. "Wow, a western lady!" Zhongyuns location on the coast enabled it to establish international trade with other countries. Seeing a foreigner on the streets was not surprising, but, to Chen Fans surprise, this young western woman was just his type! As a Chinese man with pure Chinese ideas of aesthetics, Chen Fan had always felt that although western ladies were beautiful, they did not have that Asian charm, and so were not as attractive as native girls. However, Chen Fan felt that this young lady was an exception. Although she had blonde hair and blue eyes, like many other western women, Chen Fan felt that she was unique. He couldnt take his eyes off her. He felt even more excited. The young western lady moved gracefully. She looked around and finally set her eyes on Chen Fan. She was not interested in him, but all the seats in the hall had been occupied by those successful looking middle-aged men, and Chen Fans table was the only one that was not crowded. Also, he was closest to her in age. The open-mindedness of western people allowed her to walk straight towards Chen Fans table without any hesitation. When Chen Fan realized she was walking towards him, he began to grin widely. He quietly wiped his mouth clean with his sleeve and put a gentle expression on his face. When she was near him, Chen Fan realized how imprudent he was. He should have stood up and pulled the chair out for her like a gentleman! The lady in front of Chen Fan was probably the most beautiful western woman he had ever seen in his life. She had a pair of beautiful blue eyes in a face as pretty as porcelain, golden hair tied neatly into a ponytail, and a slender neck with a perfect curve into nice collarbones. Most people described foreign women as flirtatious, tall, and fair, and the young lady in front of Chen Fan lived up to that reputation. While walking gracefully towards Chen Fan, this young lady had attracted the attention of most of the men that were dining here. Some of them even stopped eating and kept swallowing their saliva instead. 15 Flipping Ou Chen Fan was no exception. He swallowed hard, his adams apple moving up and down. Luckily, he was looking down and no one noticed. This beautiful foreign lady had everyone turning their heads, with her unique bearing and dress. The people having breakfast in the dining room could not help but shift their gaze to the blue-eyed, honey-blonde woman. Desire, hunger, greed Finally, while everyone looked at him as though they wanted to swallow him alive, the caucasian girl sat opposite Chen Fan. Although he was intrigued by the eye candy, he dared not hit on her. The young waitress in the blue cheongsam had followed the foreigner over and looked a little awkward. Though she had smiled very sweetly earlier, she was now forcing a smile, perhaps due to jealousy. "Miss, what would you like to have?" The young waitress in the blue cheongsam spoke fluent English. The foreign lady glanced up in surprise. She was about to speak when a ringtone cut her off. She smiled apologetically to the young girl and took her cell phone from her beautiful white silk shirt. She looked at the number and then answered the call. "Bonjour, Letitia!" The young waitress and Chen Fan both dropped their jaws when they heard the foreign lady speak. Before Chen Fan could react, the woman chuckled and spoke rapidly in a language he did not understand. Oh, shes speaking French! Chen Fan finally realized this foreign lady was French. Its why she said "bonjour" when she started talking. "Hello" in French is pronounced similar to "benzhu" in Mandarin. Her voice is as sweet as an orioles! Chen Fan kept stealing glances at the foreign lady opposite him as he ate his dumplings. At the same time, he secretly imagined how sultry this lady would be when she was horny. The foreign lady was ignorant to Chen Fans dirty thoughts. As she smiled and chatted with her friend, she shot a few looks at Chen Fan while he ate his dumplings. It could be because she had never seen such delicious looking dumplings, or that the aroma of the dumplings was too good to ignore. Anyway, Chen Fan noticed she was looking at his dumplings and swallowing. Heh heh, foreigner, now you know the greatness of Chinese cuisine! Chen Fan chuckled to himself. With delicious food to tempt her, the foreign lady quickly flipped through the menu on the table with her fair fingers. She pointed at a few pictures, the crab soup dumplings Chen Fan ordered obviously one of them. As the young waitress in the blue cheongsam was sending the order to the counter, Chen Fan quickly signaled to her and ordered a few more dishes. He wanted to stay near the beauty longer! The young french lady chatted for quite some time and only hung up after all her food arrived. Then she picked up the chopsticks to grab a crab soup dumpling from the steamer basket. Chen Fan was initially amazed by her skill with the chopsticks, but he could not help but laugh when he saw her pick up the dumpling. Eating a soup dumpling requires a certain level of technique. People who have never eaten one before would not understand this, especially a foreigner like her. It was said that once Emperor Qianlong dressed as a commoner and visited his people, and the local officials invited him to taste crab soup dumplings. Once the dumplings were served, Qianlong grabbed one and took a bite. The soup from the dumpling shot out and burned him, but the dumpling tasted so delicious and Qianlong was so pleased that he only sang its praises. Looking at the foreign lady in front of him, Chen Fan simply put down his chopsticks. He waited to see her bite the dumpling so he could laugh when the soup spattered out. But Chen Fan watched in disbelief as the foreign woman first used chopsticks in her right hand to gently pick up the dumpling by the skin at the top, then the spoon in her left to support the bottom of the dumpling as she lifted it to her mouth. With a small mouth even women would want to kiss, she gently bit the skin of the dumpling and then sucked the soup inside. "Wow...perfect technique. Dont tell me me theres also a soup dumpling in French cuisine!" Chen Fan muttered as he bit his chopsticks. "Thank you for the compliment, handsome young man!" The pretty woman smiled and shocked Chen Fan with her western-accented Mandarin. "Ah Huh Y-y-you speak Mandarin r-really well!" Chen Fan managed to stutter, his eyes almost popping out of his head. "Ah Huh so Ive been told!" The pretty blue-eyed blonde cheekily imitated Chen Fans tone. Scratching his head with another chuckle, Chen Fan felt too awkward to continue and kept scooping porridge. Although Chen Fan had experience dating, he had never dated such a great beauty before, not to mention a foreigner. She had an outgoing personality, but she was not ready to initiate a conversation with a stranger. She lowered her head and continued eating the soup dumpling with a gentle smile. Chen Fan sat there not knowing what to say, but then two diners at a table on the left provided a very good topic. There really were all types of people in the world. Although the foreign woman was very loud when chatting on the phone, she spoke softly when talking to Chen Fan. The two diners on the left did not know that she could speak Mandarin. "This foreign babe is damn gorgeous. I cant imagine how amazing it would be if I got her into bed!" The man speaking was around thirty. He did not look at Chen Fans table, and he purposefully didnt change his voice. If Chen Fan were a foreigner who did not understand Mandarin, he would have thought they were just having a normal conversation. "Tell me about it. I heard foreign babes are all hairless down there!" the young man in the suit who responded was not much older than Chen Fan. If the content of their conversation was ignored, they looked very much like two successful young people exchanging stories from work. Their volume was neither loud nor soft, but unfortunately Chen Fan and the woman opposite him heard them clearly. Chen Fan covered his mouth with his hand, his eyes smiling, but the face of the woman opposite him grew grim. The two men did not notice the womans reaction and continued to pretend that they were having a normal conversation. The topic had expanded to sizzling plots in American films. Chen Fan wanted very much to join in their conversation to point out that the plot they were discussing was very outdated, but with the woman in front of him he had no choice but to act as a gentleman and pretended to loathe them. 16 I’ll Be the One Flipping Ou Chen Fan was prepared to watch what would happen next without getting himself involved, but the men dragged him into it. "Hey, boy over there!" The young man in the black suit winked at Chen Fan. When Chen Fan looked at him, he said in a low voice, "Does the young lady in front of you wear a size C cup? If yes, silently spin your chopsticks twice. If no, scratch your nose." The way the tables were set up, if they didnt deliberately turn around, they couldnt see the western womans face. Chen Fan was quite impressed with the men. Although they were talking rubbish, their expression was so serious that they could have been discussing the stock market. Chen Fan wanted to spin his chopsticks, but he felt the womans fierce glare. She had apparently reached her limit, as her pretty face flushed red with embarrassment. Her blue eyes stared at the chopsticks in Chen Fans hand. To spin, or not to spin. Chen Fan was in a tight spot. If he spun, his impeccable character would be ruined. If he didnt spin, he would have to answer to the two men. "Hey boy, is it yes or no? Do you even know what a size C cup means?" As the young man spoke, he pretended to hold up his chopsticks unintentionally. "Look at this chopstick. If her bust is as long as this chopstick, then its a C cup!" He could still feel the intense glare from the woman in front of him, so Chen Fan continued to hesitate and ponder for a long time. Chen Fan made up his mind and clenched his teeth. After putting down his chopsticks, he turned his head around and said in a loud voice, "Hey, handsome men over there, let me tell you some unfortunate news. This woman can actually understand Mandarin! Even more unfortunate, she heard every word you said!" This was Chen Fans best option. Although her beauty was very tempting, he was not willing to answer for her. Also, this was not his fault. He might as well just say something so that they could settle it between themselves and he could just stand by. When Chen Fan finished his sentence, the men and the woman felt like they had been struck by lightning on a sunny day. The woman stared at him in disbelief and kept repeating, "Youyouyou..." but could not say anything else. "Damn!" "Shit!" The two men were furious. After spitting out vulgar words, they stared at Chen Fan like they were about to eat him alive. A weak introvert would not be able to bear a death stare from three people. But Chen Fan could not be harmed by psychological attacks. Only physical attacks could hurt him. "Judging from your faces, Im in deep trouble!" Chen Fan tried to break the ice with playful laughter. They were too angry and embarrassed to speak, so they kept their eyes locked on the Chen Fan, the trouble maker. The atmosphere was tense. The western womans eyes turned red with anger. "You bastard!" The young woman shouted in a clear local Chinese accent, as if suddenly possessed by a master linguist. Since the sentence was so short, Chen Fan didn''t realize that the lady spoke a local dialect so fluently. "Well..." Feeling a little embarrassed, Chen Fan scratched his head and said, "I see I am in trouble." The two successful, egotistical men were being humiliated publicly and they were very embarrassed. Chen Fan made the situation worse, as he was still laughing. The younger looking man could not bear it any longer and his face darkened. Of course, he could not release his anger on the attractive western woman, so he took aim at Chen Fan. "Damn!" The younger looking man flushed red with anger. He grabbed an empty dish on the table and threw it towards Chen Fan. Chen Fan thought that with a beautiful lady standing beside them, both of the men would be very sensible and would try to suppress their aggression. He did not expect a sudden attack. Bang! The glistening plate hit Chen Fans shoulder hard and shattered. Judging from the angle, it looked like the younger looking man had actually aimed for Chen Fans head, but missed. "Ah!" Chen Fan was too stunned to react, but the young western lady jumped out of her seat like a frightened white rabbit. The loud bang attracted the attention of everybody else in the cafe. They all stopped eating when they realized there was a fight. They put down their chopsticks and gathered around to watch the show. "I will f**king kill you!" Suddenly, like a lion who had lost its mate, Chen Fan snapped and jumped up from his position, his eyes red with anger. He lunged forward and kicked at the young mans gut. The young man watched Chen Fan rush towards him, and tried to get off his chair so that he could dodge the attack, but was too late Dong! The young man fell to the ground with his chair. The kick was not enough to relieve Chen Fan of his anger. He never would have imagined that he would be involved in something bad like this. All he wanted was to have a good breakfast. Chen Fans face darkened. He grabbed a dish full of soup dumplings and dumped it right on top of the young man. The hot soup splattered instantly on the young man''s face. The next second, he was rolling on the floor and covering his face with both hands. "Ouch! The pain is killing me! It hurts" In that moment, the room froze. Everybody was completely shocked by Chen Fan''s violent and outrageous act. The pretty western lady was looking at Chen Fan with a malevolent expression. Shed originally wanted to know how he would handle this situation. She hadn''t expected him to suddenly act so violently. It was as though he were a different person! As soon as the soup was poured over the young mans head, Chen Fan took two steps back and turned around to stare at the startled middle-aged man. He was still sitting in his seat, but Chen Fan wanted to make sure he couldnt plan any sneak attacks. It was easy to surprise one man with a kick, but Chen Fan knew he didnt have the skills to fight against two. Would the middle age man dare to move forward? A fight, especially with a raging young man in his twenties, could be deadly. If worse came to worst, the fight would not be over until one of them was badly injured. Seeing that Chen Fan had no intention of hitting him again, the young man moved quickly away from his chair, squatted on the floor, and began wiping the soup off his face. It was time for Chen Fan to steal the spotlight again. With a snap of his fingers, Chen Fan called to the waitress in the blue cheongsam, who was standing to the side. He took out a bundle of 100 RMB and gave it to her without even counting it. "This is the money for my breakfast and the damage. The remainder is your tip!" "Get lost!" Chen Fan wiggled the money in his hand like a wealthy man. 17 Played Out by Heaven "Wait." Seeing that Chen Fan was about to leave, the middle aged man stood up to stop him. Chen Fan turned his head. "What? You want me to pay for medical expenses?" "Bro, could you leave your name? Let me introduce myself. Im He Shan, currently a manager at the finance department of Tianhai Shipping Limited. The man you beat up is Wei Songyue, the assistant manager of Tianhai Shippings finance department." Chen Fan gasped with surprise at the older mans introduction. Tianhai Shipping Limited was very well-known; almost all the locals had heard of it. It wasnt that the company so successful that it contributed hundreds of millions in taxes to the local government each year, but that the companys staff made ones blood freeze. During the early 2000s, if you asked a local who the most famous person in Zhongyun City was, the answer would be neither Mayor Wang nor the richest local Ma Rongtao. Everyone would tell you Wei Qing. After his discharge from the local military forces in 1995, Wei Qing was transferred to Zhongyun Citys Maritime Bureau as a surveyor. When the rebel became a deputy chief five years later, he was exposed for and immediately arrested for misappropriating 170,000 RMB of public funds. If he had not come up with 150,000 RMB, he would have been jailed for at least ten years. After he was released from jail one year later, the first thing Wei Qing did that afternoon was grab an iron bar and charge into the house of a colleague whom he suspected reported him. If the person had been home, he most likely would have had to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair. Wei Qing smashed everything in his house and still threatened to break the guys legs. In the end, this colleague of his got so scared that he did not dare call the police. Instead he got someone to intercede for him, and the matter was put to rest. Since his future was destroyed, Wei Qing partnered with a few of his jailmates and rented a ship to do maritime transport. The country had just joined the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and the entire industry was soaring. Wei Qing and his partners rode that wave and their business boomed. If he had done his business honestly, the government might have even given him a medal for turning over a new leaf. Instead, he made his fortune smuggling cigarettes and liquor from Hong Kong to Macau. Then he bribed some underlings to get big crime bosses to come gamble on the yacht he rented while it was in international waters along his route. Since the laws were different on either end of the route, the Hong Kong and Macau governments could not do anything. The Tianhai Shipping Company, under Wei Qings name, had more than a few gambling yachts registered in Hong Kong and Macau. He became the role model for many local ruffians. "Bro, are you scared?" He Shan laughed. "Hmph. You rascal! Tell us who you are...if you dare. Ouch! This hurts like hell!" Wei Songyue was lying on the ground, covering his face with both hands. He could not speak clearly from the pain. "Scared? Ha! Youre the ones who should be scared!" Chen Fan stalled and touched his brows. "Have you heard of Chen Mingya?" "Chen Mingya?" The middle aged man tilted his head and thought for a while before saying uncertainly, "The deputy mayor?" "Ah, youre not stupid!" Chen Fan lengthened the "ah". After leaving the middle aged man hanging for a while, he continued, "Well, my name is Chen Xingpeng, and Chen Mingyahes my second uncle!" When Chen Fan said this, the middle aged man started to hesitate. After all, people who could dine here had either money or status. Who knows? He might really be related to the third most important man in the city. "If youre really Deputy Mayor Chens nephew, Ill just let the matter rest. But if youre lying" He Shan kept Chen Fan in suspense in return. "Zhongyun is neither too big nor too small. With Boss Weis subordinates, it wont be too difficult to track somebody down!" "Dont worry! Even if you dont look for me, Ill look for you. Hmph, just wait til youre caged by Boss Wei when you get back!" Chen Fan was arrogant, his tone tougher than that of a police officer interrogating a criminal. After talking tough, Chen Fan walked out haughtily, his eyes on the ceiling. Hed already been delayed for almost two minutes. He had to leave now before someone called the police or got help. "Chen Xingpeng, Chen Xingpeng" He Shan frowned and mumbled to himself as he watched Chen Fan leave. "Ahem." At that moment, a fellow diner stepped forward and said to the middle aged man, "Manager He, youve been fooled by that young man! Deputy Mayor Chen is the oldest child. He only has one nephew and his name is not Chen Xingpeng!" "Eh, Secretary Wang? Why didnt you say so earlier? The one who got banged up is related to Boss Wei! Waiter, get your manager here. I wanna check the surveillance video!" After swaggering out a short distance, Chen Fan turned back to see that no one followed him. He put a hand to his chest, his fear lingering. "That was close. That was close! Lucky that fella was intimidated and dared not lay his hands on me!" Deputy Mayor Chen was of course not his second uncle. He had never even met the deputy mayor before. All he knew was that the deputy mayor had the same surname as him. After finding a secluded place, Chen Fan took out his money again and carefully counted it a few times. He heaved a sigh of relief when he realized he had paid the right amount just now. Acting rich was not easy. Chen Fan had looked unrestrained when he took out the money to pay, but he had actually estimated the cost of the meal and the damaged items beforehand. Although he did not see it with his eyes, he knew by feel that he had given the waitress two hundred RMB at the most. Chen Fan had been sensitive to money since he was young. When he was in preschool and could not add numbers higher than ten, his mother would teach him with money. "If you have seventeen RMB now and I give you another sixteen, how much do you have in total?" "Thirty-three!" Chen Fan would answer loud and clear. "Damn...why all the drama?" Chen Fan shook his head and flagged a cab by the roadside. He had wanted to go shopping to his hearts content. He hadnt expected to meet those two beasts who ruined his mood! After getting home, Chen Fan laid on the couch and switched on the TV with the remote. He wanted to watch a serial he had been following called "Little Snail". The show was produced and filmed by the local television station, and although the filming was a little poor, it was realistic. As it was early, the serial had not started and the local news was still on. Chen Fan was about to change the channel when he saw the image on the news. His heart missed a beat. 18 I Want to Become an Electric Dragon The story on the news was not of Chen Fan''s fight at Wansheng Breakfast Nook, nor of the western woman that was sexually harassed. "Hello viewers! I am the reporter Xiao Lu, currently working on the Ocean 6 Research Ship, which is now more than 20 nautical miles northeast of the coast" When the government scientific research ship came to re-measure the continental shelf yesterday, it discovered a sunken five-masted ship suspected to be from the Ming Dynasty. The State Administration of Cultural Heritage was very interested in the matter, and immediately sent a team of professional government scuba divers to explore the seabed. The results of the exploration were exciting, proving that the sunken ship contained a large number of precious porcelain pieces from the Ming Dynasty. "The State Administration of Cultural Heritage has decided to initiate a protected salvage of the sunken ship starting today. Below is a picture taken by the scuba divers." Chen Fan could not even bother to wipe the cold sweat off his forehead. He laid down quickly on the sofa and shifted his consciousness to the electric eel he had neglected for half a day. An eight-meter-long black snake-like creature was drifting along a quiet sandy seabed. The small fish in the area stared curiously at the strange and motionless creature. All of a sudden, its eyes opened wide and it began to swim as fast as lightning, disturbing the sand. "May God have mercy God please Please tell me that was not the ship that I found!" Chen Fan made the eel swim at top speed, praying silently in his heart. As Chen Fan neared the sunken ship at lightning speed, the mental strength he so prided himself in dissolved. The scene in front of him made him want to cry. Above him, there were dozens of divers in full wetsuits examining the sunken ship with a spotlight. A huge net separated the sunken ship from its surroundings. "Oh no! This is so sad and painful." Chen Fan felt as though a sword had run through his heart. He clenched his teeth and swam back and forth for a while. Finally, Chen Fan gave up the idea of striking them with electricity. Since the treasure had already been discovered, it was no use crying over spilled milk. As long as he still had the electric eel avatar, there would be another chance to make a fortune. Chen Fan dragged the eels somber body back to its original place, then shifted his consciousness back to his body and fell head first into his bed. After discovering the sunken ship, Chen Fan had thought that he could be like the prince who married the princess in a fairy tale and live happily ever after. However, as the saying goes, when it rains it pours. He had an incident in the morning, and when he returned home, he had to bear the pain of losing the treasure that he found in the sunken ship! His original plan was to spend the money and pamper himself. He wanted to fall in love with beautiful girls all over the world. He was 20 years old and still didnt have a girlfriend. After thinking about it in bed for some time, Chen Fan decided to look up online to see if there was any other way to make a fortune from the ocean. Although he had about 200,000 RMB, Chen Fan was not satisfied. Even a normal house cost a few hundred thousand, and the prices kept rising with inflation. Besides, he still had a mortgage on his current house that was only 100 square meters. He was worried that 200,000 RMB would not be enough for him in the future. Turning on his computer, Chen Fan logged into a forum called Home of the Sea. The forum was relatively well-known in several coastal areas. It was a professional ocean forum, with participation from ocean research experts in the province. After searching all afternoon, Chen Fan realized that there wasn''t any other way for the eel to help him make a fortune. Finally, he decided to ask around. He hesitated a moment, then uploaded a post titled "Summoning all the Experts". As his last hope, he offered all his credit as a reward. He asked, "If you were in the sea and had full control of a 10-meter-long sea snake, how could you make money? Chen Fan did not know what to do next. He knew the longer he waited, the more answers he would get. He decided to shift his consciousness to the electric eel. He hadn''t stimulated the pituitary gland of the electric eel yet that day, so he decided he might as well do it to pass the time. Since Chen Fan had done this countless times, he could target the right spot immediately without searching. This time, though, Chen Fan felt something strange. It was a subtle feeling. If Chen Fan had not calmed himself down before stimulating the pituitary gland, it would have been impossible to notice. It felt as though something that should not exist was now inside the electric eel. Chen Fan was puzzled, as the electric eel could eat hundreds of pounds of fish per day and its body should have been in the best condition. It wasnt possible for it to have any problems. Chen Fan stopped stimulating the gland and calmed down. He used electromagnetic induction waves flowing from head to tail to feel exactly what the problem was. "Eh, what is this?" After checking many times, Chen Fan finally found the cause of the problem. There were some tiny epiphyses growing out between his backbones near his waist. Epiphyses are the irregular bones that grow between normal bones, similar to bone dysplasia. "How could this happen?" Chen Fan was confused. In class, the biology professor taught that bone dysplasia only affected terrestrial animals, not aquatic, because the bones of aquatic animals endured less pressure than those of terrestrial animals. Besides that, the only boney part of many aquatic animals was the skull. The rest of the skeletons in those fish was made up of cartilage, and cartilage itself is one type of the epiphysis. It was similar to how only humans could get hemorrhoids, as they stood upright. Hemorrhoids were the product of pressure that wasnt a problem for animals without an upright spine. The same concept applied to bone dysplasia. There was a higher risk for a laborer to develop this problem over 40 because a greater pressure would be exerted on the bones. Although these epiphyses in the eels vertebrae were not big enough to affect the flexibility of the spine, Chen Fan was still very concerned. If these epiphyses grew bigger, it would affect the electric eels swimming ability. In the worst case scenario it would fill up the gaps between bones, locking the spine and making it useless. Although he did not know for sure, Chen Fan assumed it was closely related to the stimulation of the pituitary gland. To prove his assumption correct, Chen Fan focused on the pituitary gland and continued to stimulate the region that secreted growth hormones. After half an hour of stimulation, Chen Fan stopped working and examined the epiphyses. The crystal-clear image that he saw almost made him go crazy. The unnecessary layer of epiphyseal tissues had begun mitotic division at a very high rate. The cells were dividing rapidly. If anyone had passed by him in that moment, he would have had no hesitation striking that person with his highest voltage. The situation was getting worse. His excessive stimulation of the pituitary gland must have caused too many growth hormones to be secreted. Under these circumstances, the spine couldnt absorb all of it, so the epiphyses absorbed them instead. Knowing what caused it was not going to help much, though. Figuring out how to solve the problem was more important. There were still ten months left before the eel would be too old to grow any more. If he waited until then to address the problem, he was afraid that epiphysis might even start to grow between the eels teeth. Seeing the growth of multiple chondrocytes in his mind, Chen Fan knew he had a dilemma. He could just stop stimulating the pituitary gland, but then the electric eel would never grow longer than eight meters. Suddenly, Chen Fan got an idea. "Is it possible to degenerate the growth cells that become epiphyses?" Using a weak voltage could stimulate cell activity, which meant cells could also be destroyed with a high voltage stimulation. The electromagnetic targeted chemotherapy used in the medical field applied thermal magnetic sterilization to cancer cells, but it hadnt been approved yet for use on patients. Chen Fans case was different though, as he was able to control electromagnetic waves. With electromagnetic induction, there was no risk of destroying a specific gany DNA in a cell. Chen Fan mobilized the electromagnetic induction in the electric eels body and targeted a layer of cartilage tissues. He tried to use the heat released by the collision of both the positive and negative charges in the electrical arc to destroy the whole layer. "Ah!" At the instant when the heat was released, Chen Fan felt an extreme pain in his brain as though it had been hit by a hammer! If destroying only one layer of bone cells caused him so much pain, Chen Fan speculated that he would suffer a lot if he destroyed all the extra cartilage. Chen Fan tried again on a second layer, trying out a new technique. First, he used the powerful electrical arc to destroy the nerve cells attached to the surface of the cartilage instantly so that the nerve impulses that detected pain would be unable to transmit to the brain. The electric eel had 52 vertebrae. Chen Fan had just finished the 16th vertebra, when a ridiculous but feasible idea popped into his head. The electric eel had a small spine just like a lizard. In a lizard, there was a bifurcation on both the left and right sides at the 16th vertebra. This attached to the lizard''s two front legs. At the 32nd vertebra, two back legs were attached. "Why don''t we add two pairs of legs to the electric eel?" Chen Fan got excited. "If it works out, wouldn''t it become an electric dragon?" 19 Lamb Legs in Exchange for Pig Trotters Chen Fan didnt pull this idea from nowhere. During the short period of time when he attended class dutifully, he had heard Professor Wang lecture on cell cloning. With modern cloning techniques, human organs could be easily cloned in the bodies of animals. In the 90s, a laboratory in an American University had successfully cloned a human ear onto a rat, causing a global uproar. Strictly speaking, the technique for cloning was not complicated. Whats complicated was the enucleation and transportation of the cells. Cells could only be seen clearly under an electron microscope that could magnify a few thousand times. One could imagine how difficult it would be to cut them. However, cloning was becoming very easy with new technology, and was now no more challenging than grafting. Besides, Chen Fans was thinking of the simplest form of cloning. This method, in professional terms, was known as the Heterologous Cloning Technique. So what was the Heterologous Cloning Technique? Simply put, it was like plant grafting, except in animals. It was like transplanting a pigs hoof onto a sheep. Technically, you could do it with just a knife and a ball of thread, but the hoof would die when the sheeps body rejected it. The difficult thing was getting the pig foot to survive. Humans could do it all the time now. Heart, liver, stomach, lung, kidney other than the head, everything else could be transplanted. Unfortunately, allograft rejection was a problem. People who had undergone organ transplant usually have to rely on anti-rejection medication to ensure their bodies didnt reject the foreign organs. It would be like if you obtained a gaming account but did not know the password. If you were good at hacking, you could sneak into the server and get the password, or even change it to anything you like. An amazing hacker could create a new account and change the characters however he wanted, even creating some new monster. Chen Fan felt like he was going mad with the possibilities. Suppressing his excitement, he patiently destroyed the rest of the growths in the spine, leaving only the four nodes at the sixteenth and thirty-second section of the spine for grafting on the four legs. The dead material was like soil without water. With a little pressure, it turned into a heap of powder. Chen Fan was not overly concerned about the powder, because both humans and animals could get rid of waste in their bodies. Within a few days, the stuff would be broken down by the white blood cells, then excreted through sweat glands or the gastrointestinal tract. It would be faster through the urinary tract. After killing the extra material, Chen Fan shifted his thoughts back to his own body. He dashed out from the house and hailed a cab. "Hi, please send me to the bird and flower market!" Zhongyun Citys bird and flower market was quite large, and many small retailers from neighboring counties got their goods there. After reaching the market, Chen Fan casually strolled around the pet shops before finally choosing one that sold more exotic items. "Sir, do you have lizards?" Chen Fan shouted to the owner serving customers. "Yes, yes, which species do you want?" The owner was in his forties and looked as thin as a stick. "I want the biggest one that you have, at least ten meters long!" "What, you want a crocodile?" The shop owner was shocked by Chen Fans demand. "The biggest lizard we have here is an iguana from the Brazilian rainforest, but it can only grow to two meters at the most! "Only two meters!" Chen Fan was disappointed, "Alright, give me that one!" "Sure, let me get one out to show you!" The Brazilian lizards cost a lot more than the bunnies hed been selling all day, so he hurried to the back to help this new customer. "Hey handsome, why are you buying such a big lizard?" A young woman around eighteen asked curiously. "To eat it of course!" Chen Fan licked his lips and said with dark humor, "Recently I had a lizard at an insect restaurant at Jianxing Street, and whoa, the taste was simply amazing! So now Im bringing a bigger one over to get the chef there to cook it!" Some nicely dressed young girls at the side looked at one another and said in unison, "Ewww" "Its here!" After a short while, the owner carried a long green iguana out from the storeroom. It seemed to have shrunk, though, and was only 1.8 meters long at the most. "It big enough?" The iguana was very docile and the owner carried it like a child in his arms. It did not have any reaction to its surroundings other than curiously sticking its tongue out. "Ah!" The few young girls screamed at the sight of the iguana and hid in their companions arms. "Hmm" Chen Fan carefully sized up the iguana. He walked around it before holding his chin and shaking his head, "Its still a little too small!" "This was already the biggest one I have here. This thing doesnt sell well and eats a lot, so I didnt bring in too many." "Ill get it, how much?" The pet iguana was very quiet. Even when Chen Fan pinched its claws, it only stuck out its tongue in protest. It never really moved. "Eight hundred RMB." The owner stroked the iguanas back, "There are many foreigners who keep this type of iguana. Its very docile and can survive with only food!" After taking out the required eight red notes, Chen Fan requested the owner put a dog leash on the lizards neck to prevent it from running away. Chen Fan could carry the iguana in his arms like the shop owner did, but the sixty to seventy kilos was a little too much for Chen Fan. "Oh one more thing, will this fella bite when in danger?!" "You have a dog at home? Then its best to not put them together. The dog might kill the iguana!" "No!" Chen Fan responded with a wide grin. He took out his left hand and rubbed it against the iguanas neck. 20 Grafting Completed It was quite a shock to see somebody walking a large lizard down the street. The lizard was like a huge magnet that attracted everybodys attention. Chen Fan hailed a few cabs, but none of them were willing to drive him. Finally, the fifth cab driver was brave enough to stop for him. "Hi, please take me to Shangcheng Gardens!" "What are you carrying in your arms, young man?" The driver was nervous. Not many people had seen a lizard so big its tail was left dragging on the ground while it was carried. "Its my pet lizard and it is very tame. It would not bite even if you kicked it!" Chen Fan slapped the lizard''s back to prove that the lizard really was calm. "S-sit in the back seat please!" Chen Fan settled the lizard down at home, then went to a sports store to buy a tent. Next he went to the supermarket to buy some food and tools for the next few days. Finally, after debating for a while, he went to a pet hospital to buy some anesthetic. If he was going to operate on the electric eel, he should be well prepared. Material preparation was not enough, though, so when Chen Fan came back home that night, he spent the whole night on google.com learning more practical knowledge. The next day around noon, Chen Fan came to the beach with his bag of supplies and the lizard, walked along the coast a few miles to the west, and finally set up his tent in an isolated place. After feeding the giant lizard with food containing the anesthetic, Chen Fan picked up a shovel and dug a large rectangular hole connected to the sea into the sand. It took him a while, but eventually Chen Fan could shift his consciousness to the electric eel and make it to swim into the pit that he had dug. Since he was going to operate on its stomach, Chen Fan left the electric eel''s head underwater and positioned its body on the sand. This way the wound would not be soaked in seawater after he sliced it open. Chen Fan gave the eel anesthetic, grabbed the knife, and then hesitated, looking at the giant unconscious lizard. He had slaughtered chickens and fish before, but definitely not a lizard bigger than some pigs. Chen Fan began to feel a little nervous, but he couldnt involve other people in this matter. He had to do it all by himself. After hesitating for a long time, Chen Fan made up his mind. He clenched his teeth and stabbed the giant lizard right in the heart. Then he cruelly ripped off the lizard''s four limbs one by one, spinal nerves and muscular bundles included. He carefully shook off the remaining blood, then laid out the four limbs on a clean white mat. He could not afford to make any careless mistakes, because if the nerves and muscle valves were not taken out completely, it would affect the eels ability to move later. With a new knife, Chen Fan was ready to operate on the electric eel avatar. Chen Fan knew with a quick thought that the electric eel had fallen into a coma, so he didnt need to worry about feeling any pain once he started slicing. When the sharp knife cut into the flesh of the electric eel near the spine, the cartilage that hed purposely left behind was exposed. Chen Fan quickly grabbed the file beside him and rubbed a V-shaped groove into the exposed cartilage. Chen Fan had already carved into the lizard''s four limbs so that they would not be misaligned when they were joined together. The electric eel didnt have limbs in the first place, so Chen Fan didnt need to think about joining the blood vessels and nerves. All he needed to do was connect the limbs to the cartilage of the electric eel, and use a surgical suture that he bought to stitch them together. If a doctor with any knowledge of limb attachment saw what Chen Fan was doing, she would probably kick him out of the way and do it herself. Even a nurse still in practicum would have suturing skills a hundred times better than him. Two hours later, Chen Fan muttered, "Huh. Its done!" Looking at the four short, ugly, different-colored lizard''s limbs that were attached to the electric eel''s abdomen, Chen Fan wiped the sweat from his forehead and let out a long sigh of relief! As a "surgeon" with nothing but internet knowledge, Chen Fan was very satisfied with his accomplishment. He sprayed the wounds carefully with disinfectants, then snuck into his tent. He was hungry after a long and tiring day. He ate a few pieces of bread, then shifted his consciousness to the electric eel as the anesthesia began to subside. The knife cut was deep, so even though the anesthesia had not completely worn off, Chen Fan could still feel pain in four places on the abdomen as though he was being struck by a burning torch. It was easy to attach a few limbs to the abdomen, but it was hard to keep them alive and guarantee that they were able to move. When Chen Fan focused his mind on the wound, a phagocytic war between white blood cells had begun as expected. Since he had dried the blood on the lizard''s limbs, there were almost no white blood cells in the limbs to fight back. The white blood cells of the electric eel were like a group of soldiers who would not allow the enemy to escape. Dead cells were beginning to accumulate on the surface of the muscle tissues that were joined together with the electric eels. If the situation was not controlled, these four limbs would probably die after two days because of insufficient nutrients supplied to the cells. The hematopoietic stem cells from the bone marrow were behind the rejection. If the hematopoietic stem cells did not match, then the body would refuse to provide blood. Chen Fan spread a charge carefully across the limbs and focused on the leg bones of the lizard. Due to the insufficient supply of nutrients, the hematopoietic stem cells in the leg bones had turned yellow, instead of the healthy red. After moving even further into the cell, Chen Fan began to compare the nuclei of the hematopoietic stem cells of the lizard with those of the electric eels so that he could find the difference in their genetic sequencing. DNA was fascinating, because though humans and apes were two entirely different species, only two percent of their DNA was different. After careful comparison, Chen Fan found that there was only a three percent difference in the DNA strands of the electric eel and the lizard. The smaller the difference, the better. Chen Fan would have been overjoyed if there were no differences at all. Taking a sample of a hematopoietic cell from the electric eel, Chen Fan began to use electromagnetic waves of different frequencies to modify the DNA code of the hematopoietic cells in the lizard. Of course, Chen Fan was not foolish enough to modify the genetic codes of all the hematopoietic stem cells. It would have taken hundreds of years. Since the cells could reproduce on their own, all Chen Fan need to do was modify one of the hematopoietic stem cells, use their natural ability to repel the unknown cells, and let them engulf the surrounding cells. Under the electric stimulation, the stem cells that had just joined the battle kept reproducing crazily, spreading like a deadly virus. One to two, two to four, four to eight, eight to sixteen... after the first cell had reproduced 30 times, there were already 10,737,441,824 cells. It would reach the trillions soon. After creating this "virus" in all four limbs, Chen Fan quickly shifted his focus to the joints to stimulate the lizards tissue cells. He didnt want them to fall to the white blood cells. By midnight, most of the hematopoietic stem cells in the legs had been replaced, and only one third of the old tissue was left. 21 Kill You with a Bomb Chen Fan did not have time to sleep that night. Although the white blood cells in the electric eels body had stopped attacking the lizard legs, the blood vessels of the iguana claws did not connect to the eels. Chen Fan had to spend a lot of time stimulating the muscle tissues around the wound so that more blood capillaries could come together to provide nutrients for the new legs. ---------- Three days later, scabs had completely formed on the the eels wound. As for the iguana claws, other than being shriveled due to lack of nutrients, there were no problems. The most exhilarating thing was, when Chen Fan pressed hard on any one of the claws, he could feel a weak sense of pressure in his brain. From a medical perspective, this was the most important way to determine if the limb grafting was successful. It proved that there was already a connection between the nerve centers of both parties, and the graft would not be just an adornment. Since the body had healed, Chen Fan did not have to be afraid of the seawater causing harm to the skin anymore. The eels stomach had been left empty for three whole days, and it might not have the energy to release electricity anymore if it still did not eat anything. He sent the eel out, and was extremely contented with his seafood feast. Large yellow croaker, pollack, halibut, hairtail, he had them all! At sunset, Chen Fan packed up the tent to leave. "This damn place, I couldnt sleep in peace here!" After getting home and putting down his stuff, the first thing he did was dash to the restaurant down the street for a feast. Chen Fan belched as he logged on to House of Seas forum back at home. It had been three days since he posted. He should have gotten a load of comments with his high reward! After clicking on the marine community board, Chen Fan saw his post immediately, as it had been highlighted by some bored moderator. He did not expect his post to be so hot; it had a few hundred comments below it. One said, "Thats easy, just go to Australia and catch some abalone to sell, one could fetch a few thousand RMB!" Too short-sighted, Chen Fan ignored it straightaway. "Go underwater and find a mermaid of course, and then unite your bodies!" This guy was too eager to have sex. "Everyone, we have to believe in science and not indulge in fantasy like the OP." This guy was just being annoying. After going through a few pages, Chen Fan did not find any satisfactory answer. He wanted to leave the website, but then he saw a post from Yiteng Yun. "I didnt want to comment initially, but seeing everyones poor imagination, I have to say a few words. How much is abalone worth? Do you know how much one gram of sea snake venom can be sold for in the global market? Let me tell you. Ten thousand, USD! A ten meter long sea snake wouldnt have any problem producing more than ten grams of venom each day! This is only a small amount. If you take a sonar recorder to other countries and record the whereabouts of strategic nuclear submarines, do you know how much that would be worth? I can say without exaggeration that you can get at least ten million RMB selling it to any country! If you place a concentrated explosive in the submarine during wartime, congrats, you would become a VIP of the head of state!" "Ah, a genius among beasts!" After reading Yiteng Yuns comments, Chen Fans heart was pounding. A sea snake has so many uses! And what about the electric eel when I make it grow even longer in the future? It could be a hero! With this thought, Chen Fan quickly clicked on Yiteng Yuns profile and added him as a friend. "How boring can this person be. Even his nickname is Yiteng Yun. Dont tell me thats his real name!" Chen Fan was about to start chatting with him when someone knocked at the door in the living room. "Who is it?" Chen Fan got up from his seat to get the door. "Im your neighbor from upstairs! "Coming!" Chen Fan did not suspect anything and quickly opened the door. "You are?" He saw a young man with scars on his face at the door who did not look like his neighbor. Before Chen Fan could continue, the man kicked Chen Fan fiercely in the gut. "Its this rascal, kill him!" The kick made Chen Fan move a few steps back, and the young scarred man dashed in, followed by another two guys holding iron rods. Chen Fan was in shock. He did not understand why these three young men had barged into his house to beat him up. Chen Fan retreated to his bedroom. Bearing with the excruciating pain in his stomach, Chen Fan shut the door with his right hand and leaned firmly against it. Bang bang! Just after he pressed down the lock button, Chen Fan felt sharp pain through the door and his back went numb. Chen Fan started coughing. The sharp pounding made Chen Fans chest shake wildly, and he felt as if it had been stuffed with cotton! "Ah" Chen Fan bent his knees and supported himself on the wall with his right hand while his left hand held tightly to the door lock. He stood rigidly, using his back to absorb the impact on the wooden door so the door couldnt be kicked opened from the outside. Bang! Bang! Bang! These people were very experienced in kicking down doors, and every one of their kicks was around the lock. Chen Fan coughed again. His back was still numb from the continuous pounding, and he felt as if the organs in his chest were being grabbed and tossed around by huge invisible hands. "Tear this place down! Boss instructed us to give him a hard time!" The scarred man instructed, after seeing that they could not kick down the door. Time was of utmost importance. The neighbors could call the police, and the minimum sentence for a violent home invasion was ten years in prison. The smashing sound outside was like rolling drums pounding continuously on Chen Fans heart. "You were sent by Wei Songyue!" Chen Fan voice was as hoarse as a wild beasts. "Why, dont tell me you wanna take revenge on us?" The scarred man was arrogant. "So what if we are? Since were here, that means were not afraid of a little shrimp like you!" Whether the man admitted it or not, Chen Fan knew that this was Wei Songyues doing. But how did they find his house? "Fee free to try to take revenge!" The three men left with these words and swaggered off, after theyd created a mess in Chen Fans house. Chen Fan had been pressing against the back of the door for more than ten minutes and finally relaxed. He opened the door and found nothing undamaged in the living room. Chen Fan felt a raging fire from his chest dashing to his head and exploding inside. "Wei Songyue, Im gonna make you explode!" 22 Ocean Storm Marine Company Chen Fan was furious. Although he had fought in group fights since he was young, he had never been beaten before. This time not only he was hit by someone, but so were the things in his house. "Revenge. I must take revenge!" Chen Fan clutched his chest furiously. Chen Fan could not be blamed in this matter. It was a guy named Wei Songyue who caused this to happen. If he had not smashed Chen Fans head with a plate, Chen Fan would not have rushed to beat him up. Well, even if it was Chen Fans fault, he still wanted revenge! At that instant, Chen Fan thought of his third uncle who had blown off half of his arm while he was blast fishing in the countryside. His uncle had loved to play with explosives since he was a child and Chen Fan was always very interested in making one of his own. Taking a deep breath, Chen Fan reeled in his anger, picked up his phone, and made the call. "Hey, uncle! Its Xiao Fan. Do you have any explosives left? I want a dozen of them for blast fishing!" "Explosives! Xiao Fan, a strict law has been implemented against this. If you were caught you would be imprisoned. Besides, the government has banned merchants from selling ammonium nitrate fertilizer anymore. If you want to fish, just drop by and I will take you to the sea to fish with the net!" "Is there another way? I know that you know how to make different types of explosives." "It is possible, but Xiao Fan, its not that Im not willing to help you, its just that the government is very strict on this matter. If you went blast fishing in the ocean and got caught, you would be sentenced to two years in prison, and anyone that reports the incident would be rewarded. Think about it. It is impossible to go unnoticed." "Oh, its okay then. I just wanted to play with explosives. You know, the pop sound is very addictive!" Shaking his head, Chen Fan hung up the phone. What should he do now? Without help, it was impossible to take revenge, as Wei Songyue had the support of Tianhai Shipping Limited. Can I use the electric eel to strike their boat with electricity? No, Not a good idea.The current would become extremely weak if more than 2000 volts of electricity spread across the ship. Even if he could kill a few people, Chen Fan wouldnt do it. His enemy was Wei Songyue, not the innocent gamblers! If he wanted to find Wei Songyue, he would have to go to Tianhai Shipping Limited. However, that place is like a lions den. If he didnt have a gang of skillful friends, there was no way that he could make a show of it. "Tianhai Shipping Limited Tianhai Shipping limited" Chen Fan kept muttered as he thought If Boss Wei can start a gambling company... Then why can''t I? ---------- Thinking about the post from his online friend Yiteng Yun, Chen Fan was hopeful. Was there any problem that couldnt be solved by a growing electric eel? He could get his hands on a deep-sea monster if someone wanted him to! In the Ocean House internet forum, there were a lot of people who wanted to buy weird stuff from the ocean. There were even people that would spend 50,000 RMB just to buy a snake somebody named the "Dragon Sea King". There were rumors that this snake produced bile that had a miraculous curative effects on cerebral venous thrombosis disease. As long as someone continuously drank soup mixed with this snake bile, he could recover even if he was already half paralyzed! Thats it! I should start a sea business company that specializes in carrying out strange requests! After making a fortune, I could directly hire a bunch of top fighters to burst into Tianhai Shipping Company, catch Wei Songyue, and feed him to the sharks! Chen Fan couldnt help but feel excited as he thought about this idea. The 200,000 RMB he had would be enough to start a business. Many people had probably dreamed to own a company of their own, and Chen Fan was one of them. Since he was young, he had always envied those big CEOs that took their mistresses for a tour in their Benz. He often daydreamed about how splendid it would be if he could also own a well-known company! "Damn Wei Songyue, sooner or later, I will kill you!" Snapping back into reality, Chen Fan looked around at the ruined furniture in his house and got angry all over again. To start a company, he would need to go through official procedures that were super tedious and troublesome. Fortunately, there was another way: a company that specializes in registering new companies could help you complete the entire registration process in a short period of time. Since they provided service for everybody, all you needed to do was pay a small amount. This kind of company was common on the street. After tidying up the mess in his house, Chen Fan took his bank card and hit the road the next morning. He thought about it all night at home and decided to name his company "Ocean Storm Marine Company." Registration companies were very easy to find. After walking down two streets, he spotted one in a tiny storefront. "Sir, do you need help to register a company?" The receptionist was not dumb. The moment she saw Chen Fan, she knew that he wanted to register a company. "Well, yes!" "What kind of company would you like to register?" The receptionist pulled out a stack of information and handed it to Chen Fan. "For a company that has two or more shareholders, we will need a minimum of 30,000 RMB to verify, whereas, for a sole-proprietorship company, we will need 100,000 RMB. Of course, we can also provide you a credentials!" "I''m interested in a sole-proprietorship company. I already have the money, but do I still need to go to the bank for verification?" Chen Fan scratched his head. Of course it would be a sole-proprietorship company. He had no partner, and this way he could keep the profits all to himself. "Yeah, I''ll have someone to accompany you to the bank to verify it later. It wont take long!" Private groups were definitely more efficient. All he needed to do was to fill out a form and go to the bank for verification. As for the rest, the receptionist said that she would get it done in only three days. After paying 1,000 RMB as a deposit, Chen Fan left with satisfaction. Registering for a company was cheaper than he thought. Now that he had a company, he needed to rent office space. He was not planning to use a big office. A few dozen square feet was more than big enough as it was just for appearances. It was the electric eel that really did all the work. After wandering around, Chen Fan was attracted to a 16-story silver gray office building with cool-looking tinted glass. After calling the number that was printed on the advertisement banner, Chen Fan chose an office on the third floor. It was about eighty square meters. The original price was 32,000 RMB, but Chen Fan managed to bargain it down to 30,000 RMB. After transferring the money, Chen Fan went to the furniture store and bought some office supplies like tables, sofas, and chairs. Then he went to the electrical appliance store and bought computers, fax machines, printers, and scanners. Chen Fan was an impatient person. He never procrastinated and would make sure to complete all the work he could in one day. When the office was tidied neatly with the help of the delivery workers, it was already past eight o''clock in the evening. Chen Fan gave them an extra 200 RMB for their dinner money. Now that he was a boss, he needed employees. Early the next morning, Chen Fan took a cab to the job fair. Since it was not a college holiday, the recruitment market was not crowded. After paying 500 RMB to rent a spot, Chen Fan sat there crossed-legged and placed the signboard that he just printed on the table, acting like a temporary interviewer himself. Being twenty-something-year-old young man here to recruit attracted the attention of the crowd. Most of the people who passed by stopped to look at the sign, but then shook their heads and left. The sign read, "Ocean Storm Marine Company is looking to fill the following positions: A business manager, 20-25 years old, polite-looking, no criminal record, proficient in computer skills, must have good communication skills, no educational background limitations, at a minimum monthly salary of 1,000 RMB and a bonus given according to the dividend. "A network technician, proficient in designing and maintaining websites, monthly salary between 1,500 RMB to 2,000 RMB, with the same requirements as the position above! "Receptionist required, females with a sweet voice will be considered first, monthly salary is between 1,200 RMB to 1,500 RMB and the same requirements as the first position!" These were the requirements of any dummy corporation. An hour later, five people had come to consult, but Chen Fan had not employed them. Their demands were getting higher and higher, and they complained that the company was too small or didnt seem to have a bright future ahead. "Huh. Nowadays, college students are really picky!" Chen Fan yawned lazily. "Excuse me, are you still looking for a technician?" Just as Chen Fan was about to fall asleep, a young man in his early twenties approached him. "Yes. Do you know how to create websites?" Chen Fan got up and looked excitedly at the young man in glasses. "Yes." The young man said with a calm expression. "Ok, youre employed. What''s your name?" Chen Fan took out a form and handed it to the young man. "Yiteng Yun." 23 Long Live the Boss "Yiteng Yun?" Chen Fan shouted excitedly. "Is there a problem with my name?" Yiteng Yun frowned slightly. He had always found it offensive when someone talked about his name. "No problem at all. Come, lets get the contract signed!" "Hmm...let me take a look at the contract.Theres something strange about the business your company is running." Yiteng Yun looked carefully at the companys profile and had a strange look on his face. Is this actually a company that helps people solve their problems in the sea? I hope its not a scam! "Its difficult to make it big nowadays if we dont find some innovative business to do! Other easy businesses have all been snatched up by others, so our company decided to venture out on another path!" Chen Fan gave Yiteng Yun an innocent look. After reading through the contract carefully twice and discovering no signs of illegal money use, Yiteng Yun readily signed the contract. It was obvious that the contract was written up by an amateur, so there was no great risk signing it. He was barely tempting his luck. After he handed over one of the two copies of the signed contract, Chen Fan was extremely pleased. "I saw someone also called Yiteng Yun who commented on a post on House of Seas forum...was that you?" "Yeah, that guy was really silly to ask such a shallow question." Yiteng Yun curled his lip. Chen Fan forced a laugh and did not respond to him. "Since youre now part of our company, you have to perform well and show some results!" Chen Fan adjusted his tone to sound like a boss, "First, go get two bottles of mineral water. Its been two hours and Im dying from thirst!" "Umm," Yiteng Yun looked as if he had just eaten a fly. "Excuse me, are you still hiring website technician?n Im Yu Lin." After Yuteng Yun left, a young man almost the same age as Chen Fan came over. "Ahem" Seeing business knocking at the door again, Chen Fan sat up straight and told the young gentleman who looked like he just stepped into high society, "This position has just been taken, but why dont you apply for the position of operations manager? Our managers are paid very well, including overtime rewards, holiday bonuses, and a years end bonus!" "But Im only good with the computer. Things like setting up and maintaining a website are not a problem, but Im really not good at anything else." "What does that matter? No one knows everything. Just be an operations manager for now, and wait till the company expands. When it does, youll be one of the originals, and Ill let you have full authority over the website!" Chen Fan rambled. "Then do I have to pay any fees?" Yu Lin touched his nose. There were too many money cheating scammers disguised as recruiters these days, and one could easily fall prey to them if not careful. "No fees required. You just need to sign this contract and youll officially become a part of our company!" "Haha, your companys business is...really unique!" Chen Fan shot him a "but of course" expression before happily taking the signed contract from Yu Lins hands. "Yu Lin...hmm, its a good name. One look and I know that youre a knowledgeable person! Come over and stand in for me, I need to go stretch my legs. All we need now is a female receptionist. She only needs to have a sweet voice; the other things are not important!" "Umm" Yu Lin was speechless ---------- "Its awesome being a boss!" Chen Fan looked leisurely at Yu Lin blabbering to the girls who were here for interviews as he drank the mineral water Yiteng Yun bought. He felt good. "Boss, what do you think of her? She just dropped out from Soochow University and came here to work." Yu Lin pointed at one of the women. "Hello sir!" The pretty girl looked around the same age as Chen Fan. She was dressed in plain-looking clothes and it looked like her family was not well-to-do. "Sure, of course!" Chen Fan had wanted to say she would be perfect as his secretary, but since he was now a boss, he had to act like one. "Alright, since were done with the recruitment, lets go to the office!" In the cab, everyone, with the exception of Chen Fan, was a little reserved, probably embarrassed by all the new people. After getting out, Chen Fan pointed at the sixteen-story gray commercial building behind him. "This is our company. What do you think, stylish?" Whoa...this...were gonna strike it rich! Everyone thought. No one had expected this ordinary-looking young boss to actually own such a large company! Could he be some rich mans son gaining experience in society? Yes, that must be it! Only rich and powerful families would give their children money when they reached 20 and let them try to make it in business. Sometimes in these families, the most outstanding child gets to take over a huge family business! "Boss, are you...are you still hiring? I have a neighbor whos also a recent graduate, and shes a professional accountant." Chen Fans only female employee Zhang Lele stared at him in an adoring manner. There was a pleading tone in her sweet voice. It seemed like she was very close to this neighbor. "Well...we dont need anyone for now." Chen Fan shrugged and said with slight apologies. "Oh" "But we will soon! Believe me, our company will definitely grow by leaps and bounds within a short period of time!" He quickly added, seeing Zhang Leles pitiful pout. "Yes!" The three subordinates nodded in unison, looking like they had complete trust in him. With such a big facade, its difficult not to do well! "Come, Ill bring you to look at our office!" Their expressions changed as they walked through the building. First there was excitement, then uncertainty, and finally disappointment. "Boss, you mean theres only four of us in the entire company?!" Yu Lin finally asked after much hesitation. Chen Fan spread out his hands and said, "Isnt this obvious?" "Boss, do we have a share in these three desks with computers?" Although disappointed, Zhang Lele saw the brand new desks and computers and had the urge to sit down. Arent white-collared workers in movies similar to this? Yiteng Yun did not say anything. Since he had already gotten himself in, he might as well stay on. Anyway the working environment was not too bad and he had computers to play with. "Lele, the computer beside the door at the north side is yours. Yu Lin, you shall sit at the one on the left. Yiteng Yun, your seat is on the right!" After arranging the seats according to what he had previously planned, Chen Fan sat at a higher table facing the sunlight. "Ahem! Now, I have a few announcements to make!" Chen Fan pounded on the table and got the threes attention, "From tomorrow onward, we work from 8:00 am to 11:30, and then from 2:30 to 5:30 if theres no overtime work. Overtime pay will be 20 RMB per hour!" "Yay, long live the boss!" Zhang Lele clapped happily. "Work hard everyone. Good food awaits us!" Chen Fan enjoyed being complimented. "Ill treat everyone lunch!" "Boss youre so cool!" Yu Lin fawned as he rubbed his hands together. Yiteng Yun also could not hide his excitement, but he controlled himself and did not make any noise. There was a good restaurant called Phoenix just beside the office building where people from nearby companies frequently hosted their clients, and the place was considered to be classy. At noon, Chen Fan led the three employees to Phoenix Restaurant for a feast. At the table, they each promised to do their best for the company! The meal ended just after 1:00 in the afternoon. Chen Fan belched as he stepped into the office, and the employees followed behind with satisfied faces. After chatting until 2:00, Chen Fan grinned and said, "Everyone, lets get to work!" "Boss, just give us instructions and we will follow them!" Zhang Lele was full of excitement. She had dropped out of college and found a good-paying job easily, and, more importantly, this young boss was really great! "The mission is very simple!" Chen Fan took out a pile of pamphlets from under the desk, "Heres a thousand copies of advertisements I got someone to print yesterday. Your mission this afternoon is to paste them all over the streets!" 24 Business comes knocking If there was any topic that people in Zhongyun city talked about these days, it was Ocean Storm Marine Company. Bizarre incidents were not uncommon in this city, but a company so weird was a first. Their ads all read: "Our company undertakes the following business: Professional marine salvage services are provided to search for any kind of important missing objects! (Please provide the specific location. Charges will be calculated according to weight and depth. The water depth should not exceed 500 meters and the weight of the objects should not exceed 1,000 catty.) Professional search services are also provided for rare treasures in the ocean! (Please provide the specific location of the treasure and the detailed appearance of it. The water depth should not exceed 500 meters and charges are calculated according to the rarity of the treasures.) Professional hunting services for any kind of sea creature! (It is necessary to provide the habitat area of the creature and its appearance. The water depth must not exceed 500 meters and charges are calculated according to the size of the creature and its aggression.) Professional shipping of any object that weighs less than 1,000 catty! (Our company guarantees the safety and confidentiality of the goods, and charges are calculated according to the distance traveled and its weight.) Note: Our company has also done some research regarding destructive ocean activities. If you need any help regarding this matter, please contact us! Ocean Storm Marine Companys contact information: QQ10058226 (chat group) Tel no: 0527-8628XXXX Companys address: Wencheng road, 123 Boning building, 6th floor." It was obvious why a non-conforming business like this became a heated topic discussed among citizens. "Boss, we still dont have any business after waiting all whole morning!" Yu Lin complained, resting his head on his hand. After completing the company''s website with Yiteng Yun that morning, all three of them had signed up for the forum and posted about the company. "Just be patient. This is only the beginning. Customers are concerned about the reputation. When we have a good reputation, our business will definitely be better!" Chen Fan wasnt too worried about. He still had more than 80,000 RMB for him to manage the company for a while. "Oh yeah. Yiteng Yun, set up a LAN and lets play a game of World of Warcraft!" "Boss, we got a business request!" Feeling bored, Zhang Lele had refreshed the background management web page and saw somebody had registered and posted. "What is the request about? Read it out loud!" "Okay boss!" After clearing her throat, Zhang Lele read it out loud: "Hello to everybody of the Ocean Storm Marine Company. I am the Chief Commander of the US Pacific Fleet, Admiral Bertie Kittley." "While carrying out escort missions in Somalia, the USS Enterprise (CVN-65) in my command was shot down by two pirates armed with powerful firepower. We are now asking for help from your company. Please dispatch your professional salvage team immediately to the accident site. The price is negotiable." "Damn" Chen Fan was shocked. Finally, he slapped the table and said in sarcastically, "You tell them that our company congratulates them on behalf of all our staff!" After that, Chen Fan immersed himself in the game of World of Warcraft. The three of them played for more than an hour, but they lost the game at the end when they were defeated by the last boss, Cao Cao. ---------- "Excuse me, is this Ocean Storm Marine Company?" At about three o''clock in the afternoon, the company finally had its first walk-in customer. "You? What are you doing here?" Chen Fan asked in surprise. He had not expected such a coincidence. It was none other than the policewoman that Chen Fan had met the night he released the electric eel into the sea. "Are you an employee of this company?" Xie Xiaoya asked increduously. "He''s our boss!" Before Chen Fan was able to answer, Zhang Lele stood up and answered on his behalf. "Miss, how can we help you?" "Boss?" Xie Xiaoya shook her head in disbelief. "Are you kidding me? He doesnt look like a boss to me at all!" "He''s really the boss of our company!" Yu Lin had stood up quickly from his chair when he saw the beautiful lady. "Please allow me to introduce myself. I''m Yu Lin, the business manager. If you have any inquiries or need any help, Ill be the one to assist you!" "Are you confident that you can salvage anything less than 500 meters deep?" Xie Xiaoya directed the question at Chen Fan, who was sitting in his chair, and totally ignored Yu Lin. Chen Fan answered, "No, Im not confident at all. You can leave now! We''re going to close soon!" Chen Fan didn''t want to deal with the police, even if she was beautiful. "Not sure? If thats the case, how could you still be advertising it everywhere?" "Arent advertisements meant to be exaggerated?" Chen Fan shrugged. "TV advertisements are way more exaggerating than mine!" "What?" Startled, Xie Xiaoya asked, "Exaggerated?" "Yes. Were not sure we can salvage objects that are 500 meters underwater, but we can at 200 meters!" Chen Fan lied. The nine meter-long electric eel could easily withstand the water pressure at 500 meters deep easily. He just didn''t want to deal with the police. "A depth of 200 meters is enough. I want your help in salvaging something. The area is definitely less than 200 meters deep!" Chen Fan hesitated for a moment and spoke his mind. "Aren''t you afraid that we''re scammers?" Normally, whoever saw such an advertisement would first think that this was a fake company. Xie Xiaoya looked at him like he was an idiot and asked, "Huh, do you think cops like us are afraid of scammers? Our department wants help salvaging something. The other day, we worked with the coastguard to catch a fishing boat that smuggled some guns from Southeast Asia, but the guns were thrown overboard. If we don''t retrieve them, we wont have enough evidence to convict them. "However, the water there is too deep for an average scuba diver. We tried to contact the archaeological team that is salvaging that ancient sunken ship in the bay, but they told us to wait for at least eight months. They said that archaeological work is currently the priority of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, and because they only have so many scuba divers on duty, they really couldnt lend us some manpower to find for the guns in the vast ocean. "Its been quite hectic in our department these past few days, and you just happened to post so many advertisements yesterday. So, our director sent me here to check it out. If you really can salvage the guns, we will pay 50,000 RMB!" "Fifty thousand?" Chen Fan knew he could accomplish this in half a day if he knew the specific location. It would be an easy 50,000 RMB. "Yes, but as a condition, we are going to send someone on board to watch you salvage because these guns are high priority for us." "Then I''m afraid that I can''t accept your offer! We salvage with the latest technology, developed by our company, and we must ensure our technical privacy." Xie Xiaoya clearly thought Chen Fan was talking bullshit and asked, "Is there no room for negotiation? Guns are different that normal cargo, and we have to make sure that they don''t get stolen!" This made Chen Fan very angry. What was she insinuating? "Then leave, I can''t help you!" 25 First Deal "No, you have to help whether you like it or not!" Xie Xiaoya was anxious. It was not easy for her to find hope, how could she let it go just like that? Chen Fan did not say anything, but his expression was a little stiff. "Im begging you." Xie Xiaoya softened her tone. "I promise the people with you will never divulge secrets!" "No. Its either your people dont go or we drop it." Chen Fan rubbed his face, "You find out how many firearms there are exactly, and I guarantee Ill send them over." "That wont do. Firearms are dangerous. We need to have someone present!" Chen Fan laughed, "So what if you have someone present? He wont be able to go underwater with us. If I really wanted keep them for myself, I could just bring up a portion and go back again another time." Xie Xiaoya knitted her brows and thought for a while, "Let me call my superiors and see what they say." When Xie Xiaoya went out to make the phone call, Yu Lin quickly chimed in, "Boss, let us in on the secret. Do you really have a way to salvage stuff 200 meters underwater? Wouldnt we have to close down if we cheat the police?" "Boss, Im sure you have a way!" Zhang Lele did not want the company to close down. It wasnt easy to find such a relaxing job. "But are you sure?" Yiteng Yun was also worried. He needed money. Otherwise he wouldnt have looked for a job. He was a nerd who could stay at home for a whole month. "Would I start a company if Im not confident?" Chen Fan snorted, "I can make a trip easily even if it is five hundred meters down, not to mention two hundred meters!" Zhang Lele giggled and stuck out her little tongue. "Boss, stop exaggerating!" "Wow. I guess youre really amazing." Yu Lin still seemed unsure. After a while, Xie Xiaoya pushed open the door and came back in. It was impossible to tell how she was feeling. They didnt know if they could earn the 50,000 RMB. Xie Xiaoya sounded hesitant, "Our bureau chief has agreed, but we wont pay until after you salvage them." "Whats the exact location? How many firearms in total?" "Xianqiao Bay area. We have comrades from the marine police department on guard there, so you wont have to worry about getting the location wrong. According to our information, there are 50 identical single-barreled shotguns and 1,000 shotgun cartridges. Our bureau chief said that we dont have to be around during the salvage process, but you have to ensure the accuracy of the numbers. If you find the numbers to be incorrect, you have to call for us immediately and stay put there. "Oh, one more thing. Our bureau chief needs you to register at the police station later!" Xie Xiaoya added. It was natural for them to be so cautious. This matter was very complicated. The police scuba team could only go down one hundred meters, but that sea there was two hundred meters deep. The archaeological team had the ability to dive that deep but could not be bothered with them. The Liberation Armys scuba special forces unit could also dive to that location, but they were even harder to get help from. They were a highly confidential team, with no contact information. It would be impossible to get them to help. Since the police had caught and interrogated a suspect, they had to get moving on this case. They could only hold the man for 15 days. It was lucky that Chen Fans company had appeared before them. They decided to give it a try. Normal people were afraid of fake companies, but there was no reason for the police to be afraid of them. Their only worry was Chen Fan stealing the guns. Anyway, it was useless for them to worry about this. Like what Chen Fan said, if he really wanted to keep the stuff for himself, he could simply leave a few behind and go back for them later. The police had no one who was able to dive that deep anyway. Under such circumstances, they had no choice but to grant Chen Fans request. Then again, if they discovered Chen Fan guilty of stealing, they could just arrest him. "Youre not making it easy to earn this 50,000 RMB!" Chen Fan rubbed his head. "Can I just let you hold on to my ID?" "Sure." Xie Xiaoya nodded indifferently. "Hmm. Yu Lin, bring her to fill in the forms!" ---------- The next morning at about nine oclock, Chen Fan rented a worn-out single-blade speedboat for 200 RMB and headed toward the location hed been given. Driving a speedboat was like playing with a toy car for kids who lived by the coast. Chen Fan could drive a speedboat when he was still in elementary school. As he approached the meeting place, Chen Fan could see a small boat moored there. "You were sent by the police to get the guns?" shouted a young man excitedly. He wore a maritime police uniform. Chen Fan patted the diving equipment he had just bought and said in a low muffled voice, "Yes. This the location?" "Yes, yes, youre finally here. Youre my savior; Ive been here for two days and Im bored to death." The young man was likely a newbie to have gotten this rough assignment. "Please proceed with your work. Call me at this number when youre done and Ill come look for you." The young man waited for Chen Fan to take down the number before escaping from his post in his speedboat. "Seems like its indeed been very boring for him for the past two days!" Chen Fan chuckled. After the man left, Chen Fan did not bother touching the second hand diving equipment he got for 800 RMB. Instead, he just laid down in the boat and shifted his thoughts to the electric eel. The eel was still at the same old place. Except for hunting, Chen Fan let it stay in the shallow seas where it was safe. Even the electric eel had its own electromagnetic warning system, it always pays to play it safe. It had been another three days since the claws were grafted, and Chen Fan had not stopped stimulating the eels pituitary gland. The eel had grown to almost nine meters, and the four small claws also seemed to be growing, if slowly. All creatures can assimilate. After being separated from the original bodys color cells and mesothelial cells, the four claws had changed a lot on the electric eels body. The previously green skin had become darker and was turning black. Even the scales on the surface had become finer and smoother, like the soft scales on a snake belly. They were dark green and looked very pretty. During the grafting process, Chen Fan had not thought of joining the eels blood vessels and nerve branches, and neither did he have the ability to do such a highly technical task. If it had been a normal creature, the graft would likely be a useless adornment even if the body did not reject the tissue. But the eels weak electric current acted like high-energy chemical fertilizers. The capillaries and nerve fibers on both sides healed at an insane speed, and the connecting points two strengthened. The electric eel avatar now looked a little funny, like a chubby lizard. After spending half an hour to stimulate growth, Chen Fan made the eel swim to the bottom of the boat and then down deeper into the sea. The water pressure at two hundred meters was not a problem for Chen Fans avatar now. He was confident he could get all the way way to 600 meters. At the seafloor, Chen Fan made the eel discharge 2,000 volts, extending 80 meters underwater. Electromagnetic induction was more useful than eyes on the uneven seabed. The electric eel was a terrifying killing machine, electrocuting any fish that went near it. Even the fish some distance away moved their tails in fear, escaping from this death zone. 26 Sea Star Entertainment Club Searching for things on the vast ocean floor may be difficult for others, but for Chen Fan''s electric eel avatar, it was just "taking" rather than "searching." With just a simple stroll, Chen Fan spotted the target in a soft sand bed. The plastic-covered single-barrel shotguns were wrapped ten in a bundle with oil paper. There were exactly five bundles, and beside them were two square boxes sealed with tape that could easily have contained a thousand bullets. Looking at these guns in front of him, Chen Fan had the urge to shoot one. There was no man who did not love guns. However, Chen Fan could not do so because he would definitely get into trouble even if there is a shortage of only one. When Chen Fan was young, he had gone through a lot of plastic toy guns. "Just earn the 50,000 RMB honestly." With a sigh, Chen Fan made the electric eel take three bundles of hunting rifles to the surface with its mouth. If that coast guard man hadn''t left just now, Chen Fan was afraid that he would have been frightened to death by the scene. Suddenly, a black head emerged out of the calm ocean. The monster that looked like a snake at first raised its slender body and threw three bundles of guns from its mouth onto the boat. "Ha! 10,000 RMB!" The electric eel opened its mouth and smiled like a human. Then, it plunged back into the water. This must have been the easiest way to earn money in the whole world. Chen Fan went back to imagining getting a fancy car, a beautiful woman, and a large mansion. Back at the seafloor, Chen Fan was ready to take the remaining bundles of guns and two boxes of bullets back to the ship. He picked them up, then froze, his heart hammering and his mouth dry. On the soft sand lay a 15-bullet Luger automatic pistol still in a holster, and a spare cartridge filled with bullets. Chen Fan could feel the secretion of adrenaline spreading through the electric eel. It was nervously twitching its body. He was sure that the police didn''t know about this handgun. Guns are not a small issue. That''s why the police can''t use general terms like ''probably'' or ''maybe'' in their report. Their report must be very accurate, to the bullet. "Maybe the guy who was caught used this to defend himself? And seeing that it was not possible to fight back, he just threw it away with the smuggled goods?" Chen Fan could understand why the guy didn''t want to reveal to the police that he had a handgun with him. One more gun meant one more crime, if he could lie about it, he would be able to avoid two extra years in prison. He would be tried for more than just smuggling if he was arrested with this gun on him. Smuggling 50 guns would send him to prison for 10-20 years, but if he resisted arrest by using a weapon, even the best lawyer could not help him and he would definitely be sentenced to death. Besides, if the prisoner had connections or didn''t cause trouble, he could be let out early for good behavior. This pistol lying on the sandy seabed was like a demon slowly leading Chen Fan to the abyss. If it hadn''t been a gun but something else, like cash or drugs, Chen Fan would''ve handed it over to the police without any hesitation. But a gun... Chen Fan thought about it for a long time. Eventually he did what most men would do if they were in his shoes. He kept the gun. Nobody would know about it as long the criminal didn''t talk about it. Even if the criminal did talk about it, Chen Fan wouldn''t have much psychological pressure. After all, he had sent the precise number of smuggled goods that they wanted, and if they did ask about it, all he needed to do was "salvage" it again. He might even earn some more money. He was a little afraid though that the police wouldn''t be willing to pay for it anymore. The important evidence had already been retrieved, so they wouldn''t care much about this small gun. Chen Fan thought about his promise to Xie Xiaoya and had to laugh. A man''s promise could not be trusted easily! ---------- "Hello, I''m the one who was hired to salvage the guns. I''ve retrieved them. Come and get ''em!" Chen Fan was lying in the boat, basking in the sun and talking on the phone. "Oh, you retrieved them in such a short period of time? Hold on a moment. I will arrive soon!" The voice on the other end of the phone was obviously reluctant, and it seemed that he had enough of guarding this area. Chen Fan waited for nearly two hours for the coastguard to arrive. "So sorry that I''m late, something came up!" "It''s okay. Check and see whether all the guns are here." Chen Fan waved his hand at the goods. Waiting for one or two hours was tolerable for 50,000 RMB. Of course, he was also willing to wait because he felt guilty for stealing a gun. "Okay, I''ll check them now!" The coastguard officer was not a punctual man, but there was still professionalism in his work. He took out a knife and slit open the protective oil bags, then squatted down to count them. It took him some time to finish. "Thank you so much. If it wasn''t for your help, I don''t know how long I would still need to guard this place!" The coastguard officer said, smiling. "I''m only doing my job. I''m being paid to do this!" "Follow me to the police department to collect your rewards then!" The coastguard comrade smiled and asked Chen Fan to follow him. By the side of the road, there were two police cars to pick them up and Chen Fan enjoyed the ride. "Well done young man. You definitely have some skills to dive down into such deep water." said the middle-aged director in his office. "I have been fond of diving since I was a child. When I grew up, I found out that I seem to have talent in the field!" Chen Fan sat on a chair opposite the director and scratched his head. "Well, when young people have this kind of talent, they should make the most of it." The middle-aged man took out a bundle of hundred-dollar bills and an ID card from the drawer and handed them to Chen Fan. "Next time we have a case like this, we''ll call you to help!" "Sure!" "Oh, and one more thing young man. Your advertisement is a little bit inappropriate. Young people should do diligent and steadfast work. They should not be thinking about earning money in crooked ways," the middle-aged man said in a concerned tone. He was a good role model. "Ok, sure!" Chen Fan nodded. This man was one of the most important people in this police department, so it was best to just listen to him. With a thick bundle of cash, Chen Fan couldn''t help but smile widely when he left the police station. Not only had he earned 50,000 RMB easily, but he also acquired a gun. Chen Fan decided to go and retrieve the gun first because it would spoil if it soaked in the sea for a long time. He took a cab to the sea and, when he reached the place where he''d first released the electric eel into the sea, Chen Fan found a clean place to sit down. He made the electric eel bring the gun as shallow as he could. As soon he had the gun, Chen Fan could not help but pull it out of its holster and test it out. The feeling of holding the real thing could not be compared to holding a toy gun. The grayish silver gun and the yellowish copper bullet shells almost made Chen Fan scream in excitement. Should I give it a shot? After pouring out the water and drying the gun, Chen Fan had an urge to shoot it. Chen Fan loaded the gun, looking around surreptitiously. Then clasped his hands around the gun, pointed it out to sea, and pulled the trigger. Bang! Chen Fan''s hands shook violently, and a small wave was created on the surface of the sea. "That was awesome!" The shot was loud, but to Chen Fan, it was like music to his ears. There were still fourteen bullets left in the gun, and fifteen bullets in the spare cartridge. He hesitated for a long time, but Chen Fan decided not to shoot again. After all, the more he shot the fewer bullets he would have. He wanted to save some bullets so that he could try it out another time. Chen Fan took off his coat and strapped the gun to his waist. This kind of gun was easy to carry around. The holster had two long straps that could be hung over the shoulder, and the angle could be adjusted according to body frame. After putting on his coat, Chen Fan looked over himself and was very satisfied. Not even a trace of the handgun could be seen under the baggy jacket. Taking out his phone, Chen Fan called his company. Since the money was so easy to earn, he could spend it without any regrets. He decided to treat his staff to lunch and strengthen their relationship. "Guys, I''m treating you all to lunch, and let''s enjoy ourselves at Sea Star Entertainment Club afterwords!" "Boss, you got the money already?" The voice of Zhang Lele came from the other side of the phone. "Yes! Tell Yu Lin and Yiteng Yun to stop working online and come over quickly to have lunch!" "Yu Lin, Yiteng Yun, let''s go! The boss is treating us to lunch!" ---------- Chen Fan took a cab to the center of the city, then met up with his staff. They chose a nice restaurant, and, when they were full of delicious food, Chen Fan settled the bill. Then he took the three of them to Sea Star Entertainment Club along Jianwen South road. The Sea Star Entertainment Club was high-class. It had magnificent decorations that spoke to its luxury. When Chen Fan walked through the golden revolving door, a lady dressed in a red sleeveless cheongsam approached them. "Welcome. Did you all make a reservation?" The hostess smiled sweetly. "No." Chen Fan shook his head. "I would like a medium-sized room please." "Sure, please follow me!" The hostess led them to the elevator and used a walkie-talkie to ask which floor had an empty room. ---------- A young man was sitting on a sofa some distance from the door. When he saw Chen Fan enter, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed hurriedly. "Hello, Ma Liu? I am Wei Songyue. Quickly bring several men to Sea Star Entertainment Club." 27 Two Situations There weren''t many people there in the afternoon, so Chan Fan and company chose a room near the street on the second level and sat down. "Lady and gentlemen, what would you like to order?" The hostess asked politely. "Lele, go take a look. Just get two pitchers of beer and some snacks, and order what you wanna drink." Chen Fan lounged on the couch looking a little sluggish. After Lele left, Chen Fan leaned back and looked behind him. Looking at the counterfeit painting on the wall, the huge rear-projection display opposite him, and the soft real leather couch under him, Chen Fan pursed his lips. "This is too capitalistic." "Yes! I can even smell decadence in the air here." Yiteng Yun pushed up the glasses on his nose and sniffed. "Boss, you''re embarrassing us!" Yu Lin pulled his hair. "We got this deal totally because of you. We didn''t do much, and now you''re spending money on us." "Didn''t you guys spend one whole afternoon distributing flyers? You also made the website, registered, and posted online!" Chen Fan rolled his eyes at Yu Lin, "When our business gets bigger, you guys will be busy. You guys pick your own songs. I''ll just sit to the side and listen!" Chen Fan had to slant his body because of the new pistol. "Yu Lin, you pick, I''m not really into singing either!" Yuteng Yun urged. "Okay. I''ll sing a duet with Lele when she comes back!" Yu Lin accepted, walked to the jukebox, and chose "Waiting For You Till My Heart Aches" by Jacky Cheung. It''s my mistake, my wrong words that hurt you, I''m sorry Tonight, please forget it, and open up your heart again Allow me to keep waiting, my heart breaks from waiting for you Tonight the stars accompany my drunken state As if they sympathize with my emptiness "Yu Lin, did somebody just break your heart? Why do you sound so sad?" Yiteng Yun asked Yu Lin during the music break. "Sort of. I broke up with my girlfriend just after graduation." Yu Lin smiled faintly, "But I''m fine with it. I''m going to take it easy when it comes to affairs of the heart. It depends on fate!" "I agree. Undergrads these days change their partners faster than changing friends. The way students in my school date like they''re playing emperor and concubines!" Chen Fan got excited when he heard Yu Lin talk about relationships. He felt frustrated that he had attended school for so long and never had a real girlfriend. "Hmm? Do you guys think Lele ever had a boyfriend?" Yu Lin added, "She''s not bad looking and she has a sweet voice. She should have many suitors!" "Hmm...According to my years of experience, I think she''s never had a boyfriend." Yiteng Yun sat up and glanced at the closed door. "Girls who have dated before usually care about their appearances, especially those who like makeup and wear bright and revealing clothes. But look at Lele. She dresses very plain and simple. She''s more the conservative type." "Women''s clothing is very cheap. They can dress up by spending 100 RMB in the store, so why don''t girls who have never dated not buy bright and revealing clothing? Because they are conservative, like a male virgin who doesn''t dare hit on pretty girls. But look at those experienced men. They are thick-skinned and can do all sorts of dirty tricks. Actually, there is a similarity between men and women. Girls wear bright and revealing clothing to attract the attention of the opposite sex. Their method is more subtle than men!" "I see many middle aged women dressed conservatively on the streets. How could it be that they''ve never dated before? Their children might already be in their teens!" Chen Fan loved discussing such topics, and quickly leaned over to join in. "This brings us to the next point!" Yiteng Yun adjusted his glasses calmly. "We can''t pass a final judgement based on dress; there are men who do not have the guts to show their lust, and there are women that dress gaudily solely to satisfy their personal desire to look beautiful. But..." Yiteng Yun let the suspense build. "We need to use another method to judge: their demeanor. For example, there are some middle-aged women who dress very simply, but they are still very different from inexperienced young women when they interact with the opposite sex. They can talk casually about dirty jokes with men, and they can bump up against them without feeling shy" "It''s different for young women who are inexperienced with love. When they accidently bump into a man or when they hear men talk about embarrassing stuff, they shy away self-consciously. Most blush too!" Yiteng Yun sounded quite academic. "Yu Lin, how about when Lele comes back you pat her shoulder and see how she reacts?" "Well" Yu Lin gave a wide grin and looked very eager to try, "Alright, I''ll try that later!" "What are you guys talking about? You''re all bunched together!" Speaking of the devil, Zhang Lele suddenly walked through the door. "We''re discussing the company''s future development!" Yiteng Yun still had that indifferent expression, as if that''s what Yu Lin had just said. "Oh!" Zhang Lele sat on the couch at the side. She did not know much about the company and therefore did not continue. Soon after, a man in black uniform came forward with beer and fruit, and placed them on the huge coffee table. "Lele, let''s sing a duet!" Yu Lin took a seat beside Zhang Lele, "I''ve chosen "Embrace in Love." Let''s sing together!" "Sing, sing!" Chen Fan said as he inserted a toothpick into a piece of watermelon. "Well, alright!" Zhang Lele hesitated for a while before taking over the microphone. This song required skill, but the two had good voices and sang the challenging song well. When the song ended, Yu Lin gave Zhang Lele a pat on the shoulder and even pinched twice. "Lele, you have a good voice. You sing very well!" "Ah" Zhang Lele shrank to the side as if she''d met the big bad wolf, and she started blushing. "Huh." Yu Lin turned his head and gave a sinister smile to the other two, his facial expression saying, "told you". "Expert, a real expert!" Chen Fan secretly raised his thumb at Yiteng Yun. "I didn''t expect Yu Lin to be so bold with his tender looks." "We''ve realized two truths from this." Yiteng Yun gave a sly smile, "Number one, Zhang Lele has never dated. Number two, Yu Lin is not a virgin!" 28 I’ll Do As You Said "Are you, then?" Chen Fan smiled and asked Yiteng Yun. "Erm" Yiteng Yun felt awkward. Yiteng Yun stared at Chen Fan for a while and then said, "I can see that you are a virgin too!" It was Chen Fan''s turn to feel awkward. "Let''s sing, sing." Chen Fan avoided the topic. "Lele, Yu Lin, let Yun sing a song." "Go ahead, Yun. Sing a song!" Yu Lin also joined in to invite Chen Fan to sing. "Then I will sing a song called ''The Patriots''!" Yiteng Yun did not refuse and got up to go to the jukebox to pick his song. Bang! At that moment, the door of the coach was kicked open. A young man dressed in black, accompanied by five strong guys, came in without hiding their intentions, and then shut the door behind them. Everyone felt the tension in the coach! "Wei Songyue?" The man leading the group was the man that Chen Fan met before in the breakfast nook. "Ahha.. Chen Fan!" Wei Songyue clapped his hands. "How did you deceive me into believing you were Chen Xingpeng? You didn''t think I could find your house, did you? " "How did you find my house?" Chen Fan was puzzled by this, but even more so that he found him at the place he was singing. "It was very simple. We went through the surveillance video that day. The girlfriend of one of Boss Wei''s men who lives near your house recognized you!" Wei Songyue said proudly. "I want to resolve this matter with you. I want my revenge!" "Well, yes, it is time for revenge!" said Chen Fan slowly. Yiteng Yun, who was standing by him, just wanted to yank on Chen Fan''s clothes to remind him that he should now pretend to be a coward, and not to act tough in this situation. But Chen Fan had already dashed forward and grabbed the ashtray on the tea table and smashed it on Wei Songyue''s head! Chen Fan''s sudden move startled all the people at the scene! No one had expected that Chen Fan, as weak as he was, would initiate a fight without hesitation. It must be admitted that the ashtray made of glass was thick and was very suitable for smashing upon people. Bang! Wei Songyue covered his forehead while he squatted on the ground. Red blood was flowing down his forehead. Chen Fan''s attack made the five-strong men at the scene feel rage. How could the sheep dare to put his paws on the tiger''s face! "Cut him into pieces!" Wei Songyue was so angry that his heart was on fire. Both of his encounters with Chen Fan had resulted in blows to his head. No need for him to command the five-strong men. They all pulled knives from their waists and charged towards Chen Fan. "Ah!" Zhang Lele was screaming as she covered her mouth. The miserable sound was like a lamb trapped in a tiger cage. Before Yiteng Yun and Yu Lin had time to react, Chen Fan pulled out a gun from his waist and loaded the bullet swiftly, then pointed it directly at the five men. "Ah!" It was their turn to scream this time. As strong as they were with their bulging muscles, they were screaming like scared rabbits as they looked at Chen Fan''s gun. Waking up from his initial shock, Wei Songye stammered, "Taking taking out a fake gun to just scare people..." He looked at the gun in Chen Fan''s hand with a terrified expression. "You can come see if it''s real!" Chen Fan said boldly. At that moment, Chen Fan was like a general who had power over life and death. He showed real toughness. The sweat on Wei Songyue''s forehead was mixed with blood. "It has to be fake... fake!" "Oh, really?" Chen Fan gave a little smile, then his right thumb pressed the firing pin behind the gun. There were two advantages to doing this. One, was when the firing pin was pressed it was already in the firing state, and if a little force was pressed on the trigger then it would bring along the firing pin. The second advantage was that all the movies use this method. It was a very good technique to intimidate people! The effect was very good and everyone on the couch was afraid to even let out a breath except for Chen Fan. All eyes were filled with cowardly fear. It was a shame that an experienced gangster could not differentiate between a real gun and a fake gun. The person standing in front could even see the 8 mm caliber barrel and the yellow bullet inside it! "Don''t... don''t... brother, we can have a a nice talk instead!" When Wei Songyue had first come in the door, he had been so daring, but now he was as cowardly as a mouse. "Yes, yes!" The five men with knives said all at the same time. They looked like a few humble farmers! "Manager Wei, what do you say about this?" Chen Fan asked with a mocking expression. "Ah! You see, my hand is shaking, shaking tremendously!" "Oh, my little brother, we will do as you say!" Wei Songyue, now very regretful of his act, wondered why he had shut the door in the first place. It would be good if he had allowed someone to see this and report it to the police. "Very simple! Yu Lin, you go and get 20 dozen beers!" Chen Fan snapped his fingers and said, "Right, all of you sit quietly on the sofa!" "Sure! Sure!" Yu Lin said. "Boss boss. Or should we just get 30 instead?" "Yes!" Chen Fan waved his hand at Yu Lin without caring about the amount. ...... After a while, Yu Lin came back and opened the door of the coach. "They have a promotional event today; two dozen free beers are given for every purchase of ten dozen." The entertainment club''s service was so efficient that in less than a minute, three waiters walked in with their beers. "Can you drink that much, gentlemen?" One of the waiters looked at the ten people who were sitting and asked with a concerned tone. "Stop asking rubbish!" Wei Songyue, who was sitting on the sofa, said with a fierce look, "Just put the beers down, I''ll pay for them all." "Yes!" The man with blood on his head was not kind looking, nor were the five strong men with tattoos on their necks and arms. The waiter quickly apologized. After waiting for the waiter to leave, Wei Songyue opened a can of beer. "Brother, I apologize for disrespecting you, please forgive me!" After saying these words, he drank the can of beer in one go. Wei Songyue''s men looked at the mountain of beer, clenched their teeth, and began to drink. Two hundred and sixteen cans at an average of thirty-six cans per person were in that mountain. Although the cans were small in size, that was lot of beer for those people to handle. "Hic." "... I said... brother... Hic..." Wei Songyue was drunk, staring at the beer can in his hand. "Can we stop drinking now?" 29 Hiring a Human Shield "Of course!" Chen Fan raised his gun, then shouted, "Quick, look! It''s shaking again!" Burp "You all of you drink!" Wei Songyue was nearly in tears. There were still 50 cans of beer left to drink. Gulp gulp.... These five fellows, who were probably mere underlings, dared not go against Wei Songyue''s words, so they forced themselves to chug down the beer. "Boss, in my opinion, they can still drink more!" Yu Lin was obviously delighting in their misery. They had scared him half to death, rushing in just now. He had thought that they were his enemies from his school days! "Pfff" Hearing those words, they immediately spat out beer onto their companions'' faces! After over an hour of pure torture, the six of them finally managed to finish all of the beer, their tummies swollen as if they were seven months pregnant. "Wei Songyue, I know you will hold a grudge, and that you will definitely find a way to take your revenge!" Chen Fan got up from the couch, then started to give his routine speech. "But, next time, you better be prepared to leave this world!" "B boss, let''s just go!" Zhang Lele''s small face was completely pale, as he had never seen such a scene before. "Let''s go!" Chen Fan did not want to stay longer than necessary either, in case some unexpected situation arose. "Ah, so you won''t ask me to treat you to this round of drinks, right?" Chen Fan walked to the door, then turned around and asked Wei Songyue. "No no" Wei Songyue was so bloated, he didn''t even have energy to even speak a full sentence in reply. Even just saying those few words had made beer foam dribble out of his mouth! The soundproofing of the private room was excellent, so nobody even glanced at Chen Fan and his followers when they were walking out. "Boss, where did you get that gun? Did you secretly conceal it this afternoon?" Exiting the main entrance of the entertainment outlet, Zhang Lele asked, still feeling jumpy. "Obviously." Yiteng Yun made a face, showing just how stupid he found him to be. "If boss had a gun on him already, that fellow would not have dared to bring those blades." "Right, but didn''t that fellow just say that he took his revenge?" Yu Lin rubbed his hands together, then asked, "Boss, when we reach the office, could you lend this to me for a while?" "Of course!" Chen Fan agreed, nodded, then added, "But, my gun has dubious origins. I hope everybody will help me keep this a secret!" "Don''t worry boss. If you get jailed, we''d be out of a job." Yu Lin patted his chest. "Many people own guns, so as long as you don''t attract attention, it''s fine." Yiteng Yun curled his lips, then said, "To secretly conceal a gun carries a punishment of an imprisonment of less than three years or house arrest. And, your gun is not even an army-issue gun, so if you were exposed, it''s nothing a little money couldn''t fix. If we report you, at most, we could get 500 yuan worth of easy money, which is the price given by the Ministry of Public Security. Do you think that we have so much free time on our hands?" "Yes, boss, don''t you worry!" Zhang Lele bobbed his head, like a chick pecking at grains, "But Won''t Wei Songyue call the cops?" "He won''t, unless he doesn''t plan to work in Zhong Yun ever again!" Yiteng Yun hesitated slightly, then said, "Thugs are egotistical people, especially those like him, who have made a decent living. If he reports us to the police, he would be shunned by all of the other thugs, and he would never be able to hold his head up again!" "But boss, you might encounter some difficulties soon!" Yiteng Yun added. "Then then would he also take his revenge against us" Zhang Lele trembled with fear, thinking of those five or six knife-bearing buff men. "Hard to say!" Yu Lin clicked his tongue. "If they manage to find our office, we might as well eliminate them all in one stroke, since we would all be present." "Ah... " The blood again drained from Zhang Lele''s face. "Don''t worry. That''s too big a coincidence. It''s not like they are the police, so how could they find one man in such a big city as Zhong Yun?" Yiteng Yun furrowed his eyebrows, then said, "Boss, you''d better not stay at home for the time being!" "I know. I''ll stay at the office for now," Chen Fan said, while he rubbed his forehead. "Alright, that''s enough. Let''s go back to the office." When they reached the office, Yu Lin managed to wheedle the gun away, and commenced to fiddle with it the whole rest of the afternoon. Even Yiteng Yun and Zhang Lele eventually joined in on the fun. A gun is as attractive as a beautiful lady to a man, so it was only after spending a few working hours with the lovely piece of weaponry that Yu Lin reluctantly returned it to Chen Fan. When the three of them had left, Chen Fan went out to buy some bedding and toiletries. This sixteen-floor office building had over thirty security officers, each of whom carried a stun baton and a walkie-talkie, so Chen Fan was not at all worried that people would be able to barge into the office to take their revenge on him. Upon finishing a fast food dinner, Chen Fan laid on the sofa and sank into deep thought When they were at the entertainment outlet, Chen Fan had really wanted to kill Wei Songyue. His perfectly fine old house was smashed on his orders, and just buying new stuff would cost him over 7500 yuan. But, Chen Fan was also worried that, if he did shoot him, and the people outside heard the gunshot and called the cops, his only option would be to hide away in a deserted island forever, having to rely solely on the electric eel for survival. He couldn''t kill him, but he couldn''t not kill him either. Hence, Chen Fan was in a real dilemma. Moreover, he couldn''t always remain in hiding, but he also couldn''t not hide, even if he carried a gun with him, which he wouldn''t dare take to, at least when he was in public. He could also predict that the next time trouble came knocking, it would not come brandishing just a knife... Maybe I should employ several highly-skilled bodyguards? Chen Fan did a quick calculation, figuring that he spent over one hundred and twenty thousand to open a company, buy furniture, and rent a house. So, counting the fifty thousand he had earned this afternoon, he still had one hundred and thirty thousand left to go. One hundred and thirty thousand! He had to pay Yu Lin, Lele, and Yun around 6,000 in wages every month, so if they don''t make a single cent in these ten months, then that meant that only seventy thousand would be left! Seventy thousand If he hired one bodyguard and paid him ten thousand yuan a month, he could afford to hire six more, for a total of seven bodyguards. If he offered ten thousand yuan a month, even a policeman would probably resign from their force to become his bodyguard. Okay! Tomorrow he would hire a few human shields for his safety, which would also be good for his reputation! Anyway, money came easily for him. So, if he ran out of it, he could just catch a few sharks, whales, or other valuable playthings to sell, any of which could easily be sold for ten thousand yuan. It was silent the whole night. The next day, Chen Fan again visited the job market, using five hundred yuan to rent a spot there. He then posted a wanted sign, which read: Hiring bodyguards (five), willing to offer high pay. Must have served in the army for at least two years, be between the ages of 22 to 28, and have a height above 1.75 meters. Must have a local bank account and be able to provide relevant identification documents, as well as proof of service. Priority will be given to those with superior physiques and those who have expert martial arts training. The pay starts at 5,000 yuan per month, but additional wages can be negotiated for those with superior skills. The job description, which had been typed by Chen Fan, promptly attracted countless fellows, who had just finished their two years of military service, as being a bodyguard with a monthly salary of five thousand yuan was even better than being a white-collar worker. "Hey bro, I just retired from the field army. Look at my physique. I could knock down three to five people, no problem!" "Sir, I''m from Shenyang troop regiment 107, which is the army''s trump card!" "Boss, I just retired from the South Sea Fleet, and when I was accepted, I was nearly chosen for the Marine Corps." The applicants were each better than the last, and those fellas, who were merely in the ordinary forces, dared not linger, but left straightaway. Chen Fan never expected to get so many applicants! Just then, a gap opened in the crowd, as someone was elbowing their way through. Immediately, a tall and thin youth appeared. "Move aside people. How dare you apply, when you''ve only been a child soldier for two years!" The youth had an arrogant look on his face. "Bro, hire me! It''s a done deal, if you pay me twenty thousand a month!" 30 I’m From the Cookhouse "Twenty thousand a month? Do you think you are a bodyguard from Beijing?" asked Chen Fan with an annoyed expression. "A bodyguard from Beijing?" The stubborn looking young man looked up and thought for a moment. "I am not a bodyguard from Beijing, but with my skills, getting a salary of 20,000 RMB per month is not a problem!" "Oh, what skills do you have?" Chen Fan was interested. The way this young man spoke was a little boastful, so he was either an idiot or someone who really had some skills. "Well, I have no difficulties in beating them up." The arrogant look on his face was exactly the same as his tone of voice. "What did you mean by that?" The men that were standing next to him were enraged after hearing him saying that, but they controlled themselves as to not start a fight. This guy isn''t a psycho, is he? Chen Fan was a little worried as he often saw people streaking in the streets, so it was possible that this guy could be just as nuts! "Well, you all should just follow me and have a fist- fight on the lawn beside the Xingning River. I will hire the top five!" All the men in front of him were fit and muscular. Any one of them would be able to intimidate the others. After the matter was settled and the bodyguard chosen, Chen Fan could hire the remaining men as laborers! The arrogant looking young man shrugged his shoulders. "Sure!" "Come on, we''ll see what you''re made of!" The five men beside him were in the same boat. The Xingning River was a man-made river flowing in the middle of the city. Over the last few years, the government had put in a lot of effort to go green. Now, both sides of the river were planted with many trees in an area 20 meters wide and many people came here every morning to exercise. "Well, let me just be clear here. This is only a friendly match so I hope nobody gets hurt in the end!" The young man softened his tone and no longer had a look of arrogance. "Are you afraid? It''s too late to turn back now anyway!" The five men circled him with sly grins on their faces as if they were toying with a vulnerable little girl. Just as a few of them were about to hit him, the young man suddenly looked up with an expression of awe and said, "Hey! Look, there''s a UFO in the sky!" "Where?" Chen Fan and all five men automatically raised their heads to look at the sky! After seeing all of them look up, the young man who previously had a startled expression on his face took a sudden step forward like a gust of wind! This step was a great leap, and he stepped right on the foot of the person in front of him. Then, he jerked up his right hand. Laying his hand on the person''s chest, he bent his legs and with a twist of his waist, delivered a blow with his right fist. The man in front of him lost his balance and just as he was trying to balance himself by stumbling a few steps back, he tripped unexpectedly over a leg! "Ah!" The man only had time to let out a cry before falling on the lawn two feet away. After kicking the man, the young man immediately pulled back his left leg, turned and gave out another kick with his right leg. Bang! A grunt was heard when he knocked one of the men hard on the left side of his body. "Ah!" The strength of the young man was even stronger than a bull. In an area less than a meter of space, he was able to hit a strong young man weighing 75 kilograms and make him land three meters away from him. What the...? Chen Fan rubbed his eyes in disbelief! It was not an illusion Out of the five people who were still standing, in just a single moment, two had been kicked back several meters, whereas the remaining three were staring, dumbfounded, at the young man.. "Hey boy, you are playing dirty!" The man on the left stepped forward and leaped up into mid-air. The remaining two men also quickly sprung into action. One of them swept the air with his thigh while the other balled up his fists! The sly, tough young man did not retreat. Instead, he hooked onto the leg that was about to kick him as quick as lightning. It was hard to imagine how powerful the young man''s arms were. He was able to swing the man to the side of the lawn only with his arms bent without relying on the power of his waist. Bang! The young man raised his left leg high up to his chest and clasped the leg that was about to hit him. What was even more jaw-dropping was After the young man secured the leg, he lifted his left leg high up and stretched it out into a straight line. With a twist of his right foot, he threw the man a few meters away. After immobilizing his first opponent, he turned to block the other man''s fist. Once again, the young man carried out his lightning speed stun, gripped hold of the fist and flashed an evil smile. "Ouch... Ah... Ouch... Stop...stop hurting me... It hurts... Ouch... Stop... It really hurts..." The man''s face flushed red and knelt down on the floor to beg for forgiveness! "This is what happens when you all do not believe me. All of you just forced me to give a live demonstration!" The young man released his right hand and his expression returned to the same old lazy and arrogant look. "Wow, that was freaking amazing!" Chen Fan was startled when he saw his performance. Chen Fan had a cousin back in his hometown who could beat up two big men without any weapons after only two years of army training. However, this guy took only about 10 seconds to beat his opponents and these guys were the from the field army, the navy, the ace brigade "I''ve decided that I only want you and not anyone else!" Chen Fan clapped his hands excitedly. "Let''s go, follow me to sign the contract!" It was difficult to describe the feelings of the remaining five men. There was a mixture of shock, annoyance, regret, and envy. "Brother, how about we sit down and talk over a cup of tea?" Walking on the road, Chen Fan rubbed his hands as he smiled. "Sure!" The young man nodded with ease. "By the way, I''m Wang Bing!" After randomly selecting a well-furnished tea house, Chen Fan ordered a pot of Longjing tea worth 88 RMB and both of them sat down at a table that was beside the window. "Are you hiring a bodyguard for your boss? Or..." Wang Bing went straight to the topic just after he sat down! "I need one for myself!" Chen Fan shook his head bitterly and said, "Brother Wang, to tell you the truth, I got into trouble with a tough gangster a few days ago. He hit me once and I punched him twice, so logically speaking, it would be his turn to bring people to my house. That''s why I want to hire a few skillful bodyguards to ensure my own safety!" "You want to hire five bodyguards to settle things with one gangster?" Wang Bing looked puzzled. "Even if you''re rich, you shouldn''t waste money like that!" "This local gangster is very powerful, plus the conflict between us is already to the point of no turning back!" "By the way, Brother Wang, are you a local?" Wang Bing looked up and said, "Yes, my hometown is in Heqiao, but I went back only once or twice throughout my seven years of military service." "Brother Wang, you have been in the military for seven years?" "Yeah, I could have continued, but I broke the chief''s ribs in the military camp recently. I was grounded for a dozen days and was sent back home after that!" Wang Bing said with a sigh, "Three generations of my family were soldiers, so I am not able to face my family after being kicked out of the army. Thus, I decided to find a job here and try to earn some money before going back!" "What type of soldier?" Chen Fan asked with curiosity. "Marines? Snow Leopard Commando Unit? Rapid response forces? Or special forces?" "Neither!" Wang Bing shook his head. "I was a cook in one of the divisions of Nanjing military area." 31 Scared to Death "You''re from the cookhouse?" Chen Fan''s eyes almost popped out! "Don''t look at me like that, you''re making me feel uneasy!" Wang Bing stepped back and pretended to look very scared. Chen Fan curled his lip. "It''ll be more convincing if you say that you''re a Super Saiyan rather than from the cookhouse!" "Alright, the cookhouse is just a cover. We can''t reveal our real serial number. Anyway, it''s similar to the special forces!" "Let''s talk about the contract!" Wang Bing did not wish to elaborate on the unit. "It can''t be any less than 20,000 RMB. None of my retired comrades get less than 30,000 RMB when they take on jobs as bodyguards for their bosses. I don''t mean to be rude but I could easily take over the position of head coach in the Zhongyun City Armed Police Force!" "So incredible!" Wang Bing grabbed a cup from the table and took a sip. "Yes, that is incredible! One of my ex-comrades asked me over to Hainan to be a bodyguard and he offered me 30,000 RMB a month, but I prefer to stay around my hometown. After all, I''ve lived here for so many years and I like it here!" "Alright, 20,000 RMB it shall be!" Chen Fan pounded the table. "With your skills, I''ll even agree to 30,000!" "Then how about 30,000?" Wang Bing asked with some doubt. "Bro, what''s the most important thing to a man? It''s credibility a man should stay true to his words, 20,000 means 20,000!" Chen Fan could not really stand this fellow. He was such a sleazeball! "It''s alright, but...you have to pay me a few thousand RMB in advance. The army was so stingy and did not give me a single cent when they made me retire early!" Wang Bing scratched his head feeling embarrassed. "A comrade gave me 2,000 RMB when I came back. I didn''t even dare take the plane so I settled for the train for three whole days! When I reached Zhongyun yesterday, I was still left with over 600 RMB. After that, I went to "Victoria" for a bath and spent away 500 plus, so now I''m only left with 30 RMB! I had no choice but to make a trip to the recruitment market in the morning, hoping to get a bodyguard job through an agent when I ran into you on the way there!" "500 RMB for a bath?" Chen Fan''s face was full of doubts. "Don''t tell me you conveniently went for an ''Athens-style bath''?" "Heh, heh athens-style costs 580 RMB! I had three consecutive 188 RMB ''Swedish-style baths''!" Wang Bing smacked his lips. "I''ve been pent up in the army and it''s been a long time since I last visited ''Victoria''. I couldn''t control myself and went there the moment I saw it!" "You you" Chen Fan couldn''t think of any word to describe this fellow. "Did you bring your ID? We''ll sign the contract now if you have it with you!" "I have it with me. You have to advance me 5,000 RMB after we sign. I''ve been wanting to try the 888 RMB ''European-style bath''!" "You lecherous fella!" Chen Fan winked helplessly. "Don''t tell me you did some bad stuff in the army and got yourself discharged?" "Gimme a break. We''d end up in the military court if we did those things in the army. We may even be shot dead!" Chen Fan''s expression showed that he did not believe him. After spending a few hours to and fro, Wang Bin had Chen Fan bring him to a restaurant for a meal before the episode ended. After going back to the office, Chen Fan saw that Lele, Yun, and Yu Lin were not in. Don''t tell me they''re too scared to come to work? Who cares. There''s nothing for them to do here anyway. I''ll just deduct their pay! "Your company is only this big?" Wang Bing puckered his lips the moment he stepped in. "We''ve just started, so why do we need a big space?" Chen Fan went to the water dispenser and drank a cupful before giving a new one to Wang Bing. "Our company''s main business is in salvaging, fishing and transportation. We just need a few people to run the business so we''d just be wasting space if the office was bigger." "Then where are the people in charge of salvaging? Don''t tell me this is a fake company!" Wang Bing took the cup and finished his drink in one gulp. "After I receive the order, I hand it to the fishermen or divers who have a long-term partnership with our company. We only earn the agent fees!" "Your company''s business is indeed not mainstream!" Wang Bing sat casually on the couch. "As long as you don''t ask me to do things like drug trafficking, I can handle the rest! My brain is dead after those years in the army. My goal now is to earn money and enjoy life! Oh, where do I stay at night?" Wang Bing asked as he looked around the office. "Of course you have to stay by my side 24/7. Do you know Tianhai Shipping Company? My enemy is one of the managers inside!" "Of course I know. I even had a few meals with Wei Qing before I went into the army. He wanted me to join in their partnership, but my family was against it." "Then do you know him well?" Chen Fan sat on the chair and felt a little nervous. He would be real unlucky if the person he employed turned around and bit him. "Not really, we''re acquaintances at the most!" Wang Bing laid on the couch and closed his eyes. "Don''t worry, he''s just someone with whom I had contact with when I was out in the streets. If he dares to touch you, I''ll make sure he crawls back." "I can tell that you were a little ruffian!" "Haha I didn''t have much common sense during my school days. I was either fighting or fooling around with female classmates!" Wang Bing''s eyes looked a little blurry, as if he was recollecting something! "Oh, have you heard of someone nicknamed ''Little Tyrant'' from Third Middle School?" "I''ve heard of him when I was in elementary school, they said he could take on more than ten people alone!" Chen Fan raised his head and gave it a thought. "I guess that must be you!" "Yes, I was given this nickname by the people in the underworld it''s all because of the Little Tyrant game that we used to play that I got this lousy nickname!" "Then change it to Super Saiyan" The two sat there and chatted nonsensically for a while, when the office door was suddenly pushed open. Wang Bing suddenly jumped up from the couch like a cannonball and stared closely at the door. "Ah! I was scared to death" Zhang Lele was frightened and clutched her chest with her left hand. "Boss, who''s this?" Yiteng Yun and Yu Lin came in and looked at Wang Bing in astonishment. "He''s my new bodyguard Wang Bing and he''s highly-skilled!" Chen Fan stood up from the chair. "Let me introduce you. This is Zhang Lele, Yiteng Yun, Yu Lin!" "Hello everyone!" Wang Bing quickly went forward and shook their hands! Wang Bing shook Yiteng Yun''s and Yu Lin''s hands for less than five seconds in total, but when it was Zhang Lele''s turn, he held her hand and did not let go! "Ahem, ahem!" Yiteng Yun coughed deliberately and said, "Boss, we''ve got a big deal!" 32 The Giant Squid "Big business? How big is the business?" asked Chen Fan. Before Yiteng Yun had the opportunity to answer, Yu Lin took the lead and asked, "Who do you think is the richest man in town?" Without even thinking, Chen Fan said, "Of course it''s Ma Rongtao! This guy has been in the sea shipping industry for more than 20 years, owns at least seven ships with more than 10,000 tons of cargo and there were rumors spreading that his total assets have already exceeded two billion RMB five years ago." "Yes, it''s him!" Zhang Lele chattered like a sparrow, "Yesterday, when Ma Rongtao''s wife was preparing a stone fish at home, she accidentally pricked her arm with the stone fish''s needle-like spine and fainted on the spot due to extreme pain. By the time her daughter came back from school and found that she fainted in the kitchen, it was already the evening. When she was being admitted to the hospital, the doctor said that the toxin had stayed in her body for too long and her right arm needed to be amputated in order to save her." "Why do women love to eat stone fish?" Wang Bing rolled his eyes in annoyance. "There are some who say that eating this fish beautifies the skin, but I have tasted it several times before and I''ve never seen a difference in my skin." "You are only a soldier, how could you possibly know about this?" Chen Fan said sarcastically, "What''s the best way to earn money these days? Of course, it''s by earning women''s money. Do you remember when we were kids? Nobody was willing to eat the ugly and poisonous stone fish. What about now? When the women heard that it was very effective in beauty and skin care, they wanted to eat it so badly! When we were young, these fish were sold for five RMB each and no one wanted to buy them, but now only a catty could cost more than four hundred RMB and there is still a high demand." "Well, don''t interrupt!" Chen Fan raised his hand to prevent Wang Bing from giving any more comments. "Zang Lele, go on!" "Okay!" Zhang Lele cleared her throat. "Ma Rongtao, who rushed to the hospital, of course, didn''t agree with the idea of amputation, so he invited an old man from Beijing Union Hospital who is an expert on poisonous marine creatures. After a consultation session, the old man said that there was a method of treatment, but this method was way too difficult! All he could do now was ensure that the condition of the arm would not further deteriorate over the next week with the use of medicinal herbs. Within a week, a giant squid''s beak that is more than 10 years old must be obtained, ground into powder and applied to the wound in order to save her arm. Early in the morning, Ma Rongtao sent a man to announce to the fishermen that he will buy the giant squid that is more than 10 years old at a price of 20,000,000 RMB if somebody could get it within a week." Giant squid, being the largest Mollusca animal known in the world, were found to be 30 to 40 meters long. The only bone found in its body was its parrot beak-like mouth while the other parts of its body were soft and boneless. Chen Fan''s mouth widened and said with exaggeration, "Two million RMB?" "Yes, it is two million RMB. Now, even the fishermen in the nearby town know about it and all of them immediately went out to sea to look for the giant squid!" Yu Lin looked excited. "Boss, do you have a way to get it?" Chen Fan frowned and said, "Giant squid... I had heard that a fisherman caught one using his fishing net about three years ago, but it was only a few meters long. An average adult giant squid can grow to more than 10 to 20 meters long and its minimum weight is about two or three tons. Since they only swim to shallow waters at night to hunt for food and spend their day sleeping at a depth of hundreds to thousands of meters, it''s very, very difficult to catch this creature. It''s not only difficult, it''s almost impossible!" Yiteng Yun dampened the atmosphere and said, "Giant squids typically live in a depth at 500 to 2000 meters, so if you want to catch them at this depth, you will need a submarine with a torpedo launcher, otherwise there''s no other way. It''s true that they like to swim to the shallow waters to find food during nighttime, but the chance of finding them in the pitch dark, vast ocean is even less than winning a five million cash prize!" Wang Bing looked at Chen Fan with doubt and said, "Do you have the ability to get the giant squid? I saw the boastful advertisement for your company saying that you are able to get anything from the sea as long it exists, is it really so?" Chen Fan turned, sat on his chair, and folded his legs. "My business partners have been experts in fishing since their ancestor''s generation, so not only can I find the giant squid, even if a mermaid exists in the sea, I can get it!" "Nah! Keep boasting!" Wang Bing turned around and sat on the sofa. "If you can get it, I... I will..." "What will you do? Let''s make a bet," Chen Fan said slyly. "If I can get the beak of the giant squid you will be my bodyguard for free for two months, deal?" "Aha, it''s a nice day today." Wang Bing looked out of the window and said to himself, "See the white clouds floatingand the sunshine, it is indeed beautiful scenery" Chen Fan was speechless. "Boss, if you say that you are able to dive to a depth of 200 meters by using an oxygen tank, I believe you! There is a diving association called the ''Kingdom of Liberty'' in the Netherlands and there are a bunch of divers who are more amazing than you. Yu Lin stepped forward and said, "You said that you have ways to get the giant squid... I''m a little doubtful, it is like a phantom sea creature. Even if your business partner is equipped with a whale-hunting fork, you will still need to find it!" "Why are you worrying so much? I have many ways to accomplish it. I even have contacts with fishermen in Vietnam and Malaysia!" Chen Fan stuck out his tongue. "Plus, it''s not an issue at all if we don''t get it, we just won''t get the 2,000,000 RMB." "Yeah! We just need to run the business for you. Why should I worry about other issues?" Yu Lin''s thoughts were simple. As long as he was being paid, even if Chen Fan took a giant squid''s beak out of his pocket, it was none of his business, wasn''t it? "Vietnam? Malaysia?" Wang Bing stared at Chen Fan with a ''you''re definitely boasting'' look. "Cheh!" Chen Fan looked up at the ceiling, pretending not to notice him. "Well, well, it''s none of our business to care how our boss does it. Even if he uses magic, it doesn''t matter to us, right?" Yiteng Yun had a similar way of thinking like Yu Lin. Although he didn''t know what hidden skill Chen Fan had, it was fine with him as long as he got his salary. "Boss, we will be taking our leave now. It is already past 5:00 and if we don''t leave now, you will have to pay us overtime!" Zhang Lele said smiling. Chen Fan nodded. "Okay, take your leave then." After waiting for them to leave, Wang Bing immediately came to him and said, "Boss... Let''s... take a bath in ''Victoria''!". It''s close by! When you''re at the entrance of our company, turn left, walk for about a kilometer and you reach a place called ''Caiyi Street''. After you enter any of the motels there, you will find someone who will help you call a GRO. The price is relatively cheap, where the cheapest price is only 50 RMB per service!" Chen Fan ignored him, got up and made a delivery call. "By the way, would you like me to order fast food for you before you go?" "Haha, I''m not going because ensuring your safety is way more important!" Wang Bing licked his lips and said, "Boss, let''s go and eat abalone!" Wang Bing''s wish was not fulfilled, and he ended up eating fast food that only cost 15 RMB. However, his appetite was huge, and he burped happily in front of Chen Fan after eating three sets. "By the way, Boss, where shall we stay at tonight? We can''t stay here at the company. It doesn''t even have a decent bed!" Chen Fan thought for a while and finally decided to invite him to sleep at his house for the night. "Let''s stay at my house for the night then. With you as my bodyguard, I will not be afraid if someone comes to seek revenge!" Although Wang Bing''s character was a little bit despicable, his superb fighting skills had left a deep impression in Chen Fan''s mind. "Boss, how did you manage to blend into society?" When they walked out of the company''s main entrance, Wang Bing couldn''t help but complain. "Look at those successful people. They drive at least an Audi A6, and what about you? Still taking a cab." "I don''t have the money to buy a car and I don''t know how to drive even if I owned one," he replied as he stopped a cab. "You can drive, right?" "You are insulting my talent! There are no vehicles that I can''t drive except for a plane!" "Damn, I''ve met someone who''s even more boastful than me!" Chen Fan muttered and got into the cab. When they arrived home, Wang Bing began to comment on everything and was even more annoying than a fly. A little annoyed, Chen Fan said, "Erm.. originally I wanted to let you sleep in the guest room, but I think those gangsters are likely to attack tonight, so to be on the safe side, you should sleep on the sofa in the living room!" After that, he left Wang Bing to his protests and walked into his room without looking back. "I finally understand the real reason why this guy was expelled from the army!" Chen Fan said to himself. He shook his head and shifted his mind to the electric eel avatar in the sea. 33 Whale Shark The visibility of the sea decreased tremendously at night and Chen Fan could barely see but a few meters in front of him. After a hearty meal, Chen Fan controlled the electric eel toward the deep waters. Although the giant squid was not a rare creature, it was hardly ever captured by man. There had been many occurrences of fishermen seeing it fight with the sperm whale in the deep seas. To these fishermen, capturing it was extremely difficult, but it was not so complicated for Chen Fan. As long as he could find it, there was a high chance of capturing it. Two million RMB! Chen Fan was excited just thinking about it I''ll get a one million RMB Mercedes 7 Series, get Wang Bing to be the chauffeur, and get Zhang Lele to dress in an all-black uniform damn this is too much! Lalala lalala, I''m a happy little donkey! Chen Fan sang in his heart as he controlled the eel''s movement. It was a little quiet in the ocean at night, only a few creatures were still active. The nine-meter long electric eel was like a loud passing train, alarming the surrounding sleeping creatures with its electric discharge. It was amusing that Chen Fan bumped into no less than ten brightly lit fishing boats during this half an hour journey. From the reflection on the water surface, he was able to see the fishermen who were casting nets with all their efforts and hoping to strike it rich overnight. Go on and cast more nets. I can just wait here and benefit from it. Chen Fan was filled with devious thoughts. The speed of the electric eel avatar in the ocean had already reached twenty knots, which was around thirty-seven kilometers per hour. If he put in his best to move forward, the speed could go even higher. After taking in a deep breath, Chen Fan reduced the electric current on the eel''s body and only maintained it at a level where he could sense over ten meters of the surrounding area so as not to alarm any giant squid which could be swimming nearby. Finding a giant squid also required certain techniques. Giant squids usually liked to eat prawns, crabs and small fishes. Therefore, whenever Chen Fan saw groups of small fishes and prawns, he would stop the electric current on the eel''s body immediately and hang quietly behind the groups of small fishes and prawns as he waited for the giant squid to come for its food. Chen Fan had already quietly followed the countless groups of small sardines in front of him for more than one hour. However, other than a few normal squids which came for their food, he had not seen anything that was longer than two meters. Just as Chen Fan was about to give up and look for his next target, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a huge shadow approaching. Oh God...you...you really treat me so well! Chen Fan stared at that huge shadow as the eel''s heart thumped nonstop! Due to the poor visibility of the ocean at night, Chen Fan had yet to figure out what exactly the thing was that was swimming over to him! The eel avatar suddenly shot toward the approaching shadow without control and covered the thirty-meter distance in just two breaths. Not only that, when the electric eel reached in front of the huge shadow, the electric current on its body suddenly shot up to the maximum, reaching a shocking 2,300 volts. With a thunderous sound, the ten-meter long, huge creature started shaking all over, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. Heck, why is it such a softy? After releasing a series of fierce electric currents, Chen Fan realized that it was a whale shark which had been reputed as both "the world''s largest and also the weakest fish"! The whale shark was a type of shark which could grow to around sixteen meters at maturity. Although it had a huge appetite, it was actually weaker than herbivores. Even if a person shot it with a gun, it would probably hide in one corner and weep in silence. I knew it...I can''t possibly be so lucky! Chen Fan shook his tail helplessly as he looked at the whale shark which escaped faster than a tuna fish. It was really frustrating to have met with this cowardly fellow! The whale shark which weighed a few tons was able to take over two thousand volts discharge, but this was not the same for those tiny sardines. Countless numbers of them turned their white bellies upside down, as if they had been given pesticides, and floated to the water''s surface. On top of that, after the mess caused by the two sea creatures, the schools of sardines had scattered while trying to escape. Having no other choice, Chen Fan could only turn his tail around to look for the next group of fishes. Many fishes could be seen everywhere in the ocean. After swimming for over ten minutes, Chen Fan found another sardine group of considerable number. Chen Fan reduced the area of the released current and hung quietly nearby as he waited for the giant squid to fall into the trap. Sardines were a typical "ocean breed", and all carnivorous fishes like to take advantage of them. After waiting for two hours, Chen Fan saw no less than twenty waves of carnivorous fishes coming to prey on them. Damn, my brain''s gone dead with all the staring! Chen Fan cursed as he turned his body to go back. On his return journey, the number of fishing boats was significantly reduced. There were only two or three which refused to give up and were still casting their nets. It was already after three in the morning when he finally settled the eel and shifted his thoughts back. "I''ll go underwater during the day tomorrow to look for caves and see if I can find any giant squid!" After giving his tired head a rub, Chen Fan threw his blanket over him and fell asleep straight away. The next morning, Chen Fan was awoken by a series of knocks on the door. "Boss, it''s already 9:30, should we get up and go for breakfast?" "Okay...up right away" Chen Fan replied lethargically and continued sleeping. Knock knock knock "Boss, it''s already 10:00, I''m famished, should we" Wang Bing''s grumbling came from outside the door again. "I''m getting up...getting up!" Chen Fan replied and continued sleeping. After a short while, when Chen Fan was still in his dreams, his blanket was suddenly removed by someone! "Who''s that?" Chen Fan suddenly sat up and his right hand was about to go for the pistol under the pillow. However, he saw Wang Bing grinning beside him, clenching the mattress. "How did you come in?" Chen Fan was in cold sweat. "Didn''t I lock the door from inside?" "As a bodyguard well-versed in all methods of killing a person, how could I not know how to come in from a locked door?" Wang Bing raised his left hand and spun the steel wire held by his thumb and ring finger. 34 Let’s See, How Can You Escape? "Good Very good!" Chen Fan gave a thumbs-up to Wang Bing. "I''m satisfied with your behavior. You don''t need to say anymore. Five hundred RMB won''t be deducted from your salary this month!" "By the way, I''m not hungry now. If you''re hungry, just cook some instant noodles in the kitchen. If you''re not hungry, just watch TV in the living room and wait for me until noon to eat out." After glancing at Wang Bing whose mouth was hanging open widely and not saying anything, Chen Fan pulled his quilt over his head and continued sleeping. After sleeping until noon, Chen Fan squinted his eyes as he got out of bed and took the disgruntled Wang Bing for lunch. After having lunch, Chen Fan made a call to his company, saying that he had something to do in the afternoon, and he would not be coming in today. Then he went into his own bedroom and warned Wang Bing that if he dared to open his bedroom door again, he would directly deduct 5,000 RMB from his salary. "God bless memay God bless me!" With his hands clasped together after saying a prayer, Chen Fan shifted his consciousness to the electric eel once again. He needed to swim to the deep seabed to look for the giant squid during the day. As giant squid were nocturnal creatures, they spent the daytime sleeping in caves. After filling up the stomach of the electric eel, Chen Fan controlled the electric eel to swim in the deeper part of the sea by swaying his tail left and right. There was often a saying that the vagaries of the ocean were so beautiful, but in Chen Fan''s opinion, there was no other word to describe it except for the word ''big''! After swimming forward for about an hour by swaying its tail, Chen Fan controlled the electric eel''s head to dive towards the seabed. Without the use of torchlight during the day, humans were only able to observe their surroundings at a depth of about 200 meters, but it turned pitch-black when they swam even deeper. Chen Fan''s electric eel avatar vision started to become hazy only after swimming 500 meters deep, and he could still vaguely observe his surroundings within a range of a few dozen meters. When it reached 600 meters, Chen Fan could not see anything and the electric eel''s inner cavity had a feeling of being squeezed. This was because the pressure of the sea was so great that it was beyond the limits of the electric eel. After gradually increasing the voltage released by the electric eel, Chen Fan closed his eyes and relied solely on the electromagnetic induction in his mind to identify his surroundings. The water pressure of the deep sea was too great, but for the fishes that lived here it was obviously less. Most of them were jellyfish, octopus, squid... mollusks which liked to live in this kind of habitat. There was still a certain depth before reaching the seabed, but Chen Fan''s electric eel avatar was unable to continue swimming downwards, so he had to swim up slightly to search for his target on a shallower seabed. With a voltage of 800 volts, Chen Fan could detect his surroundings in a more than 30-meter radius. Floating above the sea floor, Chen Fan swam along it horizontally. Squids usually liked to hide in caves, so the flat and open area was not the place that Chen Fan should search. In contrast, those cliffy and rugged seabeds were places that Chen Fan focused on. Along the way, he startled a lot of squids, but the biggest one was only about a meter or two long. There was no sign of the ten-meter giant squid that Chen Fan was searching for. As he swam to a cliffy coral reef, Chen Fan spotted a black creature that was being sheltered by the coral reefs. Due to the distance, Chen Fan could not confirm what it was, so he increased the voltage to confirm whether or not it was a giant squid. Just then, there was a sudden swirl of water at the reef and huge tentacles lined with suction cups struck out like two reddish-brown sea snakes attacking ferociously. Giant squid? Panicked, Chen Fan was not able to dodge. Fortunately, it was quite far away, so the two dozen meter long tentacles did not hit Chen Fan''s electric eel avatar. Since it did not hit the target in a single blow, the coral reef suddenly shook violently and a giant squid which was 15 meters long emerged out from the reef while swinging its tentacles. The two brazen eyes at the top of the tentacles were fixed on Chen Fan. "So huge!" Chen Fan gasped. Although he had heard about how fierce a giant squid could be, Chen Fan realized that it was much more powerful than what they described after seeing it himself. The giant squid had eight tentacles that were used for swimming, and two long arms that were full of suction cups that were used for hunting. Looking at the giant squid in front of him, Chen Fan was a little uncertain about what should he do next. The giant squid swam about very fast, so he needed to kill it in one shot. However, a certain amount of time was needed to kill it with a voltage of only more than two thousand volts. Moreover, the eight broad and flexible tentacles were not the only things that he needed to deal with. However.... The giant squid did not wait for Chen Fan to think about it clearly. Instead, it swam forward for dozens of meters and swept its tentacles towards Chen Fan''s direction. "Damn!" Cursing in his heart, Chen Fan quickly controlled the electric eel to dodge away. There were two tentacles sweeping towards Chen Fan, and he was able to dodge the one from the left, but not the one from the right. Pow! The right tentacle of the giant squid slapped the electric eel''s back. The hunting method of squids was quite similar to snakes as they entangled the prey to suffocate it or to rupture its internal organs. The moment the giant squid''s tentacles touched the electric eel''s body, Chen Fan felt a sudden lump of pain at his waist. It must have been due to the suction cups on its tentacles. Realizing this, Chen Fan quickly raised the electric eel''s voltage to 1000 volts. Boom! The giant squid''s tentacles that were not even able to wrap around his waist immediately pulled back from the electric eel''s body as though it had touched a red-hot iron. After defending its attack, Chen Fan reduced the voltage to 800 volts to prevent the giant squid from escaping. However, the giant squid seemed to have learned its lesson. It continued to swing around its tentacles without making an attack for a moment. Chen Fan waited for a moment, but the giant squid still didn''t make a move. He swam up a dozen meters, but the giant squid still remained in its place and had no intention of following him. "Coward!" To prevent the two million RMB from slipping away, Chen Fan was forced to swing his body and make an attack. After taking several deep breaths while swimming towards it, Chen Fan lowered the voltage to 500 volts and maintained his electromagnetic induction within a 20 meter radius. With a swoosh, the giant squid swung its two long tentacles around Chen Fan once again. This time, the giant squid did not hesitate. It ignored the 500 volts of electricity and wrapped both of its tentacles around the electric eel''s body. "Let''s do it." Chen Fan clenched his teeth and waited for the giant squid to wrap its tentacles around the electric eel completely. Then, he controlled the electric eel''s body to turn around suddenly and bit into the soft belly of the giant squid. Under severe pain, the giant squid immediately pulled back its tentacles and pulled the electric eel towards the other eight, short tentacles. Then, all the tentacles wound around the electric eel''s body. Chen Fan waited for the right moment when all the tentacles were wrapped around the electric eel''s body. Using the four not so flexible claws, the electric eel sunk its claws into the giant squid''s soft flesh. The four claws dug into the flesh of the squid as if it were butter. In severe pain, the giant squid strengthened its grip around the electric eel and tried to suffocate it. Let''s see you try to escape now, thought Chen Fan. When the time was right, Chen Fan quickly raised the electric eel''s voltage to the highest level. 35 Seafood Stall Other than the electric eel, no other creatures could withstand a discharge of over two thousand volts. The schools of fishes swam madly away from the electric eel and the giant squid, dazzled passersby. The giant squid was not so lucky. It started out full of vigor, but it suddenly let go of all its ten tentacles as if it had been sucked of all its energy, and struggled to escape this place. Running away? Chen Fan was not going to let that happen. Not only did he not let go of his grasping claws, but he used all of his strength to close up the mouth which was biting the soft flesh. The giant squid struggled desperately while deep red blood flowed from its body, contaminating the water. Chen Fan was unable to sustain the high energy attack for long, but luckily the giant squid could not hold out for an even shorter time. Thirty seconds later, the giant squid finally stopped moving, and his eyeballs, the size of basins, turned ash gray. After waiting for one minute, Chen Fan heaved a long sigh seeing that it did not move anymore, and slowly let go of the eel''s mouth and four claws. After relieving himself from the high tension, the eel felt pain all over. Looking at the red circular scars left by the suction cups on the giant squid''s tentacles, Chen Fan felt a lingering fear. If the electric current had not significantly numbed the giant squid, the eel would have gotten countless circular scars from the battle! After quietly resting for a while, Chen Fan controlled the eel avatar to move the squid''s tentacles aside with his claws and found the beak hidden in the middle. He bit the beak off and held it in his mouth. "Two million RMB!" Chen Fan was overcome with emotion. Thereafter, he controlled the electric eel to make a turn and swim toward Zhongyun City. The journey both ways, there and back to find the giant squid, took almost five hours. It was already after seven in the evening when he reached the previous hiding place on the shoal. After Chen Fan shifted his consciousness back, he walked out of the bedroom and said to Wang Bing, who was watching television on the couch, "Come, let''s go for a seafood feast today, my treat!" "Seafood feast?" Wang Bing immediately jumped up like a rabbit when he heard food. "Is this for real? You''re so kind!" "Of course, it''s fake!" Chen Fan did not bother with him and walked outside by himself. "Wait for me" Wang Bing quickly switched off the television and ran out. It was a well-known fact that the people of Zhongyun loved seafood, and there were numerous high class seafood restaurants inside the city area. On the way, Wang Bing was babbling on about the food that he wanted to eat, but He was dumbstruck when they reached the destination. "Boss, didn''t you say that you''re treating me to a seafood feast? Why did you bring me here?" "Isn''t this a seafood feast?" Chen Fan pointed at the "BBQ Seafood Stall" signage at the entrance. "This stall has been doing barbecue seafood for more than ten years, especially the grilled cuttlefish and hotplate clams. The food here is...whoa, simply excellent!" Although this barbecue stall was not big, business was very good. The two waited for over ten minutes before getting a seat. "What would you like to order?" Chen Fan had just sat down when a pretty young lady with a ponytail came over with a menu. "Mm!" Chen Fan did not look at the menu. "Gimme twenty razor clam skewers, four portions of grilled cuttlefish, ten portions of hotplate clams, ten crab skewers, and four bottles of beer!" "Coming right away!" The young lady quickly scribbled the things Chen Fan ordered on a piece of paper and then gave a smile. "Boss, that young lady is hot!" Wang Bing immediately turned and stared at her back after she had left. "Yeah, she''s the boss''s daughter. She comes here to help out during the peak hours every day!" Chen Fan also stared at her back. "Heh heh! No wonder you wanna come to this barbecue stall of all places!" Wang Bing gave a faint smile. "You must have taken a fancy to this little Lolita!" "The army must have made you dumb. Do you know what eye candy is?" Wang Bing gave an evil laugh and shrugged, "I only know it''s easy to conquer a Lolita!" After a while, the items Chen Fan ordered arrived one after another and were placed inside the small grill box on the table. "Wow, the food here is really delicious!" After all the items were served, Wang Bing immediately grabbed a clam skewer and stuffed it into his mouth. "Would I bring you here if it''s wasn''t delicious?" Chen Fan rolled his eyes at him before picking up a clam skewer. Young people generally liked eating barbecue and drinking beer. Chen Fan and Wang Bing did not care to talk much and kept stuffing themselves with the grilled seafood in front of them. With a big eater like Wang Bing around, the food and beer on the table were wiped clean within half an hour. "Boss, please give me another round of the items we just ordered!" Chen Fan shouted to the owner who was grilling something at the entrance. "Coming, right away!" The owner turned his head to reply before quickly going back to the stuff on the grill. "Oh, boss, do you think the young lady has a boyfriend?" Getting bored from waiting, Wang Bing started talking nonsense again. "I heard from the new recruits in the army that young ladies are getting wilder these days. Some have already had a few boyfriends by the age of thirteen or fourteen years old!" "I don''t think so!" Chen Fan thought about it as he bit on a toothpick. Since he had come in, he had been observing her using the method he had learned from Yiteng Yun previously, and the result he got in the end was more toward the negative. "Who cares about that? Filling my stomach is more important!" Wang Bing suddenly had a greedy look when he saw the young lady coming over with a plate of grilled razor clams. At that moment, the curtains on the door were lifted up and four youngsters with colorful afros and metal accessories all over entered single file. All four of them had their noses in the air, as if telling everyone that they were ruffians and were not afraid of anyone. "Damn, that bastard at the internet cafe wanted to play tough with me right from the beginning. We had to beat him up so he could learn his lesson " The leader started cursing even before he sat down, looking very arrogant and displeased. "Exactly, Sanya, you should''ve given him a few more stabs, that kind of person needs to be taught a good lesson!" The blond youngster standing diagonally opposite him chimed in after sitting down. "Bah! This Gerber jackknife cost me more than 700 RMB. Stabbing him will depreciate its value!" The young man said as he took out a black folding knife from his waist and slammed it on the table. The four had probably just had a fight and their adrenaline was still pumping. They were full of themselves. There were all types of people in this world, but these guys thought that they really impressed the girls with this type of behavior. 36 I’ll Deduct Your Salary If You Fight Again Everyone was having a great time eating and laughing, but because of these guys, the mood changed and some even quickly paid and left. "Hey, young lady over there, why is our food not served yet?" One of them pointed at the barbecue on Chen Fan''s table. "We ordered more than them, why didn''t you serve us first?" "I willserveserveyousoon." The little girl''s face was pale white as she spoke with a trembling voice. "Haha, Si Mao, you''re frightening her." The young man sitting on the left whose left ear was full of studs said, "Don''t you know how to be a gentleman?" "Gentleman?" The man who was called Si Mao had an exaggerated expression on his face. "Yesterday you were surely not a gentleman when you spent the night with your internet friend in the motel." "I can''t eat anymore!" Wang Bing ran his fingers through his hair, put down his hot plate clam and said, "Boss, shall I shut them up?" "Shut them up? How are you going to shut them up?" Chen Fan twitched his mouth and said, "Do you think they will listen to you?" Wang Bing smiled enigmatically. "Of course, my fists will do the talking!" "Just go ahead then! Don''t blame me for not warning you if you fail." Chen Fan waved his hand absentmindedly and continued to eat his own food. "Of course... I won''t fail!" Wang Bing narrowed his eyes and the expression on his face looked like he was about to do something bad. "Hey, lower your volume when you boast!" Wang Bing turned to the table and said to the four guys who were still chatting loudly, "It''s okay if you''re full of sh*t but just don''t show it to others!" His voice was so loud that all the diners focused their attention on Wang Bing and were startled to see how ''brave'' this young man was. "There''s going to be a good show here!" Chen Fan slapped his head and muttered to himself. Then, he leaned on the wall to avoid being caught up in this impending battle. "You... You... Are you f**king talking about us?" The young man, who was called San Ya, clenched his teeth and his eyes flashed with uncontrollable anger while pointing at himself. "Bingo, that''s exactly it. Too bad there''s no reward!" Wang Bing scratched his head and said something even meaner, "By the way, the guy with a pile of sh*t in your head, the Gerber mini folding tactical knife is fake and it only costs about 15 RMB for one, right?" Silence crept in The atmosphere was suddenly as silent as the dead! The four miscreants stared at Wang Bing with their eyes wide open as if they had seen a ghost. "Why are you staring at me like that?" Pow! Wang Bing smashed a white porcelain beer glass on the guy''s forehead. "Does this guy have a death wish or something?" All the other diners rubbed their eyes in disbelief. "I''ll stab you to death..." The guy shouted while covering his forehead with his left hand. His right hand grabbed the folding knife on the table and pointed his knife at Wang Bing, trying to stab him with it. But who did he think Wang Bing was? He was a beast who had beaten up five men in just ten seconds. Looking at the guy who was dashing toward him, he didn''t even bother to avoid it and calmly stood still instead. Then, he grabbed the iron stick on the table, and threw it using only one hand. As quick as lightning, the stick pierced the lad''s hand which was holding the knife. Most of the iron barbecue sticks were made from steel bars like those of a bicycle spoke that were sharpened at one end, which was very suitable for near distance piercing. The right hand of the man that was holding the knife was directly pierced by the iron stick and was pinned down together with the knife. "Ouch..." The young man couldn''t care less about the pain on his forehead. He grabbed his left hand quickly in pain, stumbled back two steps and sank into the chair with a cry of pain. This gave everyone a shock and even the three guys who were boasting loudly were scared to death. They looked at Wang Bing without daring to speak a word. "Let''s leave!" After recovering from the initial shock of the fight, Chen Fan stood up and pulled Wang Bing by his collar. Wang Bing spat on the ground and said, "The four of you, listen very carefully. I am Xie Ruijiang, the captain of the Riot Brigade of the armed police detachment of Zhongyun City. My duty is to suppress violence with violence! If you all haven''t had enough today, just come and look for me!" He is the captain of the riot squad. No wonder he is so strong! All the other diners finally understood the reason why the armed police detachment was directly managed by the province armed police headquarters. Others didn''t have the right to question his actions. Beating up a few youths must be as simple as drinking water for him. ............... While dragging Wang Bing to pay and leave, Chen Fan''s face showed a bit of displeasure, "How could you act so violently? Even though they were little thugs, you didn''t need to pierce that guy''s hand, did you?" "Boss, it''s not as serious as you think!" Wang Bing gave a wave of his hand. "The iron stick is so thin that it will only hurt for a few days. He won''t have a major injury." "It''s not a matter of resulting in any major injuries. If they attacked us first, then I wouldn''t have cared if you beat them up, but you shouldn''t risk getting yourself in trouble by starting it first, even they were quite annoying." "I know, I know, I promise to get your consent first before I do it next time!" Wang Bing said in a "don''t care manner". "Let''s do it this way. In order for you to learn your lesson... If there is such a similar situation in the future where I have not allowed you to do so, I will deduct 1,000 RMB from your salary," Chen Fan said. "What..." Wang Bing said worriedly, "Erm... boss, this time no money will be deducted, right?" "No I won''t deduct any money this time!" Chen Fan waved his hand. "By the way, who is the captain of the police brigade, this Xie Ruijiang, that you mentioned just now? You just blurted out his name without even thinking. Is he your former comrade?" "Hehe, yes!" Upon hearing Chen Fan say that he would not deduct his salary for this month, Wang Bing was relieved and said, "I had a good relationship with him. He was transferred to the armed police brigade of Zhongyun City after some time." "If I hadn''t been expelled from the troop, he would have been one of my men in two years. It''s a pity that I''m embarrassed to see him now!" "You are a shameless fellow. How can you set-up your own comrade!" Chen Fan said with an "I despise you" expression. "This guy is not a good person anyway. He had tricked a lot of people in the army. Using his name in this is only a small matter. Once when I was in the hostel looking for a prostitute, I filled in his name and ID on the registration form!" "Erm..." Chen Fan was speechless! After walking for a distance, Chen Fan saw that they were approaching the beach where the electric eel was, so he turned around and said, "I have a stomachache and there is a beach not far away from here, so let me excuse myself for a while. Wait for me here." It was Wang Bing''s turn to be speechless this time! After waiting for a long time, Wang Bing finally saw Chen Fan holding something like a conch in his hands. "What do you have in your hand? It looks like a spiral conch." "I''m not sure either. It looked strange and I''m not sure what type of conch it is, so I just got it to play with." Chen Fan said while toying with the giant squid''s beak in his hand. "Call a cab, we have things to settle tomorrow." 37 Do You Have an Appointment? Inside a single-bed intensive care unit in Zhongyun City People''s Hospital "Hello, Manager Liu, any news at your end?" A fair-skinned, plump middle-aged man was standing by the window with a phone in his hand and sounded anxious. "Why isn''t there any news yet? Send someone to inform those fishermen immediately. As long as it''s within this week, I, Ma Rongtao will pay 2 million RMB to the second person who manages to get a giant squid''s beak." "I know it''s not easy to get that thing! You guys worked hard this week to settle this. Do more visits to the fishermen''s homes and see if there''s anyone who collects that stuff." "Hubby, forget it, if it really can''t be found, I''ll just have this arm amputated at most. Anyway, our daughter is all grown-up now, and you''re already so successful, what else do I have to complain about?" After the man hung up the phone, a weak female voice came from the intensive care bed. "Don''t worry, the giant squid isn''t something that''s extremely rare. I''ve already contacted my overseas clients to see if they''re able to get it." The plump middle-aged man slowly sat in front of the hospital bed and looked at his haggard wife as he gently touched her nose with his index finger." Although money is not everything these days, it can fulfill many wishes. If there''s still no news tomorrow, I''ll increase the price to 5 million RMB! If that doesn''t work, I''ll increase it to 10 million!" "It''s been so many years and you still believe in ''money makes the world go round''!" The woman on the bed gently shook her head and said, "Your business is more important. Don''t worry too much about this. Just leave it to Manager Liu!" "There aren''t many things to see to these few days. I''ll just get my subordinates to bring the documents that need to be signed here. Oh, I''ll go outside to make a call first and I''ll be right back." The man patted his wife''s thigh as he got up and headed outside the room. "Mm, go ahead, work is more important!" When the middle-aged man reached the corridor, he took out his mobile phone and dialed a foreign number. "Hello, Manager Zhang, have you contacted that Laurel Batten from Tanzania?" "I''ve already contacted him, Boss, but he''s asking for two million USD for him to send someone to rob his country''s marine museum." "Two million, so be it. Send 200,000 USD over first as a deposit. If we still don''t have any news after two days, tell him to take action and send someone to bring it over on an international flight immediately after getting it." "Yes boss, I''ll wait for your call 24/7!" "Giant squid, giant squid, damn you, why must you live in the deep seas?" After hanging up, the man mumbled in a helpless tone. Wang Bing looked at the ''conch'' in Chen Fan''s hand and said, "Boss, are you really sure this is a giant squid''s beak and not some random conch?" as they went on their way to the Star Shipping Group. Chen Fan raised the ''conch'' and said, "Forget it, if you don''t believe me. I searched the internet last night and it is indeed the beak of a giant squid." Wang Bing exclaimed, "You''re simply insulting my intelligence!" "Alright, I admit that this was sent over by my southeast Asian partner last night. He discovered a giant squid''s body at the beach three years ago, and he cut off the giant squid''s beak to keep as a souvenir." Chen Fan said casually, "I called him last night and asked about it. He said he still had it, so I got him to send it over this morning!" "You...you" Wang Bing scoffed as he pointed at Chen Fan. "No matter what you say, it won''t change my opinion that it is a ''conch''!" "Your opinion is not important. It''s the opinions of Ma Rongtao and that elderly doctor that are important. If they think that this is a giant squid''s beak, it''ll be worth two million RMB even if it''s whale feces!" "Madness, you must be mad! I''m gonna see how you''re gonna sell this ''conch'' for two million RMB." Wang Bing looked like he was going crazy. "Let me say this first. I''m not gonna help if you''re gonna get all bashed up!" "Okay, then be prepared to be fired and pay a large sum of liquidated damages!" Wang Bing was puzzled upon hearing this from Chen Fan. "Why? Why should I pay you money after you fire me?" "You forgot? We stated clearly in the contract that if you''re around when I''m being attacked and you do not fulfill your duties as a bodyguard, that will a breach of contract and I''ll have the right to fire you and ask for liquidated damages according to the degree of damage." "Is there really this clause?" Wang Bing was deflated. When the two reached the office building of Star Shipping Group, Wang Bing was a little hesitant as he stood in front of the magnificent silver gray building. "Boss, we better not go in. I admit I''m good at fighting, but that doesn''t mean that I wanna experience being bashed up by a hundred people at once!" "Be a man and show me your courage! Stop being a sissy!" Chen Fan adjusted his shirt before walking toward the stairs of the office building. Wang Bing heaved a sigh and said, "Hope the company has mostly female employees!" and then followed closely behind. Ma Rongtao was really rich. There was an archway right at the entrance which could be seen from its reflection on the shiny marble floor without having to raise one''s head. Hanging from the gorgeous ceiling was a huge Baroque style crystal chandelier. "Is your manager around?" Chen Fan asked the female receptionist at the lobby reception area. The receptionist was very pretty and had a sweet voice. "Do you have an appointment? Which manager are you looking for?" "The highest ranking one!" Wang Bing snapped as he walked forward. "I''m sorry, I''m not able to help you if you do not have an appointment." The receptionist was still smiling. It was obvious that not everyone could meet a manager of the Star Shipping Group, especially in the case of Chen Fan and Wang Bing who looked like ordinary people. Although Chen Fan was holding a giant squid beak that was worth two million RMB, the clothes he had on were very ordinary. "I hate to say this, but if you don''t inform your manager immediately, I can guarantee that you''ll be fired straight away." Chen Fan knocked on the black marble table-top. "Why?" The receptionist frowned and asked doubtfully. "Because his wife ran away with another man this morning!" Wang Bing squeezed forward, looking very annoyed. "Huh? How is this possible? Our general manager is a female!" 38 Freeze! "If that''s the case, it was her husband who ran away with someone else this morning!" Wang Bing still had that impatient look on his face. "Our general manager has not been married yet!" the female receptionist retorted immediately. "Okay, okay, I have some business to settle with your general manager," Chen Fan said while revealing the giant squid''s beak in his hand. "I''ve heard that your boss needs this to cure his wife, and I found one when I was fishing in the sea a few days ago." "What... seriously?" The receptionist immediately dismissed her idea of calling the security guard and dialed the phone hurriedly instead. "I''ll contact our general manager immediately!" "Hello, general manager? I''m Zhen Qian, the receptionist. Two men are here saying that they have the beak of the giant squid," she said excitedly. She would probably get some commission from this. "Both of you gentlemen, our general manager will be with you in a moment." The female receptionist immediately changed her manner of speech into a polite one. "Please have a seat on the sofa and wait for a while. I''ll make two cups of tea for you to quench your thirst." "Boss, how are we going to settle this later?" Sitting on the sofa, Wang Bing felt uneasy. Even now, he still couldn''t believe that Chen Fan had the giant squid''s beak. "You can rest assured, I have many years of experience in lying, and I promise we won''t get into any trouble." "We are doomed, I knew that you couldn''t possibly have a real giant squid''s beak!" Wang Bing looked around, tugged at Chen fan''s sleeve and said, "Boss, why don''t we leave now since there isn''t anybody around!" "Young man, you have to be braver!" Chen Fan said calmly as he closed his eyes and took a sip of tea. "Boss, boss, look look!" Wang Bing poked Chen Fan''s arm strongly. "There is a gorgeous looking western girl coming out from the lift." "Where?" Chen Fan stopped pretending to be steady and looked around with his eyes wide open to spot the target immediately. "Wow" Chen Fan sucked in a cold breath as he saw her coming out of the elevator. She was a western beauty with honey yellow, wavy long hair, and a hot body. She had a pretty face with beautiful blue eyes and was wearing a pure black blouse. These were not really the reasons why Chen Fan was surprised. Unexpectedly, this beautiful western lady was the one that Chen Fan had met the last time at the breakfast nook. "Hello!" Wang Bing stood up and used his broken English to greet her. However, he was ignored by the beautiful lady. "Ah... You... Aren''t you the one who got into a fight at the Wansheng Breakfast Nook?" The beautiful western lady was shocked when she faced Chen Fan. Chen Fan reluctantly scratched his head. "What a coincidence meeting you here. Yes, it was me indeed." The beautiful western lady looked around and saw that there were no other new faces in the hall except for these two men, so she asked Chen Fan hesitantly, "You have the giant squid''s beak, right?" "Yes!" Chen Fan''s face was full of surprise. "The last time I met you, your Mandarin wasn''t that fluent. How come you can speak fluently now with a Zhongyun accent?" "Is it really the beak of the giant squid?" The beautiful lady''s face immediately beamed with happiness. "Don''t ask so many questions for now. Follow me to the hospital right now, as my aunt is still waiting for this thing to cure her!" "Wait What, your aunt?" Chen Fan was even more puzzled. How could a foreigner have a Chinese aunt? "Are you a mixed-blood?" Wang Bing was the one who caught a clue. Although the eyes of this beautiful woman were blue, they were less blue than the foreigners and the outline of her face looked a little Asian. "Yes, don''t talk so much, just follow me to the hospital!" The beautiful lady tugged at Chen Fan''s clothes anxiously and pulled him out. This beautiful woman seemed like an impatient person like Chen Fan. As soon as she started her white Audi A4L, she called Ma Rongtao immediately. "Uncle, this is Wu Ruoyu. I found a man who has the beak of the giant squid. I am taking them to the hospital now." "Okay, I''ll be there in ten minutes." "Erm, young lady, we understand how you feel right now..."Chen Fan, who was sitting in the back seat, leaned forward. "But, could you please be considerate of our feelings too? If I''m not mistaken, your aunt must be in Zhongyun People''s Hospital, and from where we are now, I don''t think ten minutes is enough to get there." "You... Can you get there in half an hour?" "No!" The mixed-blood beauty rejected it in a hasty manner and stepped on the gas. The 2.0 CC car roared with a sound that was similar to a race car. She was true to her word, and a few seconds before ten minutes she reached the basement of the hospital''s infirmary. "F**k, she almost scared the hell out of me!" As soon he got out of the car, Wang Bing kept patting his chest as if he was in shock. "Please come with me!" The mixed-blood beauty didn''t even have time to care about Wang Bing''s vulgar words and dragged Chen Fan to the lift. As they rushed into the single-bed intensive care unit, they bumped into a fat and fair-looking middle-aged man. "Young man, is what you are holding really the giant squid''s beak?" The man was clearly restraining his excitement. "Yes, I found a dead giant squid when I was fishing in the sea a few days ago. It had a very strange mouth, so I cut it off to keep as a collector''s item." Chen Fan simply made up a story. "Doctor Zhang!" Ma Rongtao rushed over to the grey-haired old man who was standing in the back and said, "Could you please come and have a look to see whether this is the beak of a giant squid?" After the old doctor carefully examined the thing in his hand, he said, "Yes, it is, it''s exactly like the one that I have seen before! Mr. Ma, your wife''s arm can be saved now." "Erm..." Wang Bing was totally shocked and his face was filled with confusion. Is the old doctor an idiot? How could he not distinguish between a ''conch'' and the beak of a giant squid? "Thank you so much, young man!" Ma Rongtao shook Chen Fan''s right hand excitedly. "Do you have a bank account? I will ask someone to transfer the money now." "Yeah, I do." Chen Fan gulped. "Sha Sha!" Ma Rongtao turned to the mixed-blood beauty and said, "Call Manager Liu and ask him to transfer two million RMB from the company''s sales to this young man''s bank account." ............... "Boss, I beg you, just tell me the truth. Where did you get that thing?" While walking on the main road outside the hospital, Wang Bing pleaded. "You said it was sent to you by your foreign business partner, but I feel that something fishy is going on!" "I said that I accidentally found it, but you didn''t believe me, and you still didn''t believe me when I said it was from a foreign business partner!" Chen Fan shook his head and said, "Well, I''ll tell you the truth!" "Yes! Of course!" "I can tell you, but you must keep it as a secret without telling anyone. Remember, you must tell no one about it!" Chen Fan had a serious expression on his face. "Don''t worry, boss!" Wang Bing nodded constantly like a chicken pecking for food. "I swear, I won''t even tell my future wife." "Well" Chen Fan paused for a second and said, "Forget it, I won''t tell you because I don''t want you to look at me differently." "Boss, tell me, I promise not to tell anyone!" Wang Bing''s eyes were almost popping out due to his anxiousness. "Then swear that you won''t..." "If I tell anyone the secret of my boss, I will never have a wife for the rest of my life!" "Since you swore so sincerely, okay then, I''ll tell you!" Chen Fan frowned, took a deep breath and said, "Actually, I am the legendary superman! I have been secretly protecting the peace of the earth for more than seven hundred years..." "But due to a recent shortage of money, I made a giant squid beak to earn some money!" "What the" Wang Bing looked like he had just eaten a fly, and it was definitely a big one. "Boss, I have a secret to tell you too!" Wang Bing imitated Chen Fan''s serious expression. "Actually, I am also one of the legendary supermen..." "Ah" Chen Fan twitched his mouth and said with exaggeration, "I''ve been waiting for more than 700 years, and finally, I have you as my heir." "Enough boss..." Wang Bing was annoyed. "I believe that your foreign business partner sent it!" Chen Fan had a ''you should have believed it since the beginning'' expression. "By the way, do you have a driver''s license?" "Yeah, of course!" Wang Bing took out a green leather notebook from his pocket. "Boss, are you going to buy a car after getting the money?" "Yes, stop a cab. Let''s go now." "Cab!" Wang Bing immediately jumped onto the main road. Without any regard for oncoming traffic, he stopped a cab. Zhongyun Rundong Automobile Industry... "Boss, I think that this Hummer H2 beside me is more macho?" Wang Bing said while pointing to the blue Hummer. "It costs only one hundred and twenty-eight thousand!" Chen Fan looked at the catalog and shook his head. He acted as though he were filthy rich and said, "I''ll buy this black BMW 740 that costs about 1.4 million RMB." The BMW 7 series was a model that was designed especially for bosses. Apart from the two passenger seats in the back seats, there were three air-conditioning outlets with independent temperature adjustment and ventilated seats, not to mention the electrical leather seats that could be adjusted freely. Only by looking at the two 9-inch LCD screens that were installed behind the front seats and the wireless remote controls that controlled the car''s stereo system could one feel that this model would be very comfortable for bosses. ......... It was impossible to describe Chen Fan''s feelings at that moment as he had only been an ordinary college student who was worried about his future a few months ago. However, things were starting to change now. He was now a rich man with a private bodyguard who drove a more than 1.4 million RMB luxury car. "Boss, this luxury car costs about one million RMB, and we already feel so cool driving in it!" Wang Bing, who sat in the driver''s seat, was filled with emotion. "What about the six or seven million RMB Rolls-Royce Phantom? Won''t the girls get super excited and ecstatic?" "Concentrate on driving the car!" Chen Fan stopped fiddling with the dazzling buttons and laughed wretchedly. "Wait for me to get even richer, I''ll get a Bugatti Veyron that costs more than forty million RMB and let''s see then what the look will be of the girls who sit in it!" "They will surely be so pleased!" Wang Bing''s expression was full of affirmation. "Boss, where are we going now, by the way?" "Let''s head home first. I want to change into a handsome suit, then go and flirt with some pretty girls!" A high price came with good quality. It took about half an hour to get home by cab, but they got there twice as fast in the BMW because of the powerful engine. Chen Fan, who sat in the back seat, enjoyed the smooth ride home. "Boss, we might as well take a bath in ''Victoria''!" Chen Fan took out the key and opened the door, then turned to Wang Bing and said, "We don''t need to bathe in "Victoria" when we have a solar powered water bath at home." Chen Fan opened the door and was just about to step into his house. Suddenly, at that particular moment from behind the door a dark gun barrel was held up and quickly aimed at Chen Fan''s waist. "Freeze! If you dare to even move a muscle, I will shoot him!" 39 Things Took a New Turn "I won''t move I won''t move!" Wang Bing, who was standing at the back, slowly raised up both of his hands, looking as innocent as a lamb. "You two follow me. My boss wants to see you." Following these words, three grim-looking, burly men, carrying Beretta 92s, appeared from behind the door. As for the remaining two, one aimed his gun at Wang Bing''s chest, while the other speedily searched Chen Fan''s waist, removing an automatic pistol and a pre-paid Nokia phone. Wang Bing''s body was then searched from top to bottom, but, apart from his phone, there was no other possible threat found. With a cold expression, the brawny man waved the gun in his hand, then demanded, "Follow us!" "Brothers, where are we going?" Chen Fan''s teeth kept chattering, as the pressure of having a gun pointed at him was just too overwhelming! "You''ll find out when we get there!" The burly man was not in a chatty mood. He used his wide sleeve to cover the gun, then marched Chen Fan and Wang Bing towards the grey van that was parked downstairs. "Get in!" Another man opened the car door, then pushed Chen Fan and Wang Bing inside. Once they got in, the man took out two pairs of handcuffs from beneath the seat, then, with a clack, cuffed both Chen Fan and Wang Bing with them. These people seemed like they were old hands at kidnapping and blackmail schemes, as the entire process flowed as smoothly as flowing river. Through the tinted car window, Chen Fan noticed that the van was headed in the direction of the sea. Are they going to murder us? And dump our bodies? These two thoughts kept on circulating in Chen Fan''s brain, transforming finally into a chill, which spread from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head, then exploded in his brain. A cold sweat dripped down like rain from Chen Fan''s brow. Turning his head towards Wang Bing, who was sitting next to him, Chen Fan placed all of his faith in this highly-paid bodyguard, praying that he would quickly prove his worth. Feeling Chen Fan''s gaze on him, Wang Bing turned his head and met his gaze. He unexpectedly grinned at the horrified Chen Fan, exposing his twin rows of snow white teeth. "Why are you laughing?!" Chen Fan asked, while giving Wang Bing a harsh punch to the stomach. The gray van drove on steadily, even obeying traffic rules and not running a single red light. One would never guess that there were a bunch of kidnappers with guns inside of the calmly driven vehicle! After many turns, the van arrived at an abandoned pier via a small lane. "Get out!" the gun-bearing thug said coldly. The abandoned pier was overgrown with weeds. However, at the end of the cement bridge was a brand new, white eight-seater speedboat that had been made of fiberglass. "I''m sure you know what to do," the thug said, still pointing his gun at Chen Fan. With a gun aimed at his waist, even if Chen Fan was told to jump into the sea, he would grit his teeth and do it, so of course he would get on a boat! "I I know" Once he got on the boat, Chen Fan''s heart sank. The three kidnappers didn''t bother covering their own faces, nor Chen Fan and Wang Bing''s eyes, as they seemed to not care at all that the pair would see or remember their faces. From their practiced movements, one could tell they were experienced pros. In this type of situation, the only possible explanation for their actions was that they never intended for Chen Fan and Wang Bing to leave there alive. Aboard the speedboat, Chen Fan quickly focused his attention on his electric eel counterpart, which frantically waved its tail and swam towards the vessel. Although the chances of him not getting shot before the eel could bite these people to death were slim, Chen Fan still refused to let go of this tiny hope. Anyway, even if he died, he could at least live as a lonely electric eel from now on. However, Chen Fan had underestimated the speed of the speedboat, while he had overestimated the speed of the electric eel. After all, even a mighty man would find that relying on a tail to chase a man-made speedboat is difficult. The electric eel was still at least ten miles away, and due to the speed of the speedboat, the electric eel was forced to frantically give chase for over twenty minutes. But, in the end, it still was unable to stop the speedboat. Just as Chen Fan was at a loss for what to do next, a command rang out from the side of the boat, "Get on the boat!" Returning to his senses, Chen Fan raised his head and noticed that the speedboat had stopped beside a double decker yacht! The electric eel was still some distance from the speedboat, so Chen Fan gritted his teeth and temporarily stopped controlling the electric eel. He did this so that he could stand up and head towards the deck of the yacht. An impeccably dressed young man was standing on the shiny white deck. The man was Wei Songyue, the guy who had held a grudge against Chen Fan, based on their previous encounters, for a very long time! "Hey there! Welcome to my humble abode! Your presence honors me." The minute Chen Fan got on the boat, Wei Songyue, who had been waiting for him, walked over with a malicious smile. "I''ve missed you since we parted at the entertainment outlet." Standing on the empty deck, Wei Songyue''s smile was especially dark and sinister. "Today, I really couldn''t resist, so I sent some people to invite you over to reminisce and, while we''re at it, to send both of you to hell!" "Wei, let''s talk this out. There''s no need for knives and guns right" Chen Fan''s teeth chattered a bit as he spoke, revealing his nervousness. "Well, didn''t you treat us similarly at the entertainment outlet?" Wei Songyue laughed gleefully. "We are merely returning the favor, so naturally, I thought I would get some thugs to entertain you. Look at my sincerity. I even threw in a free trip to hell for you." "Looking at your lewd smile, you seem pretty confident that you can kill us." Standing at one side, Wang Bing didn''t seem to care that there was a gun pointed at him, as his tone was even more arrogant than Wei Songyue''s. "Why don''t you tell me whether or not my confidence is justified?" Wei Songyue took out a gun from his waistband, then held it against Wang Bing''s forehead. "There''s no point in being long-winded with a man who''s about to die. I might as well send you off right now." "You haven''t even bought insurance, but you want to send me off?" Wang Bing was wearing a condescending expression. "Did you have a temporary lapse of sanity?" "Gosh, it turns out that this fellow is dimwit!" Chen Fan was so worried, he was almost in tears. Now, the important thing was to stall him for as long as possible, but this guy had actually volunteered to get shot! "Very good!" Without elaborating further, Wei Songyue immediately released the safety and pulled the bolt back. "I''ll send you off right now!" Looking at Wei Songyue''s uplifted arm, Chen Fan had already planned on closing his eyes forever... ...... Suddenly, everything became a blur. The handcuffs, which were on Wang Bing just seconds earlier, were now unexpectedly flying in Chen Fan''s direction like an artillery shell. With the booming sound, the handcuffs violently crashed against the nose bridge of the gun-bearing burly man, who was standing behind Chen Fan. The man hadn''t even had the chance to close his eyes! Having knocked down one man, Wang Bing''s uplifted right hand then rotated, and with a bend of his body, he flashed from in front of Wei Songyue to behind him. The move took less than two seconds! Wei Songyue had only raised his gun halfway up, when it was stolen at lightning speed by Wang Bing, who was behind him. With such a turn of events, the two burly men left standing suddenly had now become fugitives, instantly coming to the realization that things were not looking good for them! One of the burly men was just about to raise his gun to defend himself, when a bullet shot through his temple with a huge ping. Instantly, white brain matter and bright red blood plasma came streaming out from the back of his skull! Without making a sound, the brawny man was immediately taken out. Chen Fan thought that, at this moment, Wang Bing would pause and shout, "Don''t move! If you move, I''ll shoot!" However, without even waiting for the recoil to dissipate, Wang Bing instead sent another thug to the underworld via another bullet to the temple. Chen Fan could not even comprehend Wang Bing''s speed. He went over the scene in his mind: Wang Bing''s using the handcuffs to knock down the one guy, snatching the gun and shooting down two people consecutively.all of which had occurred within one second! Just as Chen Fan was about to scream out his delight, Wang Bing again fired his gun. The shock of yet another bullet sent careening through space caused Chen Fan''s planned scream to get stuck in his throat. This shot immediately burst open the brains of the burly man who had been lying on the floor next to Chen Fan, holding his breath. 40 It’s Very Simple "Now..." Wang Bing blew away the smoke that was coming from the muzzle of the gun he was holding, pointed it at Wei Songyue, and said, "It''s your turn!" "Big brother, I beg you, please don''t kill me!" Wei Songyue was very fierce and brave just a moment ago, but now he was as timid as a mouse crying for mercy. "Brothers, please be kind and forgive me!" Wang Bing did not even glance at Wei Songyue who was terrified, but looked at Chen Fan instead. "What do you think, boss?" "Hmm" Chen Fan, whose face was as pale as a sheet of white paper gave a wave of his hand, which meant, I need some time to calm myself down before making a decision. Seeing the red and white splattered brains on the ground was a hundred times more thrilling compared to the first time he saw porn videos. Wang Bing said pitifully, "Well, I''m sorry... My boss doesn''t want to let you go!" "Please don''t kill..." Bang! With a ''bang'', Wei Songyue was shot in the head and kicked aside by Wang Bing before he could finish his sentence. "You..." Chen Fan pointed at Wang Bing and said, "What I meant was that I would like you to wait for a second, so I can calm down before I decide." "Hey, it doesn''t make any difference!" Wang Bing scratched his head. "This type of man is a danger. It''s better to just kill him. Plus, by looking at his behavior, he seemed like someone who has had blood on his hands, so I actually did a good deed by killing him." "You must have the experience of killing many people!" Chen Fan turned his head away and tried to avoid looking at the brains and blood on the ground. "Hehe, I indeed have this kind of experience!" As he spoke, he drew out five magazines from the people that were lying on the ground and gave back Chen Fan his American Luger automatic pistol that was taken from him. "By the way, how did you unlock the handcuffs? And why didn''t you kill them when you were in the car? I almost thought that I was going to die," Chen Fan said while he fetched the gun and put it back in the holster on his waist. "The handcuffs are easy to unlock!" Wang Bing took out two U pins from his pockets. "I was trained to open this, as long as it''s not a special lock. Why didn''t I kill them in the car?...because it''s easy to bump into cops downtown. Moreover, you can''t see their faces so killing them is just a waste of time!" "I have no idea what a guy like you used to do before. Are you from the fifth squad?" "The fifth squad? What kind of unit is that?" Wang Bing was a little confused. "As far as I know, we don''t have this type of squad in China!" "I read a novel called ''Bullet Mark'', and according to it, the members of the fifth squad must be able to complete a series of dodging, pulling out the gun and shooting in 0.7 seconds in order to prevent their opponent from figuring out their moves." "Well..." Wang Bing looked up, thought for a moment and said, "The book was right, but that 0.7 second period is only for an average soldier. At the moment you open the door, I can actually kill him within 0.4 to 0.5 seconds if I have a gun." "Bullshit, five seconds is not even enough for you to blink." "How could you possibly know?" Wang Bing twitched his mouth and said, "Have you played CS before? If you play it often, you''ll find out that sometimes when you''re suddenly confronted with an enemy, your hands will fire shots automatically without waiting for the brain''s nervous system to give instructions and the time taken is only within 0.3 to 0.4 seconds at most." "I have experienced this a few times." "If you keep practicing the reflex of pulling out a gun, firing shots and a series of dodging for years, you will be able to kill your opponent in a few seconds. Of course, you have to be an expert in aiming too!" "What kind of army were you in before? So damn cool!" Chen Fan looked up and said, "I''ve never even heard of this kind of training in the special forces before." "Don''t ask me which squad I''m from because I won''t tell you. Just like when I asked you how you got the giant squid''s beak, you fooled me too, right?" "Okay, fine, if that''s the case, don''t ask me how I got all the stuff from the sea either!" Chen Fan looked around. "We have to find a way to make this boat sink, or we are doomed when the police find out." "Okay, deal!" Wang Bing strapped the revolver and the cartridge behind his back, turned around and said, "It''s very easy to make it sink. Just look at how I do it." Wang Bing had an easy solution to this problem. First, he poured more than a dozen kilograms of gasoline into the cabin and then used a lighter to start a fire. "Come on, this ship will sink soon." Wang Bing jumped into the nearby speedboat, calling to Chen Fan. "Will that work? What if the flames of the burning boat attract the coast guard''s attention?" Jumping on the speedboat, Chen Fan was still worried. "Rest assured, I have checked. The ship isn''t made up of reinforced fireproof glass, so when the gasoline burns out a large hole in the boat, the ship will be filled with water, extinguishing the flames automatically." "Should we just wait and see how it goes for a moment? What if it doesn''t sink?" "Sure, whatever, we''re not in a hurry anyway." Wang Bing folded his hands and sat down to watch it burn. Half an hour later... Looking at the top of the antenna on the boat that was left on the surface of the water while other parts of the ship had sunk into the bottom of the sea, Chen Fan said, "Let''s go!" "Okay!" Wang Bing agreed and started the speedboat''s engine. It took them another half an hour to get back to the shabby little pier. As soon he got out of the boat, Chen Fan said to Wang Bing, "Let''s find some large stones to make this boat sink." "Why don''t we keep it?" Wang Bing was a little reluctant. Getting rid of the ship was obvious but keeping the speedboat should be okay, thought Wang Bing. "No!" Chen Fan just ignored him and kept on smashing the cabin of the boat with large stones. Although the eight-seater speed boat was made up of double-glazed steel, it was not possible for it to withstand the constant smashing by two strong men. After a while, the new yacht had a big hole in it and seawater filled the boat. When the ship was almost filled with water, Wang Bing started the engine once again, and the speedboat headed straight out into the vast ocean. "Boss, we''ve destroyed something that was worth millions with our own hands!" Looking at the sea where no more traces of the boat could be seen, Wang Bing was disappointed and sighed with regret. "Let''s go, we shouldn''t be thinking too much." When he reached home, Chen Fan was as tired as a man who had just run a marathon, and he felt that all of his energy had been drained from his body. The scene on the cruise ship kept flashing through his mind like a slide, and he couldn''t stop thinking about it. "Well, it seems like my heart is not strong enough!" With a long sigh, Chen Fan endured his tiredness and shifted his consciousness to the electric eel quickly. The electric eel had already reached the deep sea when it was chasing after the speedboat. Although it''s body was nearly ten meters long and was able to compete with most of the aquatic creatures in the sea, Chen Fan couldn''t be too careful. He quickly controlled it to swim to the shallow area in order to avoid any bad incidents. 41 Dongming County After controlling the electric eel back to the shoal, Chen Fan felt very restless. Although they got rid of Wei Songyue, Chen Fan felt that this matter would not be put to rest just like that. There was someone by the name of He Shan present at the scene when he first had conflict with Wei Songyue. Although he was not around during his subsequent encounters with Wei Songyue, Chen Fan believed that He Shan was aware when Wei Songyue sent someone to kill him. Even the boss of Tianhai Shipping, Wei Qing, may have been in ''the know''. The security in Zhongyun had always been good, and there had not been any shootings for the past one to two years. Wei Qing had hired three shooters at one go, and it was unlikely that any of his subordinates would have had the guts to do so unless Wei Qing had given his approval. When Wei Qing realizes that his subordinates haven''t come back to report in one or two days, the first person that he will think of will be Chen Fan. Wei Qing who had been in power in Zhongyun City for many years was no small fry, like Wei Songyue. By the time he brings people and comes charging at the door, it will not be a matter of just a few pistols. Chen Fan went to the living room and told Wang Bing about his fear. "Just this?" Wang Bing said as he watched television on the couch. "With me around, Wei Qing won''t be able to lay a finger on you unless he brings his men and launches a grenade attack." "If you are so sure of yourself, then why was I still being pointed at with a gun?" Chen Fan said with a stiff face. "I didn''t have a gun then!" Wang Bing changed a few channels out of boredom, "Boss, seriously? You didn''t tell me that you had a gun. If the gun was in my hands, things would have been different with those three guys?" "What can a gun do? You''ll be courting death if you open fire." Wang Bang threw away the remote control in his hand and said, "Then you tell me what to do and I''ll listen to you." Sitting on the couch, Chen Fan gave it a thought and said, "How about we go into hiding for a while. There are too many things to think about if we stay at home. The police will definitely come once they know about the shooting." "I''m fine with that. Everywhere is the same for me anyway." Wang Bing nodded indifferently. Chen Fan thought for a while, "Oh, how long will it take to be as skillful as you?" "Don''t even think about it. I learned martial arts from my grandfather when I was five, and my father got me into the army when I was eighteen. I''m not bragging, but after all these years of training, I can easily defeat a special forces soldier." Wang Bing gave it a thought. "But, if you''re willing to put in some hard work, I''m confident I can train you to become a qualified soldier in three months." "Isn''t the training for new recruits three months?" Chen Fan rolled his eyes. "I thought you were better than this." "What do you know. You call those soldiers? They''re just a group of kiddos who know how to shoot a gun at most. Real professional soldiers need at least a few years of training to be up to the mark!" "Is the training tough? I''m not doing it if it''s too tough." "You''re the boss, of course I can''t be too hard on you." Wang Bing felt a little helpless. "But if you really wanna improve your battle skills, you have to put in some hard work. If you''re willing to train hard, I guarantee that within three months, you''ll be able to settle those three people in five seconds if met with the same scenario as today." "So incredible!" Chen Fan was initially surprised, but soon shook his head in disappointment. "I''ve heard from others that the three months of new recruit training is very tough and can make people shed tears. You make yours sound so incredible. The training method must be extremely inhuman and cruel." "That''s for sure, so you need to be tough to produce good results!" Wang Bing shook his head. "If you don''t want hardship, we can use milder methods...but the results will be significantly reduced." "There''s really no shortcut?" Chen Fan mumbled after a long pause, "I''ve heard of Bruce Lee using electric currents to stimulate the muscles, something like two minutes of stimulation is equivalent to half a day of high intensity training." "There is indeed such a thing, but it''s mostly used for treating muscular dystrophy. To really strengthen the body, you''ll need high-power current to stimulate the muscles to make them vibrate at high-frequency. The result is extremely good. I''ve seen others who had been through a similar exercise. Just by using electric current to stimulate the muscles for a week, the muscles were better worked out than going through a month of physical training. But, it has a fatal shortcoming, that is irreversible damage to the internal organs, especially the heart. The current increases the load to the heart when passing through it which elevates the heart rate, and this is highly likely to cause death over a prolonged period of time" "What if we can get the current to bypass the heart?" Chen Fan became interested in this. Controlling current was the electric eel''s forte. "If it doesn''t pass through, there won''t be a problem as long as the heart is not over strained." Wang Bing knitted is brows. "But unfortunately, there''s no way to bypass the heart other than wrapping it with a layer of insulated plastic." "Oh, then let''s use a milder method! I really have to improve my battle skills, or else I won''t even know how to protect myself when an emergency strikes. If I totally depend on you, I may meet Hades soon." After letting out a sigh, Chen Fan stood up and said, "Let''s go into hiding for the time being, we''re just waiting for death to come by staying at home." After packing some clothes, Chen Fan made a phone call to Zhang Lele, telling them not to go to the office for the time being and wait for his instructions at home. Chen Fan felt that it was better to play it safe. If they could find him at his home, they could also go to his office. At first, Zhang Lele thought that her boss was going to fire them, and immediately cried and pleaded. After hearing Chen Fan say that they would still be paid their normal salary, she was elated and shouted "long live the boss". "Boss, where are we going to hide?" In the BMW, Wang Bing turned his head and said to Chen Fan who was sitting in the back. "Go to Dongming County. Wei Qing can''t possibly search all the nearby counties no matter how powerful he is." Chen Fan purposely chose a place near the ocean. "Alright" Wang Bing started the car and drove toward the main entrance of the district. Dongming County is over thirty kilometers away from Zhongyun City. It is also considered an economically developed coastal city with good material conditions. On the highway, the turbocharged engine with a 3.0 displacement fully displayed its rotational speed, reaching the border of Dongming County in less than twenty minutes and covering a distance of over thirty kilometers. After dinner, they chose a high-end hotel near the sea and put up there. "Boss, we can''t possibly hide forever!" Wang Bing said as he burped. "Our home is in Zhongyun...our company is in Zhongyun, we have to go back sooner or later!" "I''m getting a headache over this." Chen Fan sat on the couch with his eyes closed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "We have to think of a way to get this Wei fella in jail, otherwise I''ll never be at ease." "Just kill him directly. Isn''t he managing a gambling ship in the international waters? Let''s get onto the ship, sail out there and kill all of them." "Go ahead if you want, I''m not going." "Haha, neither am I." Wang Bing smirked. "This is not a good idea, unless we kill all the gambling customers too." "Let''s take it one step at a time!" Chen Fan sighed. "Go to sleep now and be up early tomorrow morning to teach me combat skills." "Alright, alright, just go through the apprenticeship ceremony and then give me a big red packet after that." Wang Bing smiled slyly. He always had this expression on his face which made people feel that he was up to no good. "You can only choose one, apprenticeship ceremony or red packet." Wang Bing said without hesitation, "Red packet then!" Lying on the big soft bed, Chen Fan shifted his thoughts onto the electric eel again and controlled it to swim toward Dongming County. Since it was possible to use electric current to stimulate the muscles, Chen Fan wanted to give it a try. He could not continue being so weak. He needed to prepare for the future because the chances of him getting into trouble again with big shots was very good, especially since he''ll be making big bucks in the future. 42 Electrical Current Stimulation Method About eight something in the morning, Chen Fan was dragged awake from his sleep by Wang Bing. "Boss, we should get up for training." "Yeah..." Chen Fan rubbed his eyes and reluctantly got out of bed. After dilly-dallying for quite some time, Chen Fan finally came out of the hotel entrance. After eating a 10 RMB breakfast, both of them went to find a deserted beach. "Boss, shall we start with physical fitness first?" Wang Bing took off his clothes and exposed his toned muscles that were shining like metal under the sun. Chen Fan nodded and looked at Wang Bing''s exposed, muscular body enviously. There wasn''t an area of his body that was not perfect. Having toned, bronze-colored muscles was every man''s dream. "The best way to build up your body is by running, as it not only increases lung capacity, but also increases your endurance." Wang Bing did some stretches and said, "When you are running, you should pay attention to your breathing cycle. When you inhale, your abs should naturally contract whereas your chest should rise. On the other hand, when you exhale, your abs should be relaxed while your chest should fall." "It''s a piece of cake!" Chen Fan did not say anything else and started running straight away. "He he!" Wang Bing smiled evilly and followed after Chen Fan. Twenty minutes later... "Ha ha ha ha..." Chen Fan bent down, rested his hands on his knees and panted, "Let''s...let''srestfora...while. I am exhausted." "Boss, you only ran for 20 minutes!" Wang Bing was not the least bit tired as he walked to Chen Fan''s side. "It won''t be effective if you train like this. If you really want to train your body, you must push yourself to the physiological limit." "I... I think I... have already reached... the limit." Wang Bing said with pity, "Boss, let''s endure it for a while more, otherwise, all of our efforts running just now will be wasted." "Okay...Okay..." Chen Fan stood up straight, gave a wide smile and continued running. Ten minutes later... "Boss, we''ll stop after running for ten minutes more, okay?" Wang Bing still looked as cool as a cucumber. "I... Ican''t won''t run anymoreno matter.how you ...persuade me." Chen Fan stuck out his tongue and gasped for air. "Boss We should bring out our manliness." "Justthink...think thatI am...am a...female." "Boss" " Ifyou keep on talking.I''ll deduct1,000 RMB again" "Ah, then I''ll go and buy two bottles of mineral water for you to quench your thirst!" Wang Bing stopped talking and ran to a nearby store immediately. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = "Great!" Chen Fan sat on the beach and after gulping down mouthfuls of water for a long time, he finally said, "So, I guess our training for today has ended?" "You...You..." Wang Bing almost fainted. "Boss, according to your current progress, you will not be able to get any results even if you trained for ten years." "Then, what is your suggestion?" Chen Fan threw the empty mineral water bottle aside, stood up and patted the sand on his butt. "Training. The only way is to keep training!" Wang Bing was full of determination, and he waved his fists. "Victory can''t possibly be achieved without blood, sweat and tears." "Eh? Look, there''s a beautiful girl wearing a bikini on the beach behind you!" "Where? Show me!" Wang Bing''s behavior immediately changed from a determined instructor to a pervert who was looking around. "Tricked you!" Chen Fan looked at Wang Bing. "Just continue to talk about what we should do next!" "You..." Wang Bing was clearly disappointed. "If you want to win a battle where you''re outnumbered, you will need not only stamina, but you have to be agile too..." "Just tell me how to train!" Chen Fan gave a wave of his hand and interrupted Wang Bing''s long speech. "There are many methods, but some equipment is needed," Wang Bing said as he took out a few ankle weights from the plastic bag beside him. "Tie 30 catty lead blocks on your hands and feet, walk into the sea until the sea level is up to your chest, and practice the moves that I''ve taught you." = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = "Is it like this?" Chen Fan stood half naked in the sea where his arms were bent 90 degrees at right angles to his navel. Then, he clenched his fists and punched out. "Yes!" Wang Bing stood by and looked. "But you should be careful not to stretch your arms too straight when you punch out, otherwise it may tear your muscles." "I''ll demonstrate it again." Wang Bing clenched his fist and punched out, causing a ''bang'' sound in the water. His punch was so fast that even the sea water was splashed to the side, forming a circular vacuum. "I see!" Chen Fan said lazily. After saying so, Chen Fan continued his punching at a slower speed. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = The boring training lasted until six o''clock in the evening until Chen Fan was finally freed. During dinnertime, Chen Fan could feel that his legs were trembling when he sat on a stool. His hands trembled to the extent where he couldn''t even use the chopsticks properly. After resting on the sofa after dinner, Chen Fan yawned and said, "I''m going to the cyber cafe beside the hotel, so you stay here and make sure to look after things." "Okay!" Wang Bing waved him goodbye and continued to watch his TV. After coming out of the hotel, Chen Fan went to the cyber cafe and requested a private room. He turned on the computer and used his trembling hands to type out ''electrical current to stimulate muscles method'' in the google.com search bar. Baidu is a powerful search engine. Just as Chen Fan clicked the ''search'' button using the mouse, rows of related information appeared on the screen. After searching row by row, Chen Fan chose a few more relevant pages and clicked in. After carefully analyzing the requirements and matters that need to be taken into consideration for the ''electrical current muscles stimulation method'', Chen Fan walked out of the private room and walked to the beach. The sky was getting dark outside, and his field of vision was narrowed down to only a dozen meters. After looking around to see if there was anyone nearby, Chen Fan sat on the beach and shifted his consciousness to the electric eel''s body. Chen Fan did not dare slack off with his pituitary stimulation of the electric eel and because of that, the electric eel had now grown up to 30 centimeters per day. After controlling the electric eel to swim to the beach to expose its back to the air, Chen Fan got up, took off his coat and shoes and climbed onto the back of the electric eel. Because Chen Fan had kept up with stimulating the pituitary gland of the electric eel, it was now ten meters long and a real monster. Its streamlined body, black colored backbone and the four shining claws that were attached to the abdomen made Chen Fan like it even more. "If I add two antlers to it, it would literally be a ''Chinese dragon''!" After imagining for a while, Chen Fan shifted his consciousness to the electric eel avatar again. The ''electrical current muscle stimulation method'' is actually not that difficult as it is all about frequency control. Using a current with a low frequency to stimulate the muscle could greatly enhance muscle activity and it has a special effect on muscle atrophy and stiffness that are caused by the inability of the muscles to move after the nerve cells are destroyed. However, in order for the muscles to vibrate more strongly to achieve the purpose of training, a high-frequency level of electrical current is required to provide a sufficient amount of heat and nutrients for the muscle tissues. By doing this, the density and strength of the fibroblast must be significantly increased. Chen Fan carefully released a dozen volts on the epidermis of the electric eel. The low-frequency voltage would not cause any harm to the human body, but it would also be insufficient to stimulate the body muscles. The electromagnetic induction passed through the surface of the epidermis, directly into the muscle tissues, which allowed Chen Fan to see various muscle fibers and cells clearly. To be on the safe side, Chen Fan decided to experiment with an arm muscle. Due to the crystal clear image that he could see as if looking at it under an electron microscope, Chen Fan gradually increased the voltage in that area. At 30 volts, Chen Fan felt a slight burning sensation in his arm. He could also see that the metabolic rate of the muscle cells had greatly increased by electromagnetic induction. The capillaries that were attached to the muscle fibers were like water pumps, greatly increasing the speed of transport of the nutrients. As he continued to increase the voltage to 50, the burning sensation was even greater and the entire muscle started to tremble slightly. At 80 volts, Chen Fan felt like he was being repeatedly pricked by an electronic fire device in a cigarette lighter. The entire muscle felt tired and numb and it was unbearable. "Let''s just do it!" Chen Fan clenched his teeth and increased the voltage up to 100. "Ah!" Immediately, a strong numbing and burning sensation was being channeled into Chen Fan''s subconscious mind through an unseen link. At 100 volts, the entire muscle was as though it was being pumped up by a big, powerful, piston engine that caused it to jerk and bulge uncontrollably. 43 Three Months Later After gritting his teeth and enduring the agony for less than ten seconds, Chen Fan could not take the strong current anymore. He let out a long breath and gave up stimulating his muscles. No words could describe the feeling of being ''cleansed'' by a 100 volt discharge. Even after a while, he could still feel the muscle on his arm moving nonstop. If it had been an ordinary person stimulating himself with a 100 volt discharge, his heart rate would have probably shot to the maximum before the muscles were done with the stimulation. But who was Chen Fan? He was someone who had a super electric eel who could control electric currents more easily than controlling the arms. Ensuring that the electric current did not get the best of him was simply a piece of cake to him. After resting for a while, Chen Fan decided to stimulate all his muscles at one go. He slowly increased the area of the magnetic induction to his entire body using a sixty volt discharge, as he was still unable to withstand a 100 volt. As the electric eel started to release the discharge, Chen Fan felt as if something had exploded in his brain. His body, which was on the eel''s back jerked vigorously, and the muscles in his entire body shook spastically. "Arghh" It was difficult to describe this feeling. It was as if the muscles in his entire body were being continuously pricked with millions of steel needles. After just a few breaths, there were already countless drops of sweat the size of rice grains which appeard on his skin surface. Chen Fan held on twenty seconds longer than the previous time before he really could not endure anymore. After resting for over ten minutes, Chen Fan started stimulating his muscles again. Repeating this cycle over and again, Chen Fan accumulated a total of fifteen minutes of stimulation in two hours. Even though this process would yield good results, it was important not to overdo it, or he could damage his health. After shifting his thoughts back, Chen Fan almost lost his balance and fell into the water from the eel''s back. If Chen Fan had to choose some words to describe his experience now, he would definitely use the words ''wished he was dead'', ''torn apart'', ''agonizing'', ''miserable beyond words'', etc to express his current mood. Aching all over was not a big deal. The problem was that he could not even get up. "Come on" After lying on the eel''s back and looking at the dark sky for a long time, Chen Fan finally blurted this out. It was already almost ten o''clock at night when Chen Fan returned to the hotel again. Chen Fan was so exhausted that he did not even have the strength to shower. He casually wiped his sweat with a towel before hitting the sack. Early next morning "Boss, time to get up for training!" Chen Fan was still in his dreams when he was crudely interrupted by Wang Bing again. "Get lost! If you dare to wake me up before ten again, I''ll deduct your entire salary for this month." Chen Fan grumbled with his eyes closed, "Oh, bring me twenty hot buns and two bowls of sweetened soya milk at ten." With this, Chen Fan fell back to sleep immediately! Under tremendous pressure, Wang Bing had no choice but to gently wake Chen Fan up at exactly ten o''clock, and then fawned over him by placing the buns on the side cabinet. "Mmm, this is much to my liking!" Chen Fan exclaimed as he stuffed the buns into his mouth. The high intensity stimulation of the muscles last night made him feel as though he could eat a cow now. Time flies One month later After stimulating his muscles every night using the eel''s voltage, Chen Fan could now run continuously for twenty minutes without turning red and panting. The electric eel had grown to twenty meters long. He was a huge monster, and the discharge it could release had gone up to a higher level of 4,000 volts. Two months later Chen Fan who was bursting with confidence, thought that he could easily knock Wang Bing down, but the results were disappointing. Chen Fan was the one who was knocked down easily. The electric eel now had grown to a length of thirty meters. The four sharp claws at his belly had completely turned jet black, and they had also become extremely strong with the electric current stimulation. Three months later The electric eel now had grown to forty meters long. He was a big fellow with a weight of twenty tons. The discharge that it could release broke the 6,000 mark, reaching an alarming 6,500 volts. Chen Fan''s physical fitness was like a long-distance runner, reaching a saturation point where more training had not many effects. However, the heartening thing was that Chen Fan could now manage to withstand Wang Bing''s attack without retreating, provided Wang Bing did not use underhanded methods. Quoting Wang Bing''s words, "Even if the endurance and strength manage to pass, there''s lack of practical experience, and also a high tendency to get into emotional fights. People with some fighting experience will be able to find flaws within a few strikes." However, practical experience takes time, so putting through the mill was the only way out. Lying on the chair in the bathhouse, Wang Bing said, "Boss, when are we going back? I''m bored to death here and my spirits are down." Chen Fan, who was lying beside him as he looked at the bikini babes playing in the water a distance away said, Tomorrow!" Chen Fan was wearing flowery blue checkered beach shorts and baring his upper body he looked like a big boss. "The district property management called me a few days ago and asked if I rented the house out. They said that there were five fierce-looking men staying inside and even advised me not to rent to such people." "It must be Wei Qing''s people!" Wang Bing was full of excitement. "Why don''t we teach them a lesson tomorrow when we get back?" "I had the same thought!" Chen Fan was bursting with confidence. The three months of training made him feel that he had a lot less enemies in the world now. "Bosses, would you like some coconut juice?" At that moment, a young lady with a basket of shaved coconuts walked over. The young lady was quite pretty. She had a ponytail and her face was radiating a bronze tan that was unique to residents by the sea. "Mmm, how much is one?" Chen Fan was lying on the chair with his legs crossed. "One for 8 RMB. It was plucked this morning and guaranteed to be fresh." The young lady was around eighteen years old, and she spoke in a soothing sweet voice. "Oh, is your coconut juicy?" Wang Bing teased. "Yes yes" The young lady blushed as she gave the muscular man a look, and started to stammer. "Give us two then!" Chen Fan took out a crumpled 20 RMB note from his shorts and said, "Keep the change." "Thank...thank you, boss" The marble-like stripes on the two men had probably dazzled the young lady causing her to babble. "Boss, if it''s not juicy enough, I can exchange it for another one." "It''s alright, it''s alright!" Chen Fan laughed as he took a newly-opened coconut. After the young lady left, Wang Bing, who was feeling relaxed, said with a straw in his mouth, "Boss, other than being a little boring these days, other times are quite enjoyable!" "Yeah" Chen Fan sighed with his eyes closed. "A pity that Wei Qing hasn''t been settled yet so I can put my mind at ease." Since his house had been taken over, how could he still call himself a man if he didn''t fight back? 44 The Star Neptune When they were about to leave Dongming state after staying there for three months, Chen Fan felt a little regret. It was probably because of the beautiful women all over the beach. While gripping the steering wheel of the black BMW he was driving, Wang Bing said, "Boss, what do you think we should do? Should we fight back by force or by strategy?" "I''m thinking about it too!" Chen Fan massaged his forehead. "If Wei Qing dared to send people to ambush the house, then they must be very well-prepared." Chen Fan clearly knew that Wei Qing was tracking him down everywhere these last few days. According to the way these three experienced men do things, he was afraid that Wei Qing had a few fighting experts by his side too. The loss of a few skilled men was not something that the city''s famous gangster, Wei Qing could bear with. If this was the case, then there would be no end to this until one of them was defeated. "If I could shoot, I promise you that all of them would definitely be dead," Wang Bing affirmed. "Don''t boast too much, just drive your car!" Chen Fan replied relentlessly. Half an hour later... The black BMW appeared once again beside Shangcheng Gardens'' residential area. Through the tinted windscreen, Chen Fan could see silhouettes at his apartment, and there were definitely many of them. "Sh*t they really found out!" Chen Fan clenched his fist in anger. Wang Bing looked at Chen Fan and asked, "Boss, what do we do now? We can''t shoot, and we can only stare at them without doing anything!". "Let''s find a place to stay and I''ll think of something tonight." Chen Fan clenched his teeth and his expression was as though he was going to eat them up alive. "Okay!" Without saying another word, Wang Bing drove the car. After driving around for quite some time, they finally decided to spend the night at ''Lijing Hotel''. Lying on the couch, Chen Fan spent more than 20 minutes controlling the electric eel to swim back to Zhongyun city. By now, the eel had grown into a sea monster. Using the electric eel at night, Chen Fan decided to check out the position of Wei Qing''s gambling boat tomorrow and exact revenge for what he had done to him. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = The next morning, Chen Fan took Wang Bing to the mall to buy two pairs of sunglasses and spent 200 RMB to buy Wang Bing a fake, black Versace suit. Then, he spent another 500 RMB to buy himself a coffee-colored jacket that was an imitation of the Cerruti casual wear. "Boss, are you going on a blind date?" Wang Bing tugged his tie and said with an embarrassed expression. Chen Fan stood in front of the mirror and smoothed out his coffee-colored leisure jacket, combed his hair in a way that he thought made him look handsome and said lustfully, "Didn''t you always brag that you have a pretty young sister. I''m going out with her today." "He he! My sister is studying in Beijing. You won''t be able to find her." Wang Bing smiled and said, "Boss, what do you really want to do? This suit is like a plastic bag wrapped around my body and it''s very uncomfortable." "We''ll check out Wei Qing''s boat and I will hire some divers to sink it at night." "That''s a good idea!" As soon Wang Bing heard of this wicked plan, he began to grin widely like a Cheshire Cat. Wei Qing had three luxury gambling ships that had been sailing the open seas for years. Every morning at nine o''clock, there was a special boat to pick up gamblers to take them to the ship. At the mall, Chen Fan went to the bank to withdraw 200,000 RMB, and he let Wang Bing keep it. Money is very easily spent. Although he earned 2.26 million RMB in more than three months, after paying his three workers and Wang Bing''s salary, there was only about 400 thousand RMB left, including the amount that Wang Bing had. "When we reach there, you should act like a bodyguard. If you are not serious, I''ll deduct your salary." In the car, Chen Fan kept on reminding Wang Bing of this. "Okay" Wei Qing owned a terminal where passengers were picked up and taken to the gambling ship. Passengers got a free cruise under the condition that they had 100,000 RMB to gamble with. Driving a luxury car on the main road that was worth more than a million RMB may attract people''s attention, but when they reached ''Tianhai pier'' which was a parking lot, even the man who was selling cigarettes didn''t bother to glance at the car. "Seems like all the rich man in Zhongyun city love to gamble." As soon he got out of the car, Wang Bing scratched his head. "There is not even a local made BMW here." A man, especially a man who drives, was sure to look at the luxury cars that were parked here no matter where he was from. "Luckily, my car was imported too!" Chen Fan was surprised to see the cars in this lot. The dock that was next to the parking lot was newly renovated and had a wooden bridge in the shape of the Chinese character ''Feng''. Six speed boats of various sizes were docked there. "Is this your first visit?" Just as Chen Fan and Wang Bing reached the pier, the two doormen dressed in black suits, standing at the side of the pier, greeted them with a humble smile. "Yes!" Chen Fan pushed the sunglasses on the tip of his nose and said, "I heard that Wei Qing has a good casino, so I decided to drop by since I was free." "Welcome, welcome." The two doormen gave a deep bow. By the look of Chen Fan, they could figure out that he was quite rich and that he drove a BMW was no surprise. However, looking at the bodyguard standing behind him who was 180 cm tall with eagle eyes, they knew for sure that Chen Fan was filthy rich because only a billionaire had this kind of bodyguard. Plus, when the two doormen approached Chen Fan, who was quite arrogant looking, the bodyguard immediately took a step forward and raised his hands as though he was warning them not to do anything offensive. "When will you sail? I don''t like to wait." Chen Fan didn''t even look at the doormen as he spoke. It was like he was talking to the air. "Right away, sir!" The doorman didn''t even dare to speak about the gambling rules as he was afraid that he would be in trouble if he made the young man unhappy. "Please come with me!" The doorman on the left stretched out his hand. Chen Fan had to admit that Wang Bing was very serious about his job as a bodyguard on the boat. He even deliberately pulled out a piece of tissue and wiped the genuine leather seat a few times even though it didn''t have dust on it at all. As the doorman stared in awe, Wang Bing asked Chen Fan to take a seat. "I''ll tell them to sail now. Please wait for a moment!" Not daring to look at Chen Fan, the doorman ran out to urge the boatman to sail out immediately. The single-deck, luxury cruise ship that was made by Shuangxing Shipyard was indeed comfortable, especially when it was not packed with people. "Boss, you sounded just like a wealthy young man just now." Not long after the boat started sailing, Wang Bing leaned over with a smile on his face and said, "There was fear and respect in the doorman''s eyes. I have to admit that he looked at you with more respect than the way we looked at our deputy commander in the military." "Haha, the heirs in the novels on Qidian web are also like that!" Chen Fan said proudly while he raised his eyebrows. The ship cruised through twelve nautical miles of territorial sea, 200 nautical miles of the exclusive economic zone, and finally into the international waters. At a speed of more than 40 knots, the cruise ship sailed for almost five hours until the 100 meter long double-decked luxury cruise ship entered into their sight. The words ''Star Neptune'' were printed on the ship. 45 Test Water Chen Fan smacked his lips. "This ship is at least 50 million RMB!" As a kid who grew up by the sea, he had a rough gauge of the price of various types of ships. The truth was not far from Chen Fan''s guess. Excluding the casino facilities and renovation, this "Star Neptune" which flew a Hong Kong regional flag had a factory price of over 45 million RMB. "Holy sh*t, this Wei Qing is really damn rich. His three ships are already worth 150 million RMB, and that''s excluding the other small boats and cash flow." Wang Bing''s eyes were beaming. "This fellow''s assets are worth two to three hundred million RMB!" Two to three hundred million...what an astronomical number! Under normal circumstances, there were hardly any situations where this number would be used other than describing the number of sperm in the testicles. "Good morning gentlemen, welcome to ''Star Neptune''!" A lady escort in a white shirt and red vest immediately came forward the moment Chen Fan stepped on the deck. "Is this your first visit, gentlemen?" The lady escort smiled sweetly. "Mm" Chen Fan did not say much. "Here to play a few rounds to kill time." "Sure, this way please!" The lady escort realized that Chen Fan was the real boss and straightaway ignored Wang Bing who was behind. The ship was over one hundred meters long, both the upper and lower levels were casinos, and inside the cabin was accommodation for the gambling customers. "Gentlemen, we''ll need to have your belongings go through the security check." Two staff members holding metal detectors came forward immediately when they reached the front of a door inlaid with gold patterns. "What a lousy rule!" Chen Fan opened his arms and laughed. "I see that Wei Qing is becoming more timid!" The two had already hidden the pistols in the front of the car before getting on the ship. It was not easy to make trouble on a gambling ship on international waters. Even Arnold Schwarzenegger would have to admit defeat if he brought along two Gatling guns, let alone two pistols. To give an exaggerated analogy: A gambling ship on the sea is like a moving gold mountain of which armed forces are needed to stand up against green-eyed monsters. After the check, the two staff members bowed and apologized before opening the door behind them. "This...this is really damn grand" Chen Fan the country bumpkin seemed to have entered a mystical and bizarre world the moment he stepped on the thick red carpet. All the specialized gambling tables which could only be seen in movies and the different kinds of people shuttling back and forth constantly reminded Chen Fan of how overly-extravagant and depraved everything in front of him was. Wang Bing did not chime in. From the time he went into the army at the age of eighteen until now, the most extravagant and most advanced gambling game that he had played was the fruit machine when he was still in middle school. "Ahem, ahem!" After being dazed for a few seconds, Chen Fan regained his senses and coughed twice to remind Wang Bing who was also in daze. "Ah...oh" Wang Bing regained his senses and swallowed his saliva before saying, "Boss, let''s change some chips and have a game!" "Let''s go, I''ve long wanted to experience this bedazzling gambling ship! Let''s enjoy ourselves before sending this ship to meet its doom." Chen Fan smoothed his hair before moving to the counter. Large-scale casinos do not accept cash to gamble with. One has to change cash into gambling chips at designated locations, and then change them back to cash again before leaving. There were two advantages to doing this. First, it looks more high class and second, it puts an end to counterfeit notes. "Sir, how much you would like to change?" the three refined-looking young men at the counter politely asked the moment they saw Chen Fan walking over. Chen Fan did not answer but took a glance at the display on the counter before knitting his brows and said, "Don''t you accept credit cards here?" "I''m really sorry sir, we don''t accept credit cards here!" The young man said apologetically. "Processing credit cards requires the use of the network to connect to the bank and the international waters do not even have a phone signal, let alone network" "So unprofessional." Even a fool could sense the disdain in Chen Fan''s tone. "Don''t you have satellite network here? "Sor...sorry, we...do not have it!" The young man stammered, blushing with embarrassment. "Forget it, I didn''t bring much cash today, gimme 100,000 RMB worth of chips!" Chen Fan waved his hand as a signal for Wang Bing to take out the money. The coin-size plastic chips in green, yellow and red had a value of 10, 100 and 1,000 RMB respectively. And the diamond-shaped, man-made black crystal chip the size of a bank card had a value of 10,000 RMB. After changing his chips, acting like a rich guy, Chen Fan felt a little awkward. The gambling game he was best at was playing QQ poker card games online. As for the rest, he only had superficial knowledge of them. "Boss, how do you play this?" Wang Bing was also not familiar with the casino, and he was totally clueless about the rules and regulations printed on the tables. "Let me walk around first to see if there''s any that I know." Chen Fan observed as he walked. There were various gambling games on the ship; Show Hand, Baccarat, Roulette, Sic Bo After walking two rounds, his eye finally targeted a seat at a Blackjack table . "I know this!" Chen Fan mumbled softly to Wang Bing, and then sat casually on the empty seat without removing his shades. Chen Fan had played Blackjack on the computer a few times. The rules were very simple. After placing the bets, the dealer first distributes two cards to everyone in order. After looking at the cards, everyone has the right to ask for another card. A picture card is 10-points, an ace can be either 1-point or 11-points, and a picture card together with an ace is 21-points, which is the highest. Others will be arranged in numerical order, and above 21-points is considered a bust. There were two women and three men sitting around the three-meter-long table. The two women both looked dainty and coquettish, the three men all had a beer belly and the fatty in a suit seated in the middle was balding. Others brought their mistresses, but Chen Fan brought his bodyguard. Not only did the two mistresses run their seductive eyes over Chen Fan, even the female dealer who stood opposite, stole a few glances at him. This couldn''t be helped. In the eyes of others, this young man whose bodyguard was also in Versace was much more attention seeking than those beer-bellied bosses whose assets were over hundreds of millions. After shuffling the cards, the female dealer in a black uniform said to the people in front of her, "Alright, please place your bets." The two mistresses were sitting at one side purely for decoration, and the three gaudily-dressed bosses were the real players. The three probably felt that Chen Fan stole the limelight. Without even looking, the three of them threw out two 10,000 RMB black crystal chips unanimously. "Ooh...argh" Chen Fan suddenly frowned. "I have a stomach ache. I''ll go to the washroom first. Wang, sit down and play a few rounds for me." With this, he held onto his stomach with his left hand and passed the chips into Wang Bing''s hand with his right. No matter how Wang Bing tried to signal to him with his eyes, he ignored him totally. "Young man, why are you still hesitating? Place your bets quickly!" The balding fatty in the middle had his arms around his mistress as he urged Wang Bing who was still standing. If those people could see Wang Bing''s eyes through his shades, they would realize that he looked more abashed and nervous than a lady who was about to enter the nuptial chamber! However, even though his eyes looked lost, his face still remained solemn. It was easy for others to mistake him as an experienced senior bodyguard. "I''ll use 10 RMB to rest water first!" Wang Bing sat on the chair and popped out a green plastic chip. 46 Three Big Holes "What? Ten?" The eyes of the guy with a big tummy suddenly widened due to shock. It never occurred to anyone that this gorgeously dressed, muscular man would be so stingy. "Handsome man, don''t cause trouble if you don''t want to play! You''re wasting our time if you''re only going to bet 10 RMB." The pretty looking young woman who sat beside the guy with a big tummy said, while looking at the nine squarish black crystal chips in Wang Bing''s hand, "If your boss told you to play, you should be more daring!" "Do you think I don''t have enough money?" Wang Bing was unhappy. "I''m not playing anymore!" After saying that, Wang Bing grabbed the green chip and got up from his seat. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = "Boss, you are not honest!" After looking around for a long time, Wang Bing found Chen Fan. Chen Fan didn''t go to the restroom at all. Instead, he hid in a corner and peeked at Wang Bing, who was feeling sorry for himself. "I had no choice! Nobody knew that these guys were so daring, putting twenty thousand RMB on the first bet. You are my subordinate so it''s imperative that you have to help me when I''m in trouble." Chen Fan said with a bitter smile. "What are we going to do now?" Wang Bing did not care too much about the trouble that Chen Fan caused as this situation is only a small matter for a shameless person like Chen Fan. Resting his hand on his chin, Chen Fan smiled slyly. "I''ll take a nap first, then wait and watch the show!" Except for the gambling services, other add-on services on the ship were cheap. The cost of a normal hotel room was at least 200 RMB to 300 RMB per night, however on this ship, they could get a room that only costs 100 RMB per night. "I''m going to take a nap. Lower the volume when you are watching the TV." After lying down, Chen Fan shifted his consciousness to the electric eel. The electric eel was now more than 40 meters long. Nesting on the seabed which was at a depth of two hundred meters, having a battle with any form of fish at less than 10 meters long was not a problem for it because of the continuous release of the electrical current that had a range of at least a few hundred meters. It was more than six o''clock in the evening when Chen Fan had controlled the electric eel to swim to the bottom of the gambling boat. After controlling the electric eel to position itself onto the sandy seabed, Chen Fan opened his eyes and sat up. "Boss, you are awake!" Sensing that there was a movement behind him, Wang Bing who was engrossed in the short drama, turned around to greet Chen Fan. "Yeah..." Chen Fan rubbed his eyes and said, "Ask them to send in dinner. I''m hungry." "Okay, I''m starving too because our meal at noon had such small portions," Wang Bing replied. He put down the remote control and went out. After sending Wang Bing off, Chen Fan took out the pen and paper he brought along and sat on the sofa. Knowing that the ship was 105 meters long, 28 meters wide and had a water displacement of more than 1500 tons, he began to calculate the area of the ship that needed to be damaged so that it could sail back to port at a speed of 30 knots without sinking. However, Chen Fan wasn''t good at calculating, so he could only get an estimated figure and the data was not even half accurate. "Whatever!" Chen Fan patted his forehead, grabbed the few pieces of doodled paper, crumpled them into a ball and threw it into the garbage can. After a while, Wang Bing pushed opened the door, came into the room and said, "They will send it right away!" He grabbed the remote control and continued watching TV. Five minutes later, the sound of footsteps was heard and the door was pushed wide open. Two waiters served their dinner that included fish porridge, bone-in-meat, steamed eggs with clams and fried onion dumplings. "So lavish!" After waiting for the waiter to leave, Chen Fan couldn''t wait to grab a hot dumpling and put it in his mouth. "Yeah, well, things are so cheap. All of these cost me less than 100 RMB." Wang Bing''s mouth was full of dumplings as he cooled the food in his mouth as he spoke with garbled words. "They''re making a lot of money in the casino. I''ve heard that if you are a member, they will even provide women to serve you." "So cool!" Wang Bing was short of breath suddenly, and he quickly found support by resting his left hand on the leather sofa. "Damn cool!" = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = After his lavish dinner, Chen Fan went to the bar and exchanged the untouched chips for cash under the weird stare from the worker. "Boss, didn''t you mention that you sent someone to sink the ship?" Wang Bing asked with confusion as they sat on the boat that was taking them back to shore. "The purpose of me coming is to observe the details of the ship!" Chen Fan said with an enigmatic smile. "Wait until tomorrow and you will know." It was already late at night when they reached the pier where they boarded the ship that morning. They got in their car and headed straight for ''Lijing Hotel''. Lying down in a comfortable position, Chen Fan shifted his consciousness to the electric eel. Except for the monstrous beast in the dark sea, there was only a long iron chain that was connected to the anchor. After controlling the electric eel to grab the crescent-shaped anchor that weighed around a ton with its front claw, it dragged the anchor and swam under the boat. It was such an easy task for the eel. It was like a human adult carrying a little chick. The 100 meters long gambling ship was like a huge, vulnerable lamb shivering in the waves, waiting for Chen Fan to wreck it. After creating a few giant lines at the bottom of the ship by circling around for a few laps, Chen Fan targeted the middle part and controlled the electric eel to spin drastically. The inertia caused the sharp anchor to fly out and hit the ship. Bang! As if it was hit by a high-energy torpedo, the over 100 meters long ship shuddered violently. After the ''bang'', there was a black hole the size of a tank at the bottom center of the ship. After the loud noise, a sharp metallic screeching sound that made a person''s scalp tingle was heard. "Ah... " The Star Neptune''s captain, Ma Hongjun, jumped up from his sleep, grabbed his walkie-talkie and screamed, "What''s going on here?" "Captain, it''s badthere''s bad news" A terrible shout was heard from the other end of the walkie-talkie. Ma Hongjun was so angry that the veins on his neck were about to explode. "Quickly, tell me what exactly is the matter or do you want to f**king die?" "The bottom of the ship... The bottom of the ship... I don''t know what happened. There is a big hole!" The man sobbed. Boom! Ma Hongjun hadn''t even replied as the hull shook violently followed by a deafening sound. "DamnF**k... " Ma Hongjun threw away the walkie-talkie and began to howl in pain. Boom! After pulling out the anchor, Chen Fan hit the ship again. It was not only Ma Hongjun who shouted. The facial expressions of the big bosses in the cabins were as though they were witnessing the Indonesian tsunami when they felt the vibration of the ship and heard the noise. Under the enormous pressure of the Star Neptune, water was flowing into the ship profusely through the three big black holes that were the size of a water tank. "Why... who can tell me why... " Ma Hongjun, who ran to the cabin, stared at the three black holes with a look of disbelief. The only other time Ma Hongjun had this type of expression was when the Chinese soccer team had beaten the Brazilian team with a score of 8-0 at the World Cup in South Africa. 47 Finally Ou Inside the residential tower of Zhongyun City''s "Sky Gardens"... "I''m a wolf from the north, walking in the vast wilderness, the shrill northern wind blows" "Hubby, who''s that calling at such a late hour?" A lazy delicate voice came from the bed, overshadowing the ringing tone. "How would I know?" A big hairy hand pushed back the covers and grabbed the ringing mobile phone on the side cabinet. The man on the bed showed his head through the covers. "Hello, this is Wei Qing" "Boss, this is bad, our ''Star Neptune'' was hit by something that made three holes the size of a water tank...what should we do" Cries of despair came the moment the call was put through. "What!" The man suddenly jumped up from the bed and shouted at the top of his voice, "Damn it, what kind of captain are you? What happened?" "I...I don''t know boss, we have to get back soon, over twenty of our men used things to block the holes but it didn''t help, the water is now at the knee-level, and we can''t hold on much longer if we don''t go back now!" "Come back, turn the engine to the highest power and come back right now!" Wei Qing roared on the phone. "Get everyone to bring weapons and stay alert on the deck. Get rid of all boats that come by!" "Hubby, what happened?" After Wei Qing hung up the phone, a beautiful, young woman came out from under the covers and asked coquettishly as she tugged on Wei Qing''s shoulder. Wei Qing punched the woman''s stomach, and roared as he pulled his hair. "Damn it, what the f*ck is going on?" Chen Fan, the person who started all this, was controlling the electric eel as it followed the fast moving ship! Although he had made a rough calculation that this gambling ship, with a displacement of over a thousand tons, would not sink within a short time, he was still a little worried. He would be very happy if the boat sinks, but not if it sinks with the gambling customers on it. At seven plus in the morning Chen Fan took out his phone and changed a new card before calling 110 using a high-pitched voice. "Hello, 110? I wanna report a big situation. I saw a big ship coming toward Zhongyun. I''ve no idea what valuable stuff it''s carrying but there are people holding weapons everywhere on the deck." "Who am I? I''m a fisherman going out to fish. They''ll be reaching Xingfeng Pier in half an hour. Quick, send someone over to have a look. It better not be those rascals from Southeast Asia bringing in drugs to sell here!" "Yes, yes, it''s Xingfeng Pier on Jianye Road" After hanging up and removing the card, Chen Fan gave a sinister laugh and continued shifting his thoughts onto the electric eel to spy on the gambling ship. The Captain of Zhongyun City''s Anti-Riot Team, Xie Ruijiang, was feeling very bitter sitting in the office. He felt like a submissive husband waiting at home for his wife who was still out at night. He could only blame it on his bad reputation. After being transferred to Zhongyun City''s Armed Police Detachment for over half a year, he had not taken part in a single big case. Xie Ruijiang''s childhood dream was to become a police officer and catch bad guys. This city was too tame for him so how could he not feel resentful and depressed? Just as he was sighing away like a melancholy woman, a young man rushed into the office with excitement. "Captain Xie, we have work to do! The chief wants me to inform you that there''s a ship with armed drug traffickers from Southeast Asia reaching Zhongyun in half an hour" "Armed drug traffickers from Southeast Asia?" Xie Ruijiang was startled, but quickly jumped up. "Quickly inform all our men to gather in two minutes, and get to the scene in twenty minutes" Xie Ruijiang was as if he was on steroids. It was natural for a talented hot-blooded young man who had been sitting on the bench every day for half a year to act this way. Eight o''clock sharp... The ship''s waterline dropped to an alert level of fifteen meters as it finally wheezed into Xingfeng Pier. Before the shipped docked properly, seven or eight speed boats pulled up to the side and started sending passengers from the ship toward the shore in an insane manner. Wei Qing''s heart was broken as he witnessed the scene in front of him. Without another word, he ran toward the speed boat with his two subordinates. "Boss, what should we do" Ma Hongjun who was standing on the deck went weak in front of Wei Qing the moment he saw him. His face was covered in tears, partly because he felt sorry for the ship and partly because he was afraid that Wei Qing would kill him out of anger. Wei Qing was so furious that his hair was almost standing up. "What exactly is going on?" "I don''t know...I don''t know" Ma Hongjun wiped his nose and looked very pitiful, "The ship suddenly shook vigorously three times last night. I ran to the ship''s hold and saw three big holes at the bottom" Wei Qing gave him a kick. "Stop crying! Quick, bring me there to have a look!" "Yes...yes" Ma Hongjun dared not even pat away the dust on his pants after getting kicked, and pathetically led the way to the ship''s hold. At the ship''s hold, Wei Qing''s felt as though his heart sank to the bottom of the ocean. He was told the sea water was at knee-level when he received the phone call at night, but now "Bo-bo-boss, it''s down there" Ma Hongjun stammered as he pointed at the bottom of the ship''s hold which had been completed flooded with sea water. "Ah" Like a beast gone mad, Wei QIng kicked Ma Hongjun right into the deep ship''s hold and then took out a pistol from his waist. He pulled the sleeve angrily and pushed the bullet to the top of the barrel. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Ma Hongjun who was struggling in the water suddenly had four blots of blood flowing out from his body. Thereafter, Wei Qing pointed the pistol at his subordinates behind him. "Quick, all of you go get water pumps. Don''t ever let it sink, otherwise you will end up like him!" "Yes!" The armed subordinates hiding in the ship''s hold threw away the guns in their hands and rushed out from the metal door, afraid that they might be shot if they were too slow. "Ah" After everyone was gone, Wei Qing threw away the pistol and grabbed an AK47 from the ground. He pulled the bolt and pointed it at the slightly shaking Ma Hongjun before pulling the trigger. Dah dah dah dah dah After the bullets ran out, Wei Qing threw away the weapon again and grabbed another rifle, pulled the bolt and then the trigger. Dah dah dah dah dah After venting for two whole minutes, Wei Qing, who had already calmed down, walked toward the door holding the rifle with the intention of intimidating his subordinates hoping to motivate them to save the ship which he had put painstaking efforts into. Just as Wei Qing stepped out of the ship''s hold with the rifle He suddenly heard a bang and felt as if his face had instantly vanished into thin air before falling full length backward. "The madman is finally taken out" said Xie Ruijiang to the camouflaged policemen, who were holding identical Type 79 submachine guns. 48 Big Business The death of the local gangster, Wei Qing was definitely the hottest topic in Zhongyun now. The news of the incident that happened in the morning was as though it had grown a pair of wings, and spread to thousands of families before noon. "Captain Xie, would you please tell the audience about the situation that happened during that moment?" A female reporter''s melodious voice was heard from the Zhongyun news channel. "Ahem!" Xie Ruijiang coughed twice to clear his throat and exclaimed proudly, "Last night we had actually figured out a clue. An armed gambling ship owned by Wei Qing was about to sail back to Zhongyun city as it struck a reef..." "... The situation was very critical at that moment. Wei Qing''s men rushed out, and our comrades had ambushed the deck " "After Wei Qing''s men betrayed him and ran away, he tried to resist the arrest with an automatic rifle. Judging the situation, we immediately took the chance to attack" Wang Bing said in dismay while crouching in front of the TV, "Isn''t he Xie Ruijiang? This guy is getting quite famous. He is even on TV now!" Wang Bing shook his head in disappointment and continued to stare at the TV. The creator of all this, Chen Fan, was still sleeping soundly on his bed as he was busy all night. He had finally settled down the electric eel at ten o''clock. At 7 o''clock in the evening, Chen Fan sent Wang Bing to buy some food. After eating, he played the Game of War for six hours and went back to sleep again. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = When he woke up the next morning, Chen Fan was feeling very refreshed. Indirectly, he had killed Wei Qing, who was a heinous, old hooligan and now he was no longer a psychological burden for him. "You''re up, boss!" Wang Bing, who slept in the other room, crossed over and served a warm breakfast on the table while he flattered Chen Fan. Wang Bing had no choice but to flatter, because the major trouble, who was Wei Qing, was already solved. Thus, his job as a bodyguard was lost temporarily, and he was only a driver now. In order to continue taking his 20,000 RMB salary per month, of course, it was necessary to flatter his boss. "Yeah!" Chen Fan gave him an appraising glance and bit into a bun without even bothering to wash his hands. He was very busy last night so it made him very hungry. Sitting on the sofa next to him, Wang Bing asked, "Boss, what are we going to do later?" "Let''s go back home and see if those scoundrels have left or not." "They must have left. Their big tree, Wei Qing has fallen, so it''s almost definite that these little rascals will find another boss." "We''ll know when we go back and take a look!" Chen Fan wiped the oil on his hands. "If they didn''t leave, I''ll leave them to you." Half an hour later... Wang Bing felt relieved because those scoundrels were in a hurry and didn''t even have time to close the door. However, Wang Bing''s heart was suspended in mid-air again because the whole house was a total mess. There were empty beer bottles and food bags scattered all over the place. Sure enough... "Go to the supermarket and buy some bedding sheets. Replace all the sheets in the bedrooms and clean the house." Chen Fan said while massaging his head, "These scoundrels, if I catch them, I''ll stuff beer bottles into their nostrils." "Sure, boss" Wang Bing walked sadly out of the door like a miserable wife. Sitting on the sofa, Chen Fan took out his mobile phone, gave Zhang Lele, Yu Lin and Yiteng Yun each a phone call and asked them to gather at the company. The living room in the house was filled with so much garbage that it was almost impossible to stand there and it took Wang Bing at least seven to eight rounds just to get rid of the rubbish. Two hours later, Wang Bing ran to the sofa with a dusty face. "Boss, the work is done!" "Yes, not bad, thanks for your service. I''ll treat you and Zhang Lele to a big meal at noon!" After praising him a little, Chen Fan smiled, stood up and looked around. "Let''s go, follow me to the company." When the black BMW drove up to the silver-grey office building Chen Fan felt nostalgic. It had been three months since he stepped foot in his company. After parking the car, Wang Bing got out and opened the back seat door automatically. He blocked the car roof with his left hand to prevent Chen Fan from accidentally hitting his head. There were two beautiful, young, female students passing by during that moment, and their eyes were fixed on Chen Fan as he got out of the car. "Look at him... This man is so young... " One of the students bit the straw in her mouth like biting a gold bar, leaned over and whispered to her companion. "Wow! He even has a chauffeur..."She blushed as she nodded. "Look at the clothes that he''s wearing. Isn''t that the one that was introduced in this month''s Tough magazine, which is the Cerruti men''s casual wear designed by the chief designer, Fielder?" The girl who bit the straw didn''t even notice the milk that was spilling out of her mouth. "Oh my god! The price of this casual wear in China must be more than 13,000 RMB." "Boss, Ma Rongtao wants to invite you to ''Shangri-La'' for lunch this afternoon. Are you going to accept his invitation?" Wang Bing said playfully. "I''ll see!" Chen Fan looked at the Vacheron Constantin that cost 80 RMB on his wrist and replied, "I''m not sure what time this meeting will end." The richest man in China was inviting Chen Fan for lunch... The two female students who didn''t know much about the business world were so impressed! "Haha!" Once they entered the main entrance of the office building, Chen Fan and Wang Bing looked at each other and laughed at the same time. Both of them enjoyed the feeling of toying with those little girls! It was only until Chen Fan reached his company''s main door when he stopped laughing. Looking at the sign that said ''Ocean Storm Marine Company'', Chen Fan took a deep breath and pushed opened the door. "Good to see you, boss..." The three of them who were sitting at their desks stood up and greeted Chen Fan when they saw him. "I was away for three months, did you all miss me?" Chen Fan nodded with a smile and sat on the sofa. "Boss, where have you been for these three months? We would have thought we had been fired if it weren''t for our pay," Zhang Lele kept babbling. "I went to Honolulu Island to see the monkeys," Chen Fan said casually. "By the way, Yiteng Yun, have you completed the company''s website that I asked you to redesign?" "It''s done!" Yiteng Yun typed in a URL link and turned the monitor towards Chen Fan. "Yu Lin and I took at least 10 days to design it and it is absolutely 100 times better than our previous one." "Well, let me see..." Chen Fan got up and stood in front of the computer. Looking at the beautiful design that had a black ferocious dragon above the stormy ocean, and the simple introductions of the company under it, he said, "It is very beautiful.. splendid work.. who drew this?" "Yiteng Yun drew it. I didn''t know that he was so skilled in artwork!" Yu Lin spat out about Yiteng Yun''s abilities quickly. "Yun, could you add in our company''s name here in the picture?" Chen Fan pointed at the top of the picture and said, "Make the words long and cursive." "No problem! I''ll get right on it. Just give me a few minutes." Yiteng Yun nodded and said, "Boss, there''s been a big business recently. Do you want to accept it?" 49 5 Axis CNC Machines "What big business?" "Shorty after we expanded our company''s business, a person called Zhang Xueyang registered for an account on our website and said that he would like to consign to us the transportation of a few machine tools from Japan." Yiteng Yun opened the web content management system and pointed to the person''s post. "He''s also from Zhongyun City, and he came to our office twice a few days ago, but he was still unconvinced due to the small scale of our company, so he said he would wait for you to come back and discuss with you personally." "Transport machine tools from Japan?" Chen Fan was a little suspicious. "Could this fellow be transporting goods that are prohibited from entering China? Otherwise, he could just get any shipping company in Zhongyun City to transport them over." Yu Lin walked over and said, "I think so, this person came twice, I asked him what machine tools he transporting, and he said they''re 5-Axis CNC machines manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries." "Mitsubishi Heavy Industries" Chen Fan raised his head and gave it some thought, "It''s a military enterprise! Isn''t it wishful thinking to buy high-tech machine tools from there and transport them to Zhongyun?" "They had originally contacted a Japanese parts processing factory for them to make the purchase in Japan and then smuggle here. But the smuggling ship was detained by the fisheries'' administration department on its way to Japan." "This fellow has so many alternative sources? He even managed to team up with a Japanese company." Chen Fan looked at the time and said, "I''ll give everyone a treat at Phoenix Restaurant this afternoon. Zhang Lele, give him a call and invite him over, we''ll talk as we eat." "Yes, boss." Zhang Lele replied happily. At noon, Chen Fan brought the four to the Phoenix Restaurant nearby and asked for a private dining room. Shortly after ordering, the waiter brought a young man in. He was 1.78m tall, skinny, had a bit of a mustache on his lip and chin, and looked around twenty-three or twenty-four. "Boss, this is Manager Zhang." Yu Lin stood up from the chair and made the introduction. "Manager Zhang, this is Boss Chen." "Hello, how are you? Boss Chen, you''re really young and promising" Zhang Xueyang held Chen Fan''s hands warmly the moment he stepped in. "Hello, how are you?" Chen Fan grinned, "We''re both around the same age, please don''t stand on ceremony!" "Yes, yes, I''ll drink three cups of wine as a punishment later." Zhang Xueyang started talking as soon as he sat on the chair. "Boss Chen, is your company''s business really that incredible as stated on the website? I''m at my wit''s end now. I''ve spent 20 million RMB on three machine tools, but they''re stuck in Japan and can''t be transported back." "Would I be in this business if I didn''t have the ability?" Chen Fan held a cup and sipped some tea. "I know that our country can also manufacture 5-Axis CNC machines, so why didn''t you buy them domestically?" "Boss Chen, you don''t understand since you''re not in this trade." Zhang Xueyang laughed bitterly. "Although our country can also produce this type of machine tool, the precision and quality are far from Japan''s. We bought two domestically produced ones a few years ago. They didn''t have any major problems, but minor ones happened every few days. I felt vexed just looking at them. We spent more time on their maintenance than we spent on working." "Where do you work at, Manager Zhang? Why do you need to purchase such advanced machine tools?" "I''m a department manager at Xinghua Processing Factory. The factory belongs to my dad. We specialize in manufacturing propellers, axle ball joints of vehicles and such. We received a number of large orders recently, and our current facilities are no longer sufficient to produce these machine parts." Zhang Xueyang heaved a long sigh. "Some time back, I managed to get my classmate who was working in Japan to purchase three machine tools with his company''s name. I hired smugglers to transport them back, but the smugglers brought along illegal immigrants on the way there, and got detained by the fisheries'' administration department before reaching the Japanese territorial waters. Chen Fan sounded very diplomatic. "What a pity" "Isn''t it? Developed countries are really too stringent on the prohibited products entering our country. Take Japan for example, you can buy anything as long as you have the money, and nobody cares what you do with it, but once you wanna transport it to China, it''s more serious than snatching their headman''s wife." Chen Fan also let out a sigh. As a qualified nationalist, he had known all along what the developed countries were like. But what could he do? As long as they have leading edge technologies, they will be able to trap you. "Boss Chen, with all due respect, may I ask how confident you are in transporting the three machine tools back?" Seeing Chen Fan frowning and keeping quiet, Zhang Xueyang thought that Chen Fan had no confidence. "If you''re able to transport the machine tools back, I''ll pay you 1 million RMB for each machine." "Just call me Chen Fan!" Chen Fan smiled. "As long as you can provide a safe site, I have full confidence that it will get done. I''m not too particular on the loading place. Even on the beach is fine. I don''t need any deposit, you can pay me after the goods are here." "There''s no problem with the site. The goods are not explosives. As long as it''s out of Japan, no one will bother with them." "Bro Chen, I won''t bother about the method you use to transport the machines back, since confidentiality is of utmost importance in your trade." Zhang Xueyang paused and then said, "But I have to make myself clear since this is our first time working together. If your ship gets detained by Japan, I''ll take it that I did not buy the machines as long as I verified that it''s true. If it gets detained in our country, I''ll have ways to get them back and I won''t pay you a cent less. I only need you to promise me that you''re sincere in helping me on this." Zhang Xueyang left out something. "We''re both from Zhongyun and know each other through and through so if you cheat me of my machines, I''ll make sure you pay back with interest." "Don''t worry, Boss Zhang, since I have the ability to bring the machines out of Japan, it means that I''m in this business. Why would I destroy my own bread and butter for your three machine tools?" Although Zhang Xueyang sounded very tactical and reserved, Chen Fan could still tell what his worry was. There are too many cheaters nowadays, so everyone has to be cautious. "Bro Chen, I like your straightforwardness!" Zhang Xueyang held up his thumb. "Do you have any rules to abide by? I know that people in your trade have many rules, like the one I previously contacted. He even asked me to have the packaging done up like Honda motorcycles." "I have two requests." Chen Fan rubbed his nose. "First, cover the exterior packaging of the machine tools with a few layers of plastic and then wrap them with waterproof cloth. After that, tie them with nylon rope so that it''ll be easier to hoist them. Second, the goods have to be sent at night. Your guys have to leave after placing the goods. Our ship will arrive one hour later. You know how important safety is to us in this trade. I don''t wish for anyone to see our ship." "No problem, this is simple." Zhang Xueyang''s doubts disappeared after seeing Chen Fan''s seemingly serious arrangements. Experienced smugglers like to attach goods at the bottom of ships so they will not be discovered unless frogmen are sent. "Oh, Bro Chen, my machine tools are all delicate objects. Please be very careful when hoisting them." "I''ll pay if there are any damages, as long as you don''t fool me with inferior goods." Chen Fan held his hand to his chest. He could earn 3 million RMB with the electric eel making a trip to and fro. Where else could he find such a good deal? "Are you leaving me with no other alternatives then?" Zhang Xueyang pretended to be a little offended. "Punish yourself to three cups of wine later!" Chen Fan laughed. "Piece of cake" Five minutes later, the waiters came with the dishes Chen Fan ordered. "Waiter, give us two bottles of ten-year Maotai." Zhang Xueyang snapped his fingers. "Bro Chen, let me treat this meal, don''t fight with me, let''s go singing after the drinks." Who could say no to something free? After hearing this, Chen Fan regretted not ordering abalone and lobsters. Although he was secretly delighted, Chen Fan still said some formalities before pretending to give in reluctantly. 50 Big White Shark The meal was indeed very satisfying. All of them drank four bottles of wine where Chen Fan, Yu Lin, and Yiteng Yun drank two bottles, and Wang Bing and Zhang Xueyang drank only one bottle each. "Brother, the...song, I think we...won''t be able to sing it!" Zhang Xueyang was flushed red before he could even come down to the table. "I really drank...drank too much for today... Next time we... can go... singing again... " "No problem, there are plenty of opportunities in the future." After drinking quite an amount of white wine, Chen Fan was also feeling a little bloated. "Brother Zhang, did you drive?" "Yes...Yes. I have a driver, just downstairs... Waiting in the car downstairs..." When Wang Bing heard this, he was ashamed of himself even if his skin was thicker than a wall. Comparing himself to that driver, who not only had a meal with his boss, but also drank quite a lot of white wine. Chen Fan staggered up to hold the table and said, "I will send you off!" "I...I send...send you..." Zhang Xueyang burped and looked straight into his eyes. "I''m still putting all my future hopes onbrotherbrother Chen..." "Let''s go together!" Chen Fan gave a wave of his hand to signal everyone to keep up with him. Once they reached the entrance of the restaurant, they saw a more than five million RMB blue Bentley Morris parked nearby and a muscular man who ran out to help Zhang Xueyang. "Chen... Brother Chen, I... I''m gonna go, we''re gonna contact each other... by phone." Zhang Xueyang got into the car and exposed his face that was flushed red. "Take care Brother Zhang!" Chen Fan waved. "The three of you go back to the company first. Wang Bing and I will go buy some things." After sending off Zhang Xueyang, Chen Fan massaged his swollen forehead. Although Maotai liquor was not strong, drinking too much still had an effect on him who was just an average drinker. "Well, sure boss, we''ll go back to the company first." "Can you still drive?" Chen Fan looked at Wang Bing who had his usual expression on his face. He was still very alert like his normal self as though he did not drink, so he asked him. "No problem." Wang Bing scratched his head with embarrassment. "We often drink Maotai that was supplied in the army. If we drank two bottles, we could feel that our body was light." "If that''s the case, go get the car and take me to the Sports road for some shopping." Wang Bing did not boast and drove the car as steady as usual. If it wasn''t for the alcohol smell on him, nobody would know that he actually drank wine. When he reached Sports road, Chen Fan walked around and went to a big store that sold outdoor equipment. He bought a professional waterproof GPS locator that cost more than 2,000 RMB. The advancement in technology had caused the electronic products to be cheaper. Even a lousy mobile phone that cost about 100 RMB had a GPS function. When he got home, Chen Fan charged the GPS locator and turned on the computer to find the location of the Morgine Port in Japan on the global satellite map. Japan is a strange country indeed. It plagiarized the Chinese characters obviously, but it had a lot of off stream names that were serious tongue twisters. From Zhongyun city to the Morgine Port in Japan was about 530 nautical miles. Based on the speed of the electric eel, that was an average of 40 nautical miles per hour. If it didn''t rest along the way, it would need about 13 to 14 hours. If it stops to rest and eat, it will take about a day. One day to reach his destination and one more day to come home... by doing this he would get three million RMB! Chen Fan flopped on his bed. He was excited as this was definitely something to anticipate. At six in the evening, Chen Fan left Wang Bing alone at home and took a taxi to the beach. After securing the GPS locator that was already set with a road map and could operate continuously for a week on the electric eel''s front claw, he took a cab back home. Back at home, Chen Fan found a comfortable position to lie down and quickly shifted his consciousness to the electric eel avatar. Since this is going to be his first voyage, he felt an inexpressible excitement. Plus, he was heading to Japan, so it would be a pleasure if he is able to sink a few Japanese fishing boats on the way. "To Japan! Let''s start our journey!" Looking at the GPS on its claw, Chen Fan controlled the electric eel and swam to Japan. The pitch black sea was not a problem for the electric eel. With the help of the GPS, Chen Fan kept on swimming non-stop and finally rested on the seabed for a while after five hours. Half an hour later, Chen Fan controlled the electric eel to continue its journey that was still more than half of the distance. When the first ray of the morning sun shone on the blue ocean, Chen Fan had arrived near the Japanese island of Fujiang which is just about a 100 miles from the city. After swimming for the whole night, the electric eel''s belly was already empty and it was starving, so Chen Fan tried to find some food to eat before going back to sleep. With a body of more than 40 meters long, the electric eel needed to eat a ton or more for each meal. Usually, Chen Fan caught the fish in front of him by electrocuting them, and he changed the varieties every time. However, he couldn''t do that today because it had a GPS device on its front claw that was needed for navigation. Once it lets out electricity, Chen Fan was sure that he would not be able to find the port that he was looking for. Looking at countless numbers of small fishes and shrimps, Chen Fan decided to pick a few big ones to save him the trouble from preying again in case he was not full. Most of the larger fishes in the ocean belonged to the shark family. After looking around for a long time, Chen Fan fixed his target on an unknown shark species that was six meters long. With a pale brown backbone, white belly and a streamline shape, the shark was tearing at a "manta ray" that was three meters long. "See how I''ll tear you up instead!" Chen Fan swallowed a gulp of saliva. Judging by the look of the shark, it absolutely weighed over two tons and its smooth skin looked very delicious. With a few swings of the electric eel''s tail, it approached the shark and Chen Fan was ready to act out the story of ''the mantis stalks the cicada but behind them lurks the oriole''. Suddenly, it was as though the sharked sensed something as it loosened its prey, drew a semicircle in the water and stared at the electric eel with its carbon black eyes that were the size of a small fist. When Chen Fan saw the head of the shark, a cold shiver ran down his spine as this six meters long creature was a ''Marine killer'' that always came up in the movies, which was a great white shark. No wonder Chen Fan felt that there was something wrong with this shark from afar. It may be due to the smell of blood that was making him feel nauseated, or maybe this was just an idiotic shark. Before Chen Fan could even attack it, the great white shark opened its bloody mouth, turned around to face the electric eel that caused a small whirlpool and dashed toward Chen Fan''s electric eel avatar. Just because the electric eel didn''t attack, don''t you dare underestimate it! Chen Fan who had mixed feelings of anger and laughter controlled the electric eel to rise and attack the shark with four of its two meters long black claws on its abdomen. Upon seeing the shark''s mouth that was the size of a water tank with numerous sharp teeth trying to bite him, the electric eel lurched sideways suddenly and avoided the shark bite. Before the shark had time to dodge, the electric eel curved its body and dragged its two steel claws on the lower abdomen into the shark''s flesh. At that moment, blood splattered out from the struggling shark and dyed a large area of sea. The six meters long shark was no match for the strength of the forty meters long electric eel. By only using a little strength, Chen Fan controlled the electric eel to dig deeper into the shark''s flesh by using its ten finger claws on its abdomen, and it was as easy as gripping a bean curd. After vigorously shaking about two times, the shark was dead. The electric eel released its grip and bit into the belly of the great white shark with its mouth that was a meter wide, tore off quite a large portion of the flesh and swallowed it down. "Yummy, this is so delicious!" 51 Back to Zhongyun After swallowing half of the shark''s body and throwing out its tank-size head, Chen Fan controlled the electric eel to the seabed before shifting his thoughts back to himself. He took a glance at the time before covering himself with the blanket and slept. After his busy day, Chen Fan was exhausted. He needed to rest, and so did the electric eel. Chen Fan slept to his heart''s content and only woke up at five plus in the evening with his eyes squinting. He rubbed away his eye gunk and washed himself up before saying to Wang Bing who was doing push-ups in the living room, "Go get some hot food and buns, and also a few cans of milk from the supermarket." "Yes..." Wang Bing replied lifelessly before putting on his jacket and walked out of the house. Leaning on the couch, Chen Fan took out his phone and dialled Zhang Xueyang''s number. "Hello, Bro Zhang? My ship has already reached Japan. When will your goods arrive?" "So fast?" Zhang Xueyang''s elated voice came from the other end of the phone. "Bro Chen, you''re really efficient. Don''t worry! I won''t let your ship wait too long. I''ve just talked to my classmate in Japan over the phone and he said the goods have been packaged and are now on the way to Mogine Port. They will be able to transport the goods to the beach around two to three hours later." "We have to be professional in our business! My ship will fetch your stuff away once they arrive. You''ll be able to see those three machine tools in less than two days." "Sure, sure!" Zhang Xueyang''s voice trembled with excitement. "I''ll make another call now to get them to speed up!" -------- Inside Zhongyun City''s Jinyuan Villa was a three-story villa with a total area of ??more than 500 square meters of Baroque architecture. "Yangyang, are you certain that the man you''re contacting has such capabilities?" A middle aged man was sitting on the recliner chair in the spacious study room as he said with some doubt to Zhang Xueyang who was standing beside him. He had a rosy complexion with some fine wrinkles at the corner of his eyes. Wearing a black, fitting and tastefully-designed traditional Chinese long robe, he was poised and full of vigor. "Dad, I don''t think he''s faking it!" Zhang Xueyang walked to the side table and poured a cup of tea. "He didn''t even take a cent for deposit, so our biggest fear is already eliminated." "Not anyone can move three huge machine tools from Japan without being discovered. If he really has the ability to bring them back, then the 20 million machines are nothing to him!""Remember this, Yangyang, if he really gets those machines back from Japan, you''ll have to build a good relationship with him in future!" Zhang Aiguo took the cup and sipped some tea. "You know how the domestic market for high-precision machine tools is, if there''s a way, everyone will be willing to spend a little more to import from overseas. But developed countries are very stringent in this area, I went to look for Ma Rongtao last week to ask for his help to get the three machine tools back from Japan. Guess what he said?" "What did Uncle Ma say?" Zhang Xueyang looked at his father like a curious child. "Your Uncle Ma said that it''s not that he doesn''t wanna help, but there''s really nothing that he can do. Japan is getting crazier by the day, other than the various types of testing methods that they have, their marine inspection team in the territorial waters is already enough to cause serious trouble. The stringency of items that they check on is enough to make one''s hair stand. Even a faulty air-conditioning in the crew''s cabin is punishable." "Even Uncle Ma can''t get them back?" Zhang Xueyang was shocked. "I''d thought that you didn''t want to trouble him" "If he can settle it, I don''t mind troubling him a hundred times!" Zhang Aiguo sighed. "Think about it, even your Uncle Ma can''t settle this, now you know how difficult this thing is. Which is why I asked you to build a good relationship with this man. The most important thing in our business now is precision. Even if we can improve the precision on existing resources by just another 0.001 millimeter, it''ll still be a great advantage." Zhang Xueyang swallowed his saliva. "Dad...if that''s the case, wouldn''t our business increase by a few fold?" -------- If Chen Fan had heard the father and son''s conversation, he might jump out and demand an exorbitant price straightaway. Unfortunately, Chen Fan was now controlling the electric eel, swimming toward Amakusa City in Japan. It was over 100 nautical miles from Fukue Island to Amakusa City. The eel swam for almost four hours before reaching the shore of Amakusa City. At 10:30 PM, Chen Fan make another call to Zhang Xueyang. "Hello, Bro Zhang, have your goods arrived? My boat''s already at that Mogine-something Port." "Yes, yes!" Zhang Xueyang sounded anxious yet excited. "They''re on the white beach in the south. The three machine tools have been hauled to the shore!" "Hmm, I''ll call to ask my men, don''t hang up." With this, Chen Fan closed his eyes and shifted his thoughts onto the electric eel. At two meters beneath the water surface, the eel''s tongue gently pressed the GPS touchscreen. With the satellite image which had a display ratio of 500:1, he found the inconspicuous beach in the south. Slowly opening the eel''s eyes, Chen Fan saw that there were indeed three van-size boxes at the intersection between the beach and the sea. There was also a heavy duty truck, a Honda and a crawler forklift not far away. "Yes, they''re there! Call your men now and ask them to leave. Remember, they have to go far, far away. My men are all refugees and they may open fire if they see outsiders around!" "Sure, sure, I''ll make the call now!" Zhang Xueyang wiped the cold sweat off his forehead, and then quickly contacted his classmate in Japan. After returning to the eel, Chen Fan continued to spy from a distance away. A few minutes later, the forklift climbed noisily onto the heavy duty truck. The Honda turned on its headlights and led the truck away, kicking up clouds of dust. The electric eel''s vision is much better than that of a human being. Under the moonlight, Chen Fan observed that there was nothing else on the faraway beach other than the three huge boxes. When he could no longer hear the engine sound of the truck, Chen Fan controlled the eel to go nearer to the beach. The three boxes tied with nylon rope laid quietly in the over ten centimeters deep seawater. The eel held its breath, climbed toward them on all fours and hooked one of the boxes into the sea. If someone had witnessed this scene, he would probably kneel onto the ground and shout out, "Oh my god, there''s a sea dragon alive here!" Exposing half of its body, the terrifying snake-like creature used the shiny front claws on its belly to hook onto a 10-ton box before using its lower claws to fling it into the sea. Hold on a second...this twenty-meter long creature even had a GPS tied on its front claws The 10-ton boxes required great efforts to move on the shore, but they became buoyant once they were in water and did not feel as heavy. After spending more than ten minutes hauling the huge boxes into the sea, Chen Fan controlled the eel to bite onto the hook on one box with its mouth. Its front claws grabbed onto another box, and its back claws the third one. Without looking at the GPS navigation, the eel swam toward Zhongyun City based on its own sense of direction. 52 The Arrival of Goods After swimming for 10 minutes until it reached the deep water area, the electric eel, controlled by Chen Fen, put down the three machines. Chen Fan shifted his consciousness back to his body and called Zhang Xueyang to prevent him from being paranoid. "Hello, Brother Zhang? My men have already shipped the goods away, so you can now call your Japanese classmate to see whether the goods are still there!" "What... So fast?" On the other end of the phone, Zhang Xueyang was shocked. It was three heavy machine tools and not three TV sets, how was it possible for him to just ship them away like that? "Of course, we need to be very efficient. What if people find out? I''m going to hang up so you can call your friend to make sure." "Okay." Hanging up the telephone, Zhang Xueyang didn''t even dare to doze off for a second and immediately dialed the phone number of his classmate in Japan. "Hello, Xu Zhe? Hurry back and take a look because the ''dealer'' that I contacted said that those three machine tools have been shipped." "Hey brother, although we haven''t met for two years, it seems like you still have the habit to toy around with people? It took my men nearly an hour to load and unload it from the trucks, you can''t be telling me that they sent Optimus Prime to do the work?" "Believe it or not, why don''t you go back and take a look. There''s no reason for him to lie to me anyway." "Okayokay, I''ll go back and have a look now!" The Honda that was parked a few miles away turned around and headed back to the beach. However... When the Japanese guy arrived at the scene, the expression on his face was similar to that of when Ning Caishen saw Nie Xiaoqian at Lanzhou templewhere his eyes stared blankly ahead and his facial expression was frozen! There was nothing on the beach at all, except for the traces left behind from loading and unloading the machines. Besides that, three of the five meters wide drag marks were also vaguely identified near the seawater. There was nothing else that could be associated with the machines. Even the three drag marks in the water were swept away by the waves after a while. "Oh sewadxfcgcggfjv... "Staying for a few years in Japan, he uttered a phrase that was incomprehensible to his countrymen. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Dragging three machine tools across the oceans of China and Japan was indeed a difficult task. From 10:30 p.m. until 8:00 the next morning, Chen Fan''s electric eel swam more than 250 miles. The machine was placed on the seabed and after killing several large fish to fill its stomach, Chen Fan shifted his consciousness back to his own body and fell asleep. At six o''clock in the afternoon, Chen Fan woke up from his dreamy sleep. When he woke up, Chen Fan sent Wang Bing to buy some food to satisfy his hunger while he continued the ''great transportation task'' of the electric eel. There were nearly 300 miles left at the end of the day. Chen Fan clenched his teeth, and until the next day at noon, he dragged his tired electric eel avatar to Zhongyun city. Suffering from the intense muscle soreness of the electric eel avatar, Chen Fan made it place the three machine tools on the seabed and curled the electric eel around it. "Finally!" After letting out a series of bubbles that had a high concentration of hydrogen gas, Chen Fan shifted his consciousness back to his own body and began to yawn again not long after that. Three days...a full three days...his life was turned upside down. Although he had strengthened his body before, he still felt tired and dizzy. After sleeping until eight o''clock the next day, Chen Fan rubbed his eyes and got out of bed. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = "Boss, what are you doing in the house these days?" Wang Bing, who was watching TV out of boredom immediately sat straight up on the couch when he saw Chen Fan. "A new game was released and I was kind of addicted to it these few days, so I kept playing it until I reached level 40." Chen Fan stretched his waist lazily, "I don''t need to tell you what to do next, right?" "Of course, I understand!" Without saying a word, Wang Bing went out with a bitter face. After bathing, Chen Fan leaned on the sofa, shifted his consciousness to the electric eel, and looked around in the sea to observe the situation. After discovering that there was no human being in the surrounding area, it dove sharply, dragging three machine tools up to the shore. After spending more than ten minutes pushing those three machine tools to shallow waters, Chen Fan controlled the electric eel''s tail to clear its tracks and dove down into the deep sea. While biting into the bun that was bought by Wang Bing, Chen Fan rang up Zhang Xueyang''s cell phone number. "Hey, Brother Zhang! I have already shipped those three machines to Zhongyun city." "What what?" Zhang Xueyang''s tone was filled with disbelief. "Brother Chen, are you kidding me? Don''t tell me you are using the EMS global express!" "I won''t earn a penny from cheating you anyway. We''ll meet at the stone monument at Phoenix road in half an hour. I''ll show you the goods." "Well... Okay..... " "Boss, did you really get the machines back from Japan?" After the phone call, Wang Bing stepped forward and asked. "As I have said before, I have many ways to do business. Not to mention that these were only three machine tools. Even if it were three atomic bombs, I''m also able to ship it back without letting anyone know." "Oops, I meant to ship it to Japan ." "If that''s the case, you are really skilled!" Wang Bing doubted in a polite way. "End the topic, come on, let''s go and get the money." The stone monument on Phoenix road that Chen Fan mentioned just now was actually a roadside beautification project initiated by the Zhongyun government three years ago. It was actually a stone brought from the quarry, but they insisted that it was salvaged from the sea. Not long after the black BMW had reached the stone monument, Zhang Xueyang''s blue Bentley had also reached it. "Brother, oh brother, take me to see the goods." Zhang Xueyang wound down the window, leaned out his head and shouted at Chen Fan. "Sure, let''s go!" Chen Fan agreed and asked Wang Bing to drive to the beach. The two cars cruised to the beach and stopped at the end of the path. Neither BMW nor Bentley had the performance of an MUV. "Where is it, brother?" After Zhang Xueyang got out of his car, he walked over to Chen Fan''s side and said anxiously, "Take me quickly. Take me there now." While signaling Zhang Xueyang to keep up with his pace, Chen fan said," It''s just ahead and it won''t take more than five minutes." Five minutes later, after the group of four men walked around some stones, they saw three boxes the size of vans on the beach. Zhang Xueyang''s eyes were getting bigger and bigger like inflated balloons as he walked towards the boxes. If Darwin saw this scene, he would have thought that Zhang Xueyang had the potential to evolve into a lion head. "How is it, Brother Zhang? My company is very efficient, right? " Chen Fan said proudly. "Big brother!" After Zhang Xueyang struggled out of his petrified state, the first thing he did was embrace Chen Fan with joy and shook him dramatically. "You are my brother, you are my brother indeed!" "Brother Zhang, it''s only a few machine tools, do you need to be so excited?" "You are a layman, so you don''t know the importance of these high-precision machine tools in assembling the parts! It''s not an exaggeration to say that the difference between the machine tools in our company and these three is like the difference between a sniper and an air gun. "Haha, I''m rich now!" Zhang Xueyang roared to the sky. Woosh! He dashed passed Chen Fan and ran to the five-axis CNC machine tool. 53 Princess Cruise Zhang Xueyang climbed to the top of the boxes on all fours, grabbing and pulling the thick nylon rope. "Kong Zhi, come help!" Zhang Xueyang was unable to untie the rope after tugging for a long while. He sat panting on the boxes and shouted for the driver to come over. The men went forward to lend their hands and finally removed the waterproof cloth and plastic covering on the packaging. "This is it, this is it!" Zhang Xueyang squinted his eyes, staring at the brand-new white painted 5-axis CNC machine. It was a large, fully enclosed machine. One could see from the transparent cover the complicated interior structure which could bedazzle a layman. After lying on the machine tool and fondling it for a long while, Zhang Xueyang then called his father to get him to send a few heavy-duty trucks over to move the machine tools away. "Bro Chen, I shall not go into those mushy words of gratitude. Let''s make a trip to the bank later and I''ll transfer 3 million RMB to you directly." "Sure!" Chen Fan nodded smilingly. He was not the least bit afraid that he would come up with any tricks. After a short wait, thunderous sounds of machinery came from a distance away, and a crawler forklift appeared on the gravel road. After the machines had been loaded and transported, Zhang Xueyang happily brought Chen Fan to a bank branch on Phoenix Road to do the money transfer. After the transfer had been done, Zhang Xueyang leaned stealthily over to Chen Fan and said, "Bro Chen, let me bring you to a good place to enjoy later, my treat!" "What good place?" Chen Fan''s interest was aroused. He had just gotten a huge sum of money, and now there was a good place to enjoy. He would be a fool to reject it. Zhang Xueyang grinned cheekily. "You''ll know when we get there!" -------- Half an hour later, two luxury cars stopped at the side of Fengzhou Pier. Zhang Xueyang was the first to get out of the car. He ran two steps over to the other side to open the door of the black BMW. "Bro Chen, I bet you''ve never been here!" Zhang Xueyang bent over, his facial expression looking as if he had just won a jackal which had come to snatch away his spouse. "What''s this place?" Chen Fan looked around after getting out of the car. "I''ve not been here indeed." "See the cruise beside the pier?" Zhang Xueyang pointed at a distance away, as if he was presenting a gift. "This ''Princess Cruise'' is managed by a female boss from Zhongyun who is in the F&B business. It waits for customers here every day, and sails toward Fengzhou Bay when there''s enough people. Later we''ll be able to fish on the deck and get specialty chefs to cook the fishes we catch." "That''s common!" Chen Fan looked unimpressed. Kids who grew up by the sea were not too excited about fishing, unlike those from other parts of China who followed trends blindly. "Fishing is common! But the key is...when it''s nighttime" Zhang Xueyang grinned and gave a "you know that" expression. "Haha" Chen Fan forced a laugh, but did not say anything. Looking at Zhang Xueyang''s sinister smile, Chen Fan already figured out what activities there were at night. Being a virgin for over twenty years, that had been something very mysterious and seductive to him! "Come, let''s enjoy ourselves today!" Before Chen Fan could say anything, Zhang Xueyang tugged Chen Fan''s shoulder and walked toward the pier. The white painted Princess Cruise ship was over eighty meters long, slightly shorter than Wei Qing''s gambling ship. It had two levels of cabin, and the top was a huge white awning under which passengers could dine as they enjoy the scenery. The bottom deck was more spacious. There were many parasols on both sides which were used by passengers when they fish during the day. "I discovered this cruise ship only recently. It''s really enjoyable to spend your free time here!" Zhang Xueyang squinted his eyes as he walked toward the cruise ship, looking very satisfied. "Bro Chen!" Zhang Xueyang suddenly turned back. "There''s a very pretty night show model here who looks very much like Eva Huang. Let''s request her service tonight." "So awesome!" Chen Fan almost drooled. Whenever he saw the lovely Eva Huang on television, Chen Fan would fantasize about her. Now he could even see her in ''real life''. "Yes it''s that awesome. This night show model hasn''t been around for long, but her request rate is higher than anyone else. We won''t be able to get her if we''re slow so let me inform the boss in a while to get her to accompany you tonight." "Uhh" Chen Fan hands trembled upon hearing this. He didn''t know what else to say to fully express his current mood! After reaching the ship deck, Zhang Xueyang quickly went to the counter inside to make reservations for seats and the night activities, while Chen Fan sat on the deck enjoying the breeze. "Boss, what activities do you think there are at night?" Sitting on the recliner chair on the deck, Wang Bing looked around and then whispered to Chen Fan. It''s natural for men to fool around and enjoy themselves. Wang Bing had already heard Zhang Xueyang at the car park, but he was embarrassed to ask with him around. "I''m not sure either, but it should be something awesome!" Chen Fan was also a nerd like Wang Bing. It was only recently that he become more showy after having some money. "Haha, it must be that" Wang Bing rubbed his hands and was full of anticipation. He had no other hobbies, but was just keen in this area. After a short wait, Zhang Xueyang came out from the cabin and sat on the recliner chair beside Chen Fan. "Bro Chen, the ship''s gonna set off after another ten passengers come onboard. Let''s have some juice first." The four men laid on the deck and chatted until a group of young men in their twenties came onboard. The bridge deck was kept away and the ship sailed toward the ocean as it whistled. Fengzhou Bay is a few nautical miles away from Zhongyun City. It is made up of over ten uninhabited islets. There are plenty of plants and food in the sea, and it abounds with delicious grouper fish in particular, making it a great fishing place. Every summer, there will be numerous tourists visiting this place by boat. After the ship arrived at Fengzhou Bay, it slowly stopped and anchored between two islets. After the ship stabilized, more than ten staff members holding all types of fishing equipment walked to the deck and distributed a fishing rod and a small plastic pail with fish bait to each of the fifty to sixty passengers. Sea fishing is different from common freshwater fishing. There are more things to pay attention to for freshwater fishing, but the requirements for sea fishing is lesser and there is not even a need to attract the fishes with a bait first. Just a big hook with some shellfish, prawn or meat and the rod can be thrown in. Although Chen Fan used to fish frequently, he was still excited to try when he got hold of the fishing rod. It wasn''t that Chen Fan was feeling greedy about eating the fishes, but he just felt delighted at the mention of fish and could not control himself. Chen Fan took a live prawn from the pail and hung it on the hook, adjusted the cork and threw the fishing rod into the sea. Fishing is all about patience. Unfortunately, the four men did not seem to possess this quality. "I''m done with this, I''m going to watch television in the cabin. Bro Chen, are you coming?" Zhang Xueyang could not take it anymore after a short while. His main objective was the activities at night; fishing was just a diversion. Chen Fan shook his head, "I''ll fish for a while more. I''ll go look for you later." He almost caught two fishes just now, and he was struggling inside now. He had to get a few fishes to balance his emotions. "Boss, then...I''ll go in too?" Wang Bing was also not a fan of fishing. Chen Fan waved his hand, "Go on!" After the three men left, Chen Fan laid down and watched the float as he drank juice. The result wasn''t important. It was also a pleasure enjoying the process in this relaxing manner! Fishing is a great test of patience. When Chen Fan started to yawn, a series of soft footsteps came from behind him. A pleasant and gentle female voice said, "May I ask if the seat beside you is taken?" 54 The Be "No... No one..." Chen Fan turned around and saw that the person speaking was a girl wearing a white sun hat under which flowed long, black, silky hair. Her hair was so long that it almost reached her pretty round hips which were fitted with tight jeans. Under her bangs were a pair of big eyes. "Oh!" After saying so, she sat down on the beach chair and picked up the fishing rod. She adjusted the fish bait and then skillfully threw it into the water. Maybe the beautiful girl felt that the sunhat was in the way as she took it off, revealing her white, delicate face that deeply caught Chen Fan''s attention. The girl was probably at the age of 18 or 19, and she still had a childish look. Chen Fan did not expect to have had a beautiful girl accompany him while fishing, so he couldn''t help but feel secretly happy. If it were not for the three men leaving at the right time, he wouldn''t have had this chance. "AhemAhem." Chen Fan adjusted his original slouching position so that he could leave a good impression on the pretty girl. Sitting straight, Chen Fan scrutinized the bait as he wanted to catch a big fish quickly so that he could show off in front of the pretty lady. Men always take extra care of their reputation especially when there is a gorgeous looking lady nearby. Unfortunately, God was not on Chen Fan''s side. A few minutes after the girl dropped the hook, a snapper weighing about four catty was caught. Such good luck! Chen Fan spat out in embarrassment. Chen Fan remembered that a professional fisher once said that a newbie should never let a hook stay in the water for more than three minutes. Although this was what the experienced fishers say, it was a suitable enough method for the large majority of novice fishers. Upon seeing that he could not catch anything, Chen Fan pulled out the pole once in a while to see what was going on and why any fishes hadn''t been caught after so long. "You won''t be able to catch any fish like that!" The girl next to him could not help but comment, "Fishing is about skill and patience, so without enough patience and perseverance, it is impossible to catch a fish." The girl''s voice was melodious like the wind hitting a chime. Upon hearing this, Chen Fan felt quite embarrassed because he was being lectured by a girl who was younger than him. "Young lady, I am a senior member of the Zhongyun Fishing Association." Chen Fan let out a light laugh. " The method that I''m using to check on the fish bait is rather rare, but by constantly raising and lowering it, it is very easy to catch big fishes as long as I follow this pattern. I managed to catch a Thresher shark that was over two meters long by using this method at Berau Bay last year." "Hahaha..." The beautiful lady held her stomach with her left hand and laughed while looking at Chen Fan, and she was speechless for a long time due to her inability to stop laughing. "It''s okay if you don''t believe me." Chen Fan''s face was hot and flushed. Although that was obviously a lie, she didn''t need to respond so dramatically. "Believe I believe you" Although the pretty lady said that she believed him, she had a ''you are boasting'' expression on her face. As soon as she finished her sentence, her fishing rod bent suddenly. "Ah..." Letting out a small cry, she pulled on the line wheel of the fishing rod quickly and tugged out a yellow fish from the sea that easily weighed a few pounds. "Huh..." the pretty lady wiped her nose in a sluggish way. "If you can, catch a shark and prove your skills!" "No, I know what I''m doing. I don''t need to prove it by catching a shark for you." Chen Fan tried to act cool. After laughing her heart out, the beauty sucked in a deep breath and said in a serious manner, "You were actually checking on the fishing rod too often. Sensing a slight movement in the bait doesn''t necessarily mean that a fish bit the hook because the fish may only be testing it. You will need to wait for a second or two for the fish to swallow the fish bait into its stomach before pulling out the rod." "It never occurred to me that somebody like me who has a decade of experience in fishing who once won the fishing association gold prize and whose fishing experiences were published in the journal would be made fun of by a little girl." Chen Fan''s face was full of shock and indignation. "It is indeed deplorable." The pretty lady rested her hands on her chin, looked at Chen Fan and said, "The way you boast is so funny... " "I can''t continue this conversation with you anymore!" Chen Fan simply pretended that he was thinking deeply, turned his head and pretended to ignore her. The beauty''s eyes widened, "If you catch a shark I''ll believe you." "Whether I can catch a shark or not, it''s my business. Why should I prove it to you for no reason?" Chen Fan was like a cunning wolf who was luring the pretty lady into his trap. The pretty lady blinked and said, "This boat is my family''s property. If you can catch a shark, I''ll make you a bowl of shark soup at noon." "Shark soup? Chen Fan restrained his inner excitement, tilted his head sideways and asked, "What if I can catch a shark that is any breed of your choice?" "Haha... "The pretty lady laughed like a lark. "What do you want in return?" "Well, you pick a shark breed and if I can catch it, you will sing me a song!" Chen Fan said as he formed his plan. "Deal, if that''s the case, catch a Thresher shark!" "This is too easy, besides catching the shark breed that you mentioned, I can even catch it according to the size that you want. Do you still dare to bet with me?" "Wait for me while I go and get a good fishing rod!" The little girl put down her fishing rod and ran to the cabin. "My God, I''m committing sins... "Chen Fan sighed deeply. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = After a while, the pretty lady took out a one-meter-long fishing rod from the cabin that had a big gear on it. "Here, this rod can withstand 100 kilograms of tension with a fishing string that is one kilometer long in length with an endurance of 100 kilograms." Having a tension of 100 kilograms doesn''t mean that you can only catch 100 kilograms of fish. If you let out a good line and have a lot of stamina, it is possible for you to pull up five or six hundred catty of sharks. (Then pull the fishes to the side of the boat and kill them with the harpoon!) "Well, how heavy do you want the Thresher shark to be?" Chen Fan took the rod and spoke confidently like a professional shark fisher. The pretty little girl who stood on the left side of Chen Fan said, "I don''t want to make it hard for you, so you just catch a shark that weighs around 200 catty." "What will be betting on?" "I... I''ll sing an extra song?" The pretty lady was not certain about Chen Fan''s skills, so she dare not go for the big bet in order to avoid herself from being in a pinch situation later. "No problem, but I''ll be the one who chooses the song!" "Wait, what if you don''t catch it?" It suddenly struck the pretty lady that if he does not promise anything, she would definitely be on the losing side! "I''ll do whatever you say," Chen Fan said as he sat on the couch calmly. "If that''s the case..." the pretty lady tilted her head and thought for a moment. Suddenly, her mouth curved beautifully in a cunning way. "If you can''t catch one before lunch at noon, you will have to take off your clothes and run three laps around the deck!" 55 Game "Sure, no problem at all!" Chen Fan was not the least bit stressed. He had a 95 percent chance of winning this bet, and a 5 percent chance of losing. But...what if he really lost? He''ll just play punk! "Can I borrow your yellow croaker?" There was no more kindness in Chen Fan''s squinted eyes . They were shining with treachery and darkness! "Sure, I wanna see how you''re gonna catch a shark." The pretty lady handed over the jumping yellow fish, observing Chen Fan closely. After taking the yellow croaker, Chen Fan pretended to look professional. He looked at the surrounding and then drew a few lines of blood on the yellow croaker''s belly with the hook. The shark is extremely sensitive to the smell of blood. Fishing enthusiasts like using bloody meats to fish sharks. After hanging a big hook, Chen Fan used his strength to throw out the fishing rod before sitting on the beach chair with an enigmatic expression. "Are you gonna move the fish?" The pretty lady asked. The bait usually has to be kept moving at a certain speed for shark fishing, as sharks do not like biting hooks. "Nah, just let the fish struggle in the water." With this, Chen Fan gave a sinister smile before closing his eyes and shifted his thoughts onto the electric eel. Due to its sheer size, Chen Fan had always kept the electric eel a few tens of meters deep beneath the sea. The eel was close to fifty meters long anyway so no marine creature would dare to provoke it. The eel was not too far from the Princess Cruise, Chen Fan only used ten minutes to get the eel to the surrounding area of the ship. After waiting for a while, the pretty lady could not help but ask, "Why haven''t you got it on the hook? I guess the fish is probably dead!" "What''s most important in fishing?" Chen Fan started to educate her instead. "Patience...patience" With this, he continued to close his eyes and pretended to be resting. The thresher shark was quite commonly seen in the East China Sea and often caught by fishermen. As Chen Fan controlled the electric eel to move a few rounds at the place where groups of fishes often gathered, he had already seen five or six thresher sharks. After targeting one that was over one meter long, Chen Fan controlled the eel to move forward and then suddenly released over 800 volts of high frequency discharge. Pah! Chen Fan felt a little itchy at the eel''s front claw. He turned and saw that the GPS navigator had been burnt by the strong discharge. "Argh, there goes 2,000 RMB" Chen Fan said bitterly in his mind. After biting off the GPS, he controlled to eel to grab hold of the electrocuted thresher shark and swam toward the hook. The eel hooked its front claw vigorously and moved the mouth of the thresher shark close to the dying yellow croaker. Stimulated by the smell of blood, the thresher shark shivered and bit the yellow croaker. After making sure that the shark''s mouth was hooked securely, Chen Fan controlled the electric eel back into the sea and then immediately shifted his thoughts back to himself. ------ "It''s moving, your rod''s moving." The pretty lady sounded like a little sparrow as she leaned on the deck railings. "Haha, there''s a shark on the hook!" Chen Fan jumped up from the chair and turned the reel madly with his right hand. After turning back one-third of the reel, an over one-meter long thresher shark jumped up from the water surface. Its streamlined body shone brightly under the sun, looking marvelous. "Wow, a huge shark!" The pretty lady was stunned, unable to close her mouth. The bent fish rod was like an English longbow, with a gray fishing line tied onto it firmly. The over one hundred kilos shark was struggling with great strength in the water, that even the physically strong Chen Fan was staggering. Taking a big step forward and with his left foot on the railing, Chen Fan pushed the reel lock with his thumb and then used the strength in his arms to compete with the shark! "Ah!" Chen Fan shouted as he exerted all his energy in his arms. The rod was bent like a half moon. What kind of big fish could pull the carbon steel fishing rod to this extent? "Oh my goodness! What is that?" The people fishing on the deck went into an uproar, as if they smelled the bloodiness of the shark. Everyone on the three levels were in shock and shouting! Thump! The thresher shark was jumping and struggling on the water surface a distance away, as if on steroids. Usually only big, husky people could fish large-size fishes. Although Che Fan looked ordinary, he was still a hunk in every sense. "Ah!" Chen Fan roared again. He unlocked the reel and turned the wheel, hurling the shark toward the ship. "What''s going on? What''s going on? Excuse me!" Hearing the commotion on the deck, Wang Bing and company opened up a gap among the onlookers and came in. The three were flabbergasted when they saw Chen Fan battling with the shark. "Goodness, Bro Chen caught a shark!" Zhang Xueyang covered his mouth and screamed, "Kong Zhi, quick, go get a harpoon." Wang Bing beamed with joy as he shouted, "Boss, you''re damn cool!" "Haha!" Chen Fan laughed triumphantly as he increased his speed of turning the wheel. The struggling thresher shark got closer to the ship as Chen Fan pulled with all his might. The passengers were full of excitement looking at the more than one meter long shark with its long mast-like tail." "I''ve found one!" Zhang Xueyang''s driver brought a two-meter long, spear-like harpoon with rope at the bottom. The fifty-centimeter long blade was made up of twenty-four sharp edges. One could imagine the terrible consequences of it being inserted into the body. "Let me do it!" Wang Bing took over the harpoon and raised it over his head, getting ready to throw it at the shark when the time was right. When the shark was pulled to a distance of three meters away from the ship by Chen Fan, the passengers onboard could see the sharp teeth in its mouth. Wang Bing jumped up. With the strong inertia in his waist and the strength in his arms, he threw the harpoon right through the shark. Under tremendous pain, the shark thrashed about madly on the surface of the water as if sulfuric acid had been poured over it. Seeing this, Chen Fan quickly reversed the wheel to prevent the shark from breaking the fishing line while struggling. The shark which had been pierced through by the harpoon and struggled in the sea for around ten seconds before dropping its head and turning over. "Whoa" Chen Fan wiped the sweat off his forehead excitedly. Shark fishing was indeed a hundred times more exciting than fishing small fishes. In particular, the tremendous strength that came when pulling the fishing rod was even more satisfying than pulling a girl into the nuptial chamber! Wang Bing spat on his palms and gave them a rub before pulling the shark up from the harpoon with all his strength. "Boss, this shark is definitely more than a hundred kilos!" "Wow" The passengers around all gasped in surprise. They were not exclaiming at the shark''s weight, but at how this flippant-looking person could carry a hundred kilo weight with just his two hands. "Heh heh" Chen Fan grinned with a sinister look before turning his head to look at the pretty girl who had not closed her mouth since the shark appeared. "Little girl, come sing All Northeastern Chinese are Living Lei Fengs, first!" 56 So Delicious "Sing? Sing what song?" Zhang Xueyang was stunned as he had no idea what catching a shark had to do with singing a song. The little beauty said, "... You... " "Oh God, what about me?" Chen Fan opened his hands innocently. "You said before that if I can''t catch it, I will need to take off my clothes and run around the deck three times!" "Oh, brother Chen, what is going on? What is this about singing and taking off clothes? I am so confused!" "The cause of this situation is actually because of..." Chen Fan gave a brief explanation of what had happened. "I see, then you should sing All Dongbei People Are Living Lei Feng!" Zhang Xueyang said with a sluggish expression, "Young lady, since you had promised, then you must agree. Make an example of old brother Chen. If he loses, he will definitely take off his clothes and run around the deck." "Sing!" "Sing!" "We won''t laugh at you!" The tourists around them were looking forward to seeing a good show, and they were even more eager than Chen Fan. The beauty''s face turned from red to pale, and finally turned to a sorrowful expression. "I''ll sing, but you all must promise not to laugh." "We won''t, we won''t." The surrounding crowd looked so serious, as if they were going to visit a monument that commemorated fallen heroes rather than listen to a very funny song. "Lao Zhang drove to the northeast and was involved in a hit-and-run accident! Thanks to a northeast man, Lao Zhang was sent to the hospital and had five stitches! After he recovered..." The pretty lady lifted her lips and sang with her sweet voice... The crowd remained very serious at first while only a few of them covered their mouths and refrained from making noises. However... The little girl sang, "Until all of us here are northeast people, we produce special ginseng, we also make pork noodles." The crowd suddenly burst into a series of hysterical laughter and some of them laughed so hard that their stomachs hurt. Chen Fan was one of them. "...You... Didn''t you all promise not to laugh?" The pretty girl''s face was flushed red with anger and embarrassment. "Haha... Haha... " The answer that she got was even louder laughter. "... Huh..." The pretty girl stomped, pushed through the crowd and ran into the cabin with her face still flushed red. "Haha... Told her that she shouldn''t bet with me!" Chen Fan sputtered out some saliva while boasting. "My skill in catching sharks is legendary!" "Haha, brother Chen, you are really very skilled!" Zhang Xueyang held his stomach and laughed for a long time before he was able to get over it and gave a thumbs-up to Chen Fan. "Haha, this is only a small matter!" Chen Fan smiled cunningly. "Brother Zhang, let''s go to the room!" Chen Fan couldn''t quite stand the weird look given to him by the crowd. "Come on, let''s go! I''ll ask the chef to chop up the shark and make it into a side dish for our beer afterwards." Zhang Xueyang laughed non-stop while resting his arm on Chen Fan''s shoulder. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = "You are unbelievable, brother Chen. I didn''t know that you even had the ability to catch sharks. It''s not an ordinary skill." Sitting in a room, Zhang Xueyang ate some nuts and said, "Last year in Huangbo Bay, there was a man who loved fishing who went out to sea in his two-seater yacht to catch a shark. He used a metal hook and had wire ropes tied to the yacht. He caught the shark, but his yacht flipped over." "What an idiot he was!" Chen Fan tossed a fried pecan in his mouth casually. "How could he tie the ropes to his yacht when he wanted to catch a shark? Did he think that his yacht was a USS American Supercarrier?" "Yeah, brother Chen, you are amazing. You could even catch a shark that weighs 200 catty. I already asked the waiter to cook the shark," snickered Zhang Xueyang. The tail of the thresher shark is very good for us!" Zhang Xueyang dusted the peanut shells on his hand. "Ah... " Chen Fan leaned back on the sofa with his head resting on his hands with a relaxed expression. Knock! Knock! "Come in!" Two waitresses pushed a small cart into the room. One of them blinked at Chen Fan and pointed at the porcelain jug on the cart. "Hello, mister. This jug of shark fin soup was cooked by the lady whom you had a bet with. She asked me to leave you a message saying that she would not continue to sing the song for the time being, but she will finish it when you come back here again next time." "Oh... Oh..." Zhang Xueyang raised his eyebrows and smiled at Chen Fan. "Looks like that lady is attracted to you since she found a reason for you to come back next time." "Nonsense!" "Hurry up and serve the dishes, I''m starving." "Sure!" After laying out various kinds of food on the table skillfully, the two waitresses bowed and said, "Please enjoy the food." and pushed the dining cart out of the room. "Let''s try out the pretty lady''s cooking!" Chen Fan held up the porcelain jug and sniffed it without further delay. "Oh, it smells good..." Chen Fan said indulgently. After sniffing it too, Zhang Xueyang picked up the ladle next to him and scooped up a bowl for everyone. "Come, let''s try out her cooking and see if her cooking skills match her gorgeous appearance." The bowl of shark fin soup that was cooked with tender bamboo shoots immediately perked up their taste buds. After a short while, the whole jug of shark fin soup was empty. "Delicious it''s really delicious" Chen Fan was still chewing on a piece of shark fin cartilage, and finally spit out the mashed cartilage after sucking it clean with the last drop of the soup! "Very delicious indeed..." Zhang Xueyang also had the same look as Chen Fan. "Looks like it''s a fact that food cooked by a pretty little girl is much more delicious than the food cooked by a fat cook." "By the way, let''s finish all the other food, go into the entertainment room and sing. We''ll have a couple of night models give us a show later tonight." "Okay!" Chen Fan replied casually, but he was actually very much looking forward to it! They were all young, strong men, so ten dishes of delicious food were finished in just a split second. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = "Brother Chen, let''s go and sing and play!" Zhang Xueyang burped and went out first. Turning left in the hallway, Zhang Xueyang went over to the bar, muttered softly for a while and an attendant who wore white overalls immediately led them to a room that had a sea view on the second floor. This room was larger and more luxurious than the one that they were dining in just now and the entrance had a passageway that connected to a private, separate bathroom that had walls that were covered in blue mosaic. There was a glass window about ten meters tall and two meters wide. Looking through the pale green glass window you saw the vast ocean view that was as fascinating as it could be. Sitting on the genuine leather sofa and looking at the dreamy pattern on the wall in front of them, Chen Fan and Wang Bing were astonished by the room''s interior design! "What song does brother Chen want to sing?" Zhang Xueyang didn''t ask for an attendant, but got up to serve them himself instead. "Just enjoy yourselves, I was born tone-deaf and I can''t bear to listen to my own singing." Chen Fan gave a wave of his hand. "Sing? I would be cast aside by them." "How about Brother Wang?" Zhang Xueyang did not force Chen Fan and turned to ask Wang Bing instead. "Me?" Wang Bing pointed to his nose, and after confirming that Zhang Xueyang was indeed referring to him, he replied awkwardly, "I only know how to sing Xiao Bai Yang, and We In The Army, and I sing awfully." "Ugh..." Zhang Xueyang had no choice but to scratch his head. Neither of them liked to sing, and it was not fun to sing by himself. "Why don''t we" After hesitating for a while, Zhang Xueyang stood up and said, "It''s indeed a bit weird for men like us to sing songs, so I''m going to ask them to send a few night models over!" 57 Take Me There Zhang Xueyang went back into the private room again after a short while. "Bro Chen, the night show models are changing now. They will be here shortly!" Zhang Xueyang smiled happily. "The one who looked like Eva Huang is also coming." "Haha!" Chen Fan''s laughter was a little awkward. It was difficult to describe his current mood. It was going to be his first experience with this and in broad daylight, hence Chen Fan was not able to control his expression well. Five minutes later, the escort manager, who was a pretty woman with a good figure, around the age of thirty-plus came in. Her white business wear made her look like a professional from a big company, and not a procurer! Following behind her were seven or eight graceful ladies in off-shoulder crimson dresses. They formed a line in front of the couch and smiled at the men. At that moment, Chen Fan started breathing hard, as if he was having an asthma attack. Taking a glance at Wang Bing, Chen Fan realized that he was worse than himself, with both nostrils wide open and breathing like a high-frequency blowing machine. "Boss, these girls are really...too pretty. Those girls in ''Victoria'' can''t be compared to them at all!" Wang Bing mumbled to Chen Fan. "Umm" Chen Fan replied. The ''model'' standing in the middle caught Chen Fan''s gaze like a magnet, and he couldn''t be bothered with Wang Bing. "Yiyi, come over here and accompany Boss Chen!" Without the need for words, Zhang Xueyang assigned the most attractive model to Chen Fan before turning to Wang Bing. "Bro Wang, anyone catch your eye? Otherwise, I''ll get them to change to another batch." Wang Bing''s fists were clenched tightly onto the couch, "I-I''ll go for number six!" "OK!" Zhang Xueyang suddenly became like an emperor. He casually gave a signal and the hot number six model obediently sat down in front of Wang Bing as if she was given a decree. "Number seven, come over here." Zhang Xueyang picked a petite and innocent-looking ''model'' for himself after arranging for his guests. "Kong Zhi, pick one for yourself!" "Yes, boss." Kong Zhi did not decline and picked the most outstanding one from the remaining models. "Manager He, get the waiter to bring us four bottles of American Gallo and some snacks!" Zhang Xueyang said as he put his arms around the petite beauty. "They''ll be here right away, Master Zhang!" The escort manager replied to Zhang Xueyang with a pleasant, sweet voice. Although this type of Californian produced wine is not especially prestigious, many like it for its outstanding taste. After the wine came, the models poured half a glass each for the four men before snuggling up to their own bosses with hazy eyes, as if saying "do anything you want with me". "Boss, let''s drink," said the beauty who looked like Eva Huang, as she leaned on Chen Fan''s left side with her pretty eyes wide open. Chen Fan''s face was as tight as a statue. He wasn''t trying to act aloof, but he had totally no idea what to do next. Experience counts for everything, but Chen Fan was a total noob in this area. "Come, come" After five seconds, Chen Fan finally stretched out his slightly trembling right hand to hold the wine glass, knocked it gently against hers and then gulped everything down. The model covered her mouth and gave a gentle laugh before taking a sip in her mouth and suddenly pressed herself against the unprepared Chen Fan! Atomic bomb explosion? Yellowstone volcanic eruption? Korean spaceship went up to the sky? No, no, no, these descriptions were too mild to accurately describe how Chen Fan felt at that point in time. Chen Fan''s eyes were as wide as saucers, as if he was seeing Ultraman in real life! Chen Fan''s heart rate suddenly increased faster than a Bugatti Veyron, from 70 to 180 in less than two seconds. Zhang Xueyang gave a ruffian-like whistle and said to the model beside him, "I want that too, come on." With this, he opened his mouth wide and laid on the couch. "Yes, my master!" This beauty was more forward than the one beside Chen Fan. She lifted her dress and sat on Zhang Xueyang''s thigh, gently rocking her butt like riding a horse. Zhang Xueyang suddenly held up the model and threw her onto the couch before passionately kissing her. Shock. Chen Fan felt as if someone had lit a firecracker in his brain, turning it into strong, wild desire after exploding. Taking in a deep breath, Chen Fan licked his dry lips out of nervousness and was getting ready to copy Zhang Xueyang''s action. However, something anti-climatic happened at that moment. The door was suddenly opened and a hostess in a long pink dress came in. "I''m sorry, bosses" The lady bent at her waist, apologized before going over to Chen Fan''s side and whispered to the model named ''Yiyi''. As the room was quite noisy, Chen Fan did not near what the two said, even though he was near. "Bosses, could you please excuse me for a while? There...there''s someone looking for me outside!" Yiyi looked apologetic and scared, making it difficult to reject her. "Go on." Chen Fan waved. He couldn''t possibly stop her when she had something to attend to. "Be back soon, don''t let my Bro Chen wait too long!" Zhang Xueyang frowned. "Yes boss!" The lady bowed and left with the hostess. "Bro Chen, let''s sing some songs first!" Zhang Xueyang gently hit the butt of the model beside him, signaling her to sit beside the jukebox. The ladies here were all good singers and were excellent at creating ambiance. "Sure, I''ll listen to you guys sing!" Chen Fan leaned on the couch. The night was still young, and he was in no hurry. "Let''s sing the duet, ''Love in Hiroshima''!" Zhang Xueyang had a great voice and imitated the original singer really well. The ''model''s'' voice wasn''t bad either. After finishing this song, Zhang Xueyang did not let go of the mike and sang another two duets. After a hearty performance of the two ballads, Zhang Xueyang suddenly thought of something and his happy face turned gloomy. He pounded the table and said to the model with a glum face, "Go take a look and see why Yiyi''s not back yet!" "Yes, yes." The model quickly put down the mike and went out. Five minutes later, the model returned and said fearfully, "I''m sorry boss, Yiyi has been taken away by a regular customer. She would like me to apologize to you on her behalf." Yiyi was a hot favorite here, and it was not rare for her to be taken away from customers halfway through their ''visit''. Bang! Zhang Xueyang slammed on the black crystal table, causing a bottle of Gallo to fall onto the floor. "Is your manager out of her mind to treat me, me... Zhang Xueyang, this way?" Zhang Xueyang''s voice was as cold as the Siberian wind. "Which room are they in? Take me there now!" 58 The Way To Reveal A Manly Character "Brother Zhang, forget it!" Chen Fan stood up as a peacemaker. To tell the truth, Chen Fan did not want to quarrel with others about this trivial matter. Furthermore, they were on a ship and not on land, so if anything goes wrong, they had nowhere to run. "Brother Chen, this is not just a matter of changing to another night model. It''s a matter of principle! I am enraged that the model we chose was taken by somebody halfway through. We have to find her otherwise, this trip isn''t worth it. Sometimes you feel so helpless in life that it forces you to make a choice. Take this situation as an example, if they clenched their teeth and refrained themselves, they would be free from any trouble. However, if their hearts were overwhelmed with fury, the only thing that they could do is man up and regain their reputation. About the series of consequences that would occur, we could think about it later after everything is done, or we could just stand back and be a coward. Many conflicts are only due to a small matter and it is not about whether a man has a sensible mind or not, but it''s rather about whether they have the guts to do anything about it. "Aren''t you supposed to take me there?" Zhang Xueyang turned to the frightened model and shouted. "Yes, yes, please follow me!" The night model took Zhang Xueyang to find the person who stole Chen Fan''s model. Sigh! Chen Fan called Wang Bing to follow. After all, Zhang Xueyang was doing this for his sake, so he couldn''t possibly act like a coward now! Moreover, Chen Fan was not a meek, mild person. When he was in the breakfast nook, he had the guts to fight with Wei Songyue even when he knew that the chances of him winning were very slim, but now, he had even more power and strength than he did then. The model reluctantly took Zhang Xueyang to a room in the corner and made a ''he''s inside'' sign. To everyone''s surprise, it was not Zhang Xueyang who was the first to make a move, but it was the man beside him, Kong Zhi instead! When he noticed that the door was locked, Kong Zhi, who was usually a quiet man acted as though he was a different person. He swung his right leg and with the aid of the force of his torso, he stomped his left leg on the door and a ''bang'' sound was heard. The wooden door trembled suddenly, and a loud noise was heard. The sound was even more effective than the honking sound during an assembly, causing all the men and women in the room that were drinking and playing with the dice to focus their attention on the leader, Zhang Xueyang. Rubbing his forehead, Chen Fan did not expect that the way they showed up would be so glamorous. The surrounding air was still, indicating that a fight was about to take place. "What the f*ck! Who the hell are you?" The young man in the middle of the sofa glared at Zhang Xueyang, and the model who sat beside him was Yi Yi. Judging by the unusual treatment that he received and the look of everyone around him, they knew that he was the leader of this group. "I came here to kill you!" Zhang Xueyang shrugged his shoulders, walked slowly into the room and said, "It is better to know beforehand who you are snatching a model from, otherwise it may lead to irreparable consequences." The man next to him was worked up by his words and stood up. He had a big belly and his face was filled with acne. He was furious, "F**k you!" He was not even able to finish the word ''you'' when Kong Zhi suddenly stepped forward, raised his hand, and gave him a tight slap as fast as lightning. The sound of the slap was crisp and clear. Although it was only a slap on the cheek, the intense pain due to the nerves on his face made him roll on the floor like a shrimp without a backbone. "My God." Chen Fan felt like his head was about to burst and to him, it looked like this group of young men wouldn''t be walking out of the room easily. It was obvious that all the men in the room had quite muscular bodies. Although Chen Fan didn''t have a gun with him, if they really had to fight, Wang Bing could beat them all up alone and not to mention Kong Zhi who was also skilled in fighting and Chen Fan who was extremely self-confident. The guy on the floor said with a cold tone, "Not bad, very good! Do you know who I am?" as he got up clapping. "Do I need to care who you are?" Zhang Xueyang crossed his arms and had a ''whatever'' look on his face. The young man chattered, "I am Lei Zhuo but everybody else calls me Brother Lei!" "Lei Zhuo?" Zhang Xueyang''s expression changed drastically, and he looked uneasy all of a sudden. Is he someone famous and powerful? Chen Fan tried to recall, but he had no information about this person. The only powerful person in Zhongyun city that Chen Fan knew of was Wei Qing, but he didn''t know the others. "Lei Zhuo..." Zhang Xueyang muttered to himself, frowned and asked, "Are you really Lei Zhuo?" "Oh, I am Lei Tinglong!" Before the man had time to reply, Zhang Xueyang suddenly cried out, "You are my long-lost grandson!" Silence, dead silence! The air around was still and it was difficult to even breathe. Everyone gave Zhang Xueyang a stupid look. Even the acne guy on the floor forgot to wipe the blood that was dripping out from the corners of his mouth. ............... "Ah... "The silence was broken by the young man named Lei Zhuo, who shouted and with a ''whoosh'', he swung his right fist at Zhang Xueyang''s forehead. Zhang Xueyang had expected that Lei Zhuo would be furious, so just as Lei Zhuo raised up his fist, Zhang Xueyang avoided the hit by dodging two meters away. Unable to finish off Zhang Xueyang in a single blow, Lei Zhuo did a somersault over the tea table and dashed towards Zhang Xueyang like a starving tiger. Seeing this, Kong Zhi who was standing by the side swept his legs towards Lei Zhuo suddenly, hoping that Lei Zhuo would trip over. However, when Kong Zhi''s leg was about to reach Lei Zhuo''s, Lei Zhuo managed to dodge the attack. Just as stood back on the floor, he side kicked Kong Zhi in his groin with his right leg. With a deep thud, Lei Zhuo''s kick was blocked by Kong Zhi''s elbow instead. "What a highly skilled martial artist!" Wang Bing, who was enjoying the show blurted out suddenly, but Chen Fan did not know who was he referring to. Just as he finished his sentence, the young men on the sofa jumped up shouting, while each of them grabbed beer bottles and ashtrays to attack after seeing that their leader had started the fight. "Shit!" Cursing, Wang Bing slashed a beer bottle with his hand like a knife at lightning speed and kicked the man in mid-air. The style of using violence against violence was Wang Bing''s style rather than Chen Fan''s. Although he had undergone elite training with Wang Bing for three months, Chen Fan still chose a safer way to attack. "Huh, are you trying to prove that you know how to smash things?" After muttering to himself, Chen Fan picked up the small wooden bench beside the jukebox and smashed it on the guy who was approaching him. With a smash, the small bench broke into pieces. The man covered his chest in agony and did not even flinch when a beer bottle fell on his foot. After smashing him, Chen Fan quickly dodged and hid behind Wang Bing, suddenly making him a human shield . After seeing that the situation had turned into a group fight, Zhang Xueyang also hid quickly behind Wang Bing after being kicked in the ass. With the attack of six to seven people at the same time, Wang Bing did not even bother to dodge. After covering his head with his left hand, he didn''t care about his own self-defense. He and his attackers kicked back at each other in an attempt to be the ultimate winner. Bang! Bang! Bang! The sound of a body being punched was heard. Wang Bing suffered a few kicks in a row and his left arm was smashed twice by a beer bottle. However, the others were even worse. Wang Bing still looked fine, although they kicked him hard. But when Wang Bing kicked back, it was as if being hit head-on by a truck causing their bodies to fly several meters away. Bang! Unfortunately for him, the last terrified young man who tried to run away was kicked on his ass by Wang Bing and fell on the sofa. "Ah " a few female models who sat on the sofa were stunned, and they cried out in fear. Screaming, they ran out of the room passing Chen Fan like colorful butterflies. It was only a minute that passed after all this. The group of men who were in high spirits at the beginning were all lying on the floor except for Lei Zhuo who was still standing in shock. Some of them even had foam coming out of their mouths, and nobody knew whether they were alive or dead! Violence is not good, but it can reveal a person''s character to the greatest extent. "Friends..I...Lei Zhuo... Ah..." Lei Zhuo wanted to say a few words so that he would not lose face, but before he could finish his words, he howled in pain suddenly! It was Kong Zhi who had been hiding on the other side who kicked Lei Zhuo in his groin when he was not looking. "Urgh..." The bright red blood spread quickly across his face, his eyes wide opened, and he was in such severe pain that he couldn''t even breathe. Two seconds later, he fell straight on the bright red carpet. 59 Why, Is It You Again? "Great!" Zhang Xueyang rubbed his butt as he raised his thumb at Kong Zhi. Damn, the kick on his butt by this fellow just now was still burning hot. "Come on, continue showing off! You dare to snatch our girl with those lousy skills? Now you know the consequences!" Zhang Xueyang squatted as he pinched Lei Zhuo''s face, looking extremely glorious. "Boo...hoo" Lei Zhuo swallowed hard, and he almost had tears from the pain. Needless to say, he did not hear Zhang Xueyang''s words. "Alright, Bro Zhang, let''s go back to the room!" Chen Fan came forward and tugged at Zhang Xueyang''s shoulder. Chen Fan figured that Zhang Xueyang was going to do something worse if this went on. "Bro Chen, don''t stop me. I''m gonna give him another two kicks!" Zhang Xueyang did not forget to kick Lei Zhuo a few more times before leaving. The night show models crowded at the door suddenly dispersed. "Haha!" Zhang Xueyang took the opportunity to pinch the butt of a model who had not managed to move away! Back at their room, Chen Fan helped Wang Bing pat away the footprints on his body. This guy had contributed much today. Chen Fan had little experience in fighting. If Wang Bing had not shielded him just now, he would have gotten at least a few kicks. "This feels great!" Sitting on the couch, Zhang Xueyang poured wine for everyone and then raised his glass. "Bro Chen, let''s bottoms up!" After gulping the wine in his glass, Chen Fan knitted his brows and sounded a little worried. "Do you think they will call the police?" "The boss of ''Princess Cruise'' will not call the police, ''cuz no one died! The boss has to be someone with great social skills to be able to manage such a big place, she will also be held responsible if she calls the police, so she will never give herself trouble over such a small matter." Zhang Xueyang looked relaxed. "And so what if the police are informed? Ours is a civil dispute, and they are the ones who started. At the most it''ll be compensation of medical expenses to settle the matter. But, I can''t guarantee if those guys will get more people here. The ship will definitely turn back now to send them to hospital." After a pause, Zhang Xueyang slowed down. "I saw that they were drinking good liquors, like XOs which cost a few hundred RMB a bottle, so they should have some power. All of us are now stuck on the ship and there''s nowhere we can run to!" "We won''t have to be scared if they really get more people." Chen Fan placed a piece of watermelon into his mouth with a toothpick. "It''s not realistic for them to get a hundred people because the Anti-Riot team will probably get to the pier in less than two minutes. If they only get ten or so people, Wang Bing will be able to settle them single-handedly, unless they brought guns." "Haha," Zhang Xueyang added in, "It''s not like opening fire in the city because these people on the ship can''t run away. They won''t be able to escape unless their dad is Ultraman! By the way, Bro Wang, are you made of iron? The wine bottle smashed into pieces on your arm but you look fine!" Zhang Xueyang leaned closer to Wang Bing. "Roll up and show me, did it turn purple?" "Heh heh." Wang Bing rolled up his sleeve, showing his muscles which were as hard as granite. "Whoa!" Zhang Xueyang finally blurted out after a long while. Not only was Wang Bing''s arm not bruised, the red mark was so faint that it looked like it could be wiped off easily. "Shaolin Virgin Boy Exercise? Iron Shirt? Golden Shield? Hard Qigong?" The puzzled Kong Zhi came up with all the kung fu terms. "None of the above!" Wang Bing grinned. "I received Abhisheka when I was five, and mastered ''Jiuyang Shengong'' when I was eighteen!" "I think you practiced ''Sunflower Manual''!" Chen Fan did not know whether to laugh or to cry. "Quit it, we''d better think of our plans for later!" "I don''t think they''ll call the police. People like them will just think of ways to recover their damages after being beaten up!" Zhang Xueyang laid down in a comfortable position. "We''ll go to the deck and see what happens when the ship docks." Zhang Xueyang said cheekily, "Stop thinking too much. We''ve already beaten them up, what''s there to be afraid of?" "That''s true!" Chen Fan hit his own head. It seemed like he hadn''t adjusted to his current situation and kept worrying about problems of the past. Not only did he have a super electric eel now, he also had a seven-figure sum in the bank. Why would he need to worry about all this? Knock knock knock! At that moment, someone knocked gently on the door. "Come in!" Zhang Xueyang shouted. Unexpectedly, the person wasn''t someone from the gang to threaten them, but the pretty girl who bet with Chen Fan on the deck in the morning. "What is it? Don''t tell me you want us to pay for the damages in the room? Let me tell you, don''t even think about it!" Zhang Xueyang crossed his legs, looking like a rogue. "No" The pretty girl stuck out her tongue cheekily and jumped to the front of the couch. "My mom''s already called the police. I''m here to inform you secretly, so that you can be prepared." "What?" Chen Fan was stunned. "Bro Zhang, didn''t you say no one will call the police?" "I...err...wellnormally no one will call the police." Zhang Xueyang scratched his head. "Argh, women are difficult to understand!" "Young girl, how long before we reach the shore?" Chen Fan asked. "Around ten more minutes. Those people are already foaming at their mouths after being beaten up by you guys. We have to get them to the hospital fast!" The pretty girl twirled her hair with her long fingers. "I gotta go, it''s a little scary staying here with you." "Bro Chen, don''t tell me you have some records in the police station?" After the pretty girl left, Zhang Xueyang looked worriedly at Chen Fan. It was very common for people in the smuggling trade to have criminal records. "I don''t have any records, it''s just that I don''t wish to step into the police station. You know how people in my trade dislike having contacts with the police." "Bro Chen, don''t treat me like an outsider. If you really have any records, just take a life vest and jump into the sea. I''ll settle the rest, it''s not a big deal anyway. I can get it solved with some connections." "There''s no need for that. I''ll just brace myself and make a trip to the police station at the most!" Chen Fan waved his hand. No one likes to go into the police station, but he had no choice the previous time in order to get the money. "It''s good if you have no records. They are not seriously injured, so we''ll just admit our mistakes and compensate them with some money. We''ll be able to get out after signing our names." -------- Fifteen minutes later, the ''Princess Cruise'' ship docked at Fengzhou Pier. Two police cars and two ambulances could be seen from the window of the room. "Argh, the aftermath of acting cool!" Zhang Xueyang knocked his own forehead in frustration. "Bro Chen, let''s go to the police station ourselves, so that we can better solve things later. "Let''s go!" Chen Fan stood out with a glum face. On the deck, the men hung their heads, looking very pitiful. Fighting and beating people up over girls was nothing to be proud of. Now even the police were involved. After seeing the police on the shore, the men''s facial expressions were brilliant beyond words. Zhang Xueyang took big steps toward the front of the police car and grasped the hand of a policeman. "Police comrade, you''re finally here. We were beaten up by more than ten strong young men on the ship just now. We have been kicked numerous times all over." "Look!" Zhang Xueyang lifted up his butt and pointed at the footprint which had not been wiped clean. "It''s you?" Chen Fan''s eyes opened wide as he said in astonishment. "Why is it you again?" Xie Xiaoya''s pretty face popped out from the police car. "Ah" Wang Bing''s expression was even more exaggerated. He pointed at Xie Xiaoya, looking surprised and bewildered, "You...you''re Sis Xie?" 60 Wait A Minute "You...Who are you?" Proudly dressed in a police uniform, Xie Xiaoya sat in the car wondering. "I am Wang Bing, and I was in the same group with your brother in the army!" Wang Bing went up to Xie Xiaoya and pointed at himself. "Think about it carefully, six months ago when you and your family went to the railway station to meet Xie Ruijiang, I am the one who helped him carry his luggage!" "Wang Bing? "I heard my brother often mention this name before!" Xie Xiaoya looked at Wang Bing with her beautiful, big eyes and thought for a moment. "Are you retired too? Why didn''t you come back and meet up with my brother?" "Ah..ha, Wang Bing rolled his eyeballs and let out a laugh to hide his embarrassment. "Yeah, I just retired last week and these days I''m busy with some procedures in the armed force, so I''ve had no spare time!" "This thing will be resolved easily!" Zhang Xueyang approached Chen Fan and said with embarrassment, "Tell your driver to call his comrade to talk about the situation and I''m sure that we can leave after only having to pay for the soup." "Well, let''s just see how the situation goes first. If we are detained then we''ll let him make the call." Chen Fan looked around, and said in a low voice, "I think this policewoman is only a junior police officer, so she won''t be able to make a big difference!" "Rest assured brother Chen, if we are really detained, I''ll call my father to bail us out!" Zhang Xueyang patted Chen Fan''s shoulder and gave him reassurance. While they were talking, several medical staff members pulled out a dozen men from the ship whose eyes were black and swollen and carried them into the ambulance. "Brother.Brother Wang, can you and your friends follow me to the police station? After all, the owner of the ship made a police report." Xie Xiaoya was recording down the details in a book and asked in an unsure manner. "It is our civic duty to cooperate with the police!" Zhang Xueyang said with a cheeky smile. "We drove here, so we will follow the police cars in our cars to the station." Rights can give citizens some privileges, but they can''t change their inherent character. Because Kong Zhi and Wang Bing each drove cars totaling about seven million RMB, the stone-cold expressions of the police softened and they greeted the men with a polite smile. They became even more warm hearted than the police who visit the elderly. More than twenty minutes later, Chen Fan crossed over the gate for the second time in his life. The huge police badge on the gate flashed under the sun and shone with prestige. The police department had just arrested 30 to 40 young men who were involved in group fighting, causing the several investigation rooms to be packed like sardines. Chen Fan''s case was temporarily classified as a civil dispute, and the police who came to inquire, sent Chen Fan and the others to the office hall for interrogation without hesitation. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Teng! Teng! Teng! Halfway through the interrogation, a sudden rush of footsteps from feet wearing leather shoes was heard in the hall. After that, a man in a police uniform with two bars and two stars on his shoulders rushed into the room. Just as the crowd looked suspiciously at the man, who was about 27 or 28 years old with short hair... Pa! The man ran to Wang Bing, brought his heels together online and saluted him very formally. "Good day, Instructor." Wang Bing stood up awkwardly with his hand on his head. "Xie Ruijiang, why did you come ?" "Hi, instructor." Xie Ruijiang smiled and said, "When did you reach Zhongyun city? Why didn''t you give me a call and let me know? I only knew when my sister gave me a call from her car and said she met you when she was working on a case." Chen Fan and Zhang Xueyang looked at each other in surprise and saw the word ''shock'' in each other''s eyes. Was this guy an instructor in a military police school? "Don''t talk about it anymore," he said. "I broke Ji Ping''s three rib bones, and after waiting in a small dark room for a few days, I was expelled." "Just because Ji Ping, that b*stard, is the third strongest in the whole army, doesn''t mean that he could go bossing us around. I wanted to beat him up a long time ago, but I didn''t have the guts, so you were cool for doing so instructor! "Police officers, how could you possibly handle things this way?" After sighing, Xie Ruijiang said, "Don''t I know the character of my instructor? It must be that when he was having a meal on the boat, he saw the scoundrels molesting the waitress, so he fought for justice. How dare you bring him here without checking for the truth?" "Poof... " Xie Xiaoya who was busy recording, spat out the mouthful of tea before she was could swallow it down. "And you!" he said as he knocked her head. "You knew that he was my instructor, why didn''t you pour him a cup of tea? Go and make some tea now." "Okay" Rubbing her head, Xie Xiaoya got up from her seat reluctantly and walked towards the water dispenser. Not to mention her bad impression of Chen Fan, the ''touching story'' of them beating up people because their model had been snatched made Xie Xiaoya despise them from the bottom of her heart. "AhemAhem" Xie Ruijiang flipped through the files and said to Wang Bing, "Instructor, leave this matter to me. According to your skills, I''m sure you would have controlled yourself when beating them up. I''m sure that the gang won''t suffer major injuries. I''ll go over to the hospital later and ask them to settle it themselves." Xie Ruijiang really did as he said. After chatting with Wang Bing for a while, he said to Xie Xiaoya, "Treat my instructor nicely!" and left. When he returned to the police station more than an hour later, he already had a civil mediation report in his hands. Xie Ruijiang pointed at the results of the report and said, "Instructor, these kids were involved in illegal road racing and their records weren''t clean anyway. They rejected the medical bills immediately even when I hadn''t talked with them properly." "Brother, how can you do that? I''ll tell father this evening that you have abused your power and made matters personal." Xie Xiaoya twitched her small mouth grudgingly. "Go go, he is in the office, you can go and complain to him now." "I even took the civil mediation report from his office just now." Xie Ruijiang said in an annoying manner . "... You..." Xie Xiaoya was speechless. "By the way, sister, tell father that I won''t be home for dinner tonight." Xie Ruijiang gave a wave of his hand, rolled up his sleeves and sat next to Wang Bing. "Instructor, why don''t we... " "Your driver''s comrade is definitely somebody who is highly ranked!" Zhang Xueyang lowered down his voice and said. "The general director''s surname is also Xie, so I guess that they are related." "Who cares what his surname is. All that matters is that I can go back as soon as possible. I feel very uneasy sitting here for such a long time. After the four of them signed the report, Xie Ruijiang grabbed Wang Bing''s arm and insisted that he wanted to treat him to a meal. "Boss, why don''t I send you back first?" Wang Bing asked Chen Fan''s opinion. "It''s okay, I''m going back by cab! If you drank too much, don''t drive until you sober up the next morning." When Wang Bing and Xie Ruijiang walked away together, Zhang Xueyang came up and said, "Brother Chen, come, I''ll send you back in my car." "Okay!" Chen Fan did not reject. He followed Zhang Xueyang to his Bentley. "Brother, wait a minute!" Chen Fan had just walked for a few steps before he was chased by a middle-aged man from behind. The man was radiant and was a little bald. His hair was slicked back due to a large amount of hair gel, and he wore a black suit. He looked like a typical successful businessman . "What''s the matter?" Chen Fan turned his head and realized that he recognized the man. This man was at the police station just now, and he was sitting next to Chen Fan. It seemed like he was called by the police for a case investigation. "Haha, let me introduce myself, I am Chen Shuguang!" He handed out his name card to Chen Fan and said, "When I was doing a police record just now, I heard that you own a company specializing in maritime trade?" 61 To Vietnam "That''s right!" Chen Fan nodded. "Well" Chen Shuguang glanced at Zhang Xueyang, not knowing whether to continue or not. "Bro Chen, I''ll make a move first. Let''s catch up again soon!" How would Zhang Xueyang who grew up among businessmen not know what this guy was thinking. He just wanted Chen Fan to help him smuggle. "Umm, we''ll catch up soon!" Chen Fan waved his hand and then turned to Chen Shuguang. "Speak your mind!" "Let''s find a tea house. I feel uneasy standing in front of the police station." Chen Shuguang looked around and then pointed at a tea house a distance away. "Bro Chen, let me treat you to tea, and we can have a chat?" This guy was like Chen Fan. He felt uneasy seeing police even though he did nothing. They were probably harboring evil thoughts. "Let''s go." Chen Fan gave a faint smile and gestured for him to go first. Although this guy dressed decently, there was an air of villainy around him. At the teahouse, Chen Shuguang asked for a small private room with 60 RMB. After tea was served, he said with a treacherous smile, "Bro, which routes do you do?" "Usually just the nearby countries, unless it''s a huge business. Things become unpredictable when the journey is too long." "How about Vietnam?" Chen Shuguang quickly poured them tea. "I need to deliver some goods from there urgently, but the ship owner who I contacted has been detained by the marine police. Then, when I got invited to the police station just now, I overheard that you have a company doing maritime transportation." "Vietnam?" Chen Fan knitted his brows and gave it some thought. Vietnam was much further than Japan. He didn''t want to take it up unless the profit was really good. "How is it, bro?" Chen Shuguang stared at Chen Fan. "I''ll be honest with you. The goods are definitely illegal, but don''t treat me as an outsider. I know your company''s in this trade from hearing about it. Your company only has four people including yourself, but you have an incredible bodyguard who even the armed police lieutenant colonel addresses him as coach. I guess that you do big scale business." "Haha, it''s not that I don''t do Vietnam. If your price is right, I can even go to South Africa." Chen Fan put down his cup. "Even if the price is right, I still need to see what kind of goods you''re transporting. I don''t touch drugs. If it''s other stuff, I can still work things out if caught. But if it''s drugs, even just a little will cost me my life." "Don''t worry, bro. How could I come out from the police station alive if I traffick drugs? I would have been dead long ago." After some hesitation, Chen Shuguang said, "As you can see, my business card states that I''m in the medical drug business. On the surface it looks as though I''m selling stuff like notoginseng, angelica and white peony root, but how much can I earn from those things?" Chen Fan got interested, "Then what business do you do?" Chen Shuguang looked around before whispering, "What''s abundant in Vietnam? Mountains and forests of course. Do you know what those villages have hidden in the deep in the mountains to make money?" "What?" "You''ll get a fright after I tell you. Those people rear neither pigs nor cows, but expensive stuff such as tigers, bears and pythons." "What? Tigers, bears and pythons?" Chen Fan was stunned. "Don''t tell me you traffic wild animals?" "Haha, what would I want those live animals for?" Chen Shuguang gave a hollow laugh and squinted his eyes. "Tiger bone, tiger''s whip, bear gall, snake gall, have all been considered high-grade goods since ancient times. These wild beasts were difficult to catch in ancient times and are difficult to find in modern days." "There''s almost no one rearing tigers in our country. There are people keeping bears and pythons, but they are all caged up and fed with hormones. In the eyes of truly rich people, only the nouveaux rich will buy this stuff. The real high-grade items are produced in places like Vietnam, Bengal and Myanmar." "These?" Chen Fan rubbed his head and said after a long while, "So how much do you intend to bring over, and at what price?" Other than tiger bone wine which was harder to get, things like bear gall powder and snake gall powder wasn''t exactly rare stuff. Packaged ones were readily available at major medical stores, but the quantities were a little diluted. Although it was illegal to transport such stuff, it wouldn''t cause too much trouble. "These are all high-grade goods, weighing around 500 kilos including the packaging. The price should be a few tens of millions RMB. If you''re agreeable, we can build a long-term partnership." "I''m asking how much transportation fee you''re willing to pay me." "Transportation fee" At the mention of money, Chen Shuguang completely lost his forthrightness. After faltering for a while, he gritted his teeth and said, "Bro, since this is our first partnership, I''ll let out a bigger share. Let''s do a 90/10 split?" "90/10?" Chen Fan pointed at his own nose and said angrily, "I''m bearing the highest risk and you''re giving me only ten percent? What do you take me for?" With this, Chen Fan stood up from his chair and wanted to leave. Making this trip would earn him around 1 million RMB. Although it was almost a hundred percent safe, he still had 3 million RMB and was in no need for this 1 million as of now. "Hey, come on, we can discuss!" Chen Shuguang quickly stood up to stop Chen Fan. "Bro, let''s discuss further!" "What''s there to discuss? Vietnam is so far away. The fuel alone will cost me a few tens of thousands RMB, and there are other shipping expenses, my workers'' pay, and also money to be given to facilitate the transportation." "Then...then, let''s do 80/20!" Chen Shuguang gave a painful expression, "My ancestors were in the medical drugs business, and we have a secret recipe for making tiger bone wine. I''ll give you an additional few bottles if we work together. I''m not bragging, but even an eighty-year-old man will regain his vitality once he drinks my wine. I saw that you landed yourself up in the police station because of fighting over girls, so I guess you have great interest in this area and you definitely won''t wanna miss this great stuff." "Really, so amazing!" Whenever Chen Fan watched western movies, he couldn''t help but compare sizes. The result was demoralizing every single time. As time went by, this cast a cloud over him. It was only occasionally in Japanese movies that he was able to find back his dignity as a man. "Heh heh" Chen Shuguang gave a "you understood me" expression and then gave a sinister smile. "So how, bro? 80/20?" "I don''t want a 80/20 split. What if you get something that''s only worth 10 RMB? Wouldn''t I just get 2 RMB? Chen Fan sat down and refilled his own cup. After taking a sip, he said, "One price! 3 million RMB, take it or leave it." "Th-three million" Chen Shuguang thought about it for a long while before making up his mind. "Three million RMB it shall be, but I have to do the unloading personally." "You?" Chen Fan curled his lip. "If I really wanna take your things, it''ll be useless even if a hundred people like you come. Don''t you know the rules of my trade? We''ll take full responsibility if anything happens, but our whereabouts have to be confidential, otherwise if you''re caught, wouldn''t our livelihood be gone too?" "Well...well" Chen Shuguang scratched his head hard. "My goods are worth more than ten million RMB, don''t you have to give me some form of guarantee? After all, this is our first time working together." "Guarantee? Go find Ma Rongtao and ask about me, Chen Fan. You know the guy who drove the Bentley just now? He''s also a significant figure in Zhongyun. I''ve worked with them many times. Is this enough guarantee? Moreover, you think I''m really keen to take up this deal? Usually I wouldn''t be bothered unless it''s a referral from close friends." Chen Fan gave an ambiguous laugh. "You do make sense. A cheater won''t be driving a BMW and bringing an incredible bodyguard. You don''t look like you set up a trap for me, since I''m the one who initiated." Chen Shuguang gave it a thought before saying, "How about I don''t pay you any deposit? I''ll pay after the goods arrive?" "Sure, I''ll also give in a little for our first partnership! But I have a few rules. We tie the goods to the bottom of the ship like submarines during the transportation. You have to seal the goods tightly, otherwise they''ll be soaked with seawater by the time they reach Zhongyun. Also, during the delivery you have to deposit the goods at the location I specified at night and your guys have to leave after that. It''s not easy to get someone out after being caught in other countries, so my subordinates are more rash. They will open fire if there''s anything not right." "So fierce! No wonder you need a bodyguard." Chen Shuguang gave a fearful look before saying, "I have no issues with all this. I''ll personally go to Vietnam to settle this, and then take the plane back the next day. How long do you guys need to reach there?" "Vietnam...about ten days for both ways! Take down my mobile number." Chen Fan said out a string of numbers. After the two discussed some other details, they went separate ways. Chen Fan hailed a cab at the entrance of the tea house to Sports Road and bought another high water-resistant GPS. He got it fully charged after getting home, and set it to Vietnam''s Thanh Thuy District in Quang Ngai Province. When the sky turned dark, he found a deserted beach and secretly placed the GPS on the electric eel''s front claw. "Argh, my world''s gonna be turned upside down again!" Back in his bedroom, Chen Fan exclaimed as he shifted his thoughts onto the electric eel once again. 62 High-Pressure Water Gun The electric eel, which was now fifty meters long, had a faster swimming speed and was also able to produce a slightly higher voltage. Besides stimulating the pituitary gland every morning, Chen Fan also had a routine where he used some spare time before sleep for training the eel to swim faster. If he didn''t do so, wouldn''t it be exhausted to death if it needed to swim to the North pole or South pole someday? Chen Fan also put in quite a lot effort in finding a hiding place for the electric eel. Its usual hiding place was on a muddy seabed at a water depth of 100 meters where he used the electric eel''s claws to dig a large hole with a diameter of 70 meters to 80 meters. Swimming out of the soft, muddy seabed into the diving area, Chen Fan glanced at the GPS that restored its signal, turned direction and swam towards Vietnam. According to the static pressure formula, one atmospheric pressure was equivalent to 10.03 meters water depth. In other words, for every 10 meters of increase in water depth, about one atmospheric pressure was increased. An ordinary plastic lighter can withstand about five atmospheric pressure, so a reinforced water-resistant GPS would easily be able to withstand the atmospheric pressure of more than a dozen atmospheres. Going to Vietnam was not far but it wasn''t near either. The closest part of Vietnam is just at the country''s borders whereas the furthest part is equivalent to going across the whole country. The distance from Zhongyun city to Vietnam is about a few hundred nautical miles which is slightly further than the distance to Japan. With the electric eel''s current speed, it would take about three days including the time to stop and rest. Out of Zhongyun city, Chen Fan''s electric eel avatar swam straight towards the south, and it was ready to cross the straits of Taiwan, passing by Macau, Hong Kong, and eventually reach Vietnam. After swimming non-stop for the whole night, the electric eel avatar reached the waters of Ningde in Fujian province at eight o ''clock the next morning. After finding a secluded coral reef to hide in, Chen Fan faced some problems. The average water depth of the straits of Taiwan was more than 80 meters and had a width of more than 100 kilometers. However, this area had a monitoring system that was more rare than any in the whole world. This was the seafloor sonar detection system that prevented submarines from any country to pass by. (The deeper the submarine, the more undetectable it would be, but the average water depth here was only a little more than 80 meters!) After thinking for a long time, Chen Fan decided to swim around this area when it got dark. Although the passive sonar system could not detect the electric eel, if someone initiated the active sonar system, the body of the electric eel, which was about 50 meters long, would be considered a small submarine! After stopping his control on the electric eel avatar, Chen Fan got up to the living room and found out that Wang Bing had come back secretly without being noticed, and he was lying on the sofa sleeping soundly. "Let''s see who can sleep longer." Chen Fan muttered, went to the kitchen to make something to eat went back to sleep. When he woke up in the afternoon, Chen Fan told Wang Bing, "I will be in my room for the next two days so that I can reach level 50 in the game. There''s nothing to do anyway, so I''ll just let you have a few days off!" Wang Bing was in ecstasy right after he heard this. After shouting, "Boss, you''re the best", he threw the car keys aside and dashed out of the door. Although he was already quite far away, Chen Fan could still hear him whispering, "My God, I finally have the chance to go to ''Victoria''!" When Chen Fan shifted his consciousness back to the electric eel avatar once again, he filled the belly of the electric eel, swam around the straits of Taiwan and swam towards Paracel Islands from the top part of Philippines. It took him a day and a half to reach Paracel Islands, and Chen Fan searched for miles around the ocean floor, but he couldn''t find a suitable hiding place. After hesitating for a moment, he controlled the electric eel to just lie on the sandy seabed. Even without using the electromagnetic induction to sense his surroundings, Chen Fan was not afraid, because as far as he was concerned, there was nothing in the ocean that had a length of more than 50 meters. The largest recorded world record was the 33.5 meter long blue whale. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = In the vast South China seas, the southernmost Paracel islands were close to Vietnam''s Zhongjian island. A third year, primary school, Chinese textbook had such a sentence written on it to describe how exquisite the Paracel islands are: ''There are so many different kinds of fish in the waters of Paracel islands. It''s true when people say that Paracel''s sea is comprised of half water and half fish.'' The natural tropical fishing grounds not only attracted many fishermen, but also numerous ''bandits'' from the neighboring countries. A blue painted, Hainan 1765 fishing boat that had a pair of thick nylon ropes tied behind it was dragging along a 20 meter long boat. Its diesel engine sizzled as it moved several miles per hour. "Brother Wang, judging by the efficiency of this diesel engine, we could catch at least a few tons of fish!" Sitting on a small stool, a young man who wore a shirt that had ''Bai Xiang instant noodles'' printed on it, spoke in a Hainanese dialect. "Yeah, if it wasn''t for the small size of the boat, we would be able to earn a minimum of tens of thousands RMB." The man who was known as brother Wang puffed out some smoke and replied while gripping the ship''s steering wheel without turning around. "If we save up enough money in two years time, we can upgrade to a bigger boat, and we''ll be able to live a wealthy life for a few months!" "Stop daydreaming. Retrieve the net and see if we can catch another net of fish before the sky gets dark." Brother Wang turned off the diesel engine, and wiped his sweat with the towel that hung around his neck. "Brother Wang, look at that boat!" The young man pointed to a new, blue colored fishing boat which was 180 meters long with white cabins. "We''ll buy that boat when we have enough money. With that boat, we could easily make a fortune!" said the young man. "Bullshit, that boat would cost us millions. Even if you sell off your wife and son, you couldn''t afford it. "Brother Chen replied cold-heartedly, "Get yourself to work as I can''t wait to watch my TV show in the evening." "Ok." The young man shouted and went to the back deck. With him and brother Chen on each side, they turned the gear to retrieve the fishing net. "Brother Chen, if our ship was that big, wouldn''t we be busy pulling up the net for the whole day?" "That is a machine net which is 40 meters wide and 80 meters long. Casting it out and pulling it back is all automated by machines, and if they''re lucky, it could pull up 20 to 30 tons of fish, not like ours," said Brother Wang sadly as he looked at the fishing boat that was getting closer and closer. Suddenly, brother Wang looked at the fishing boat and his eyes widened. He let go of the steering quickly and started rubbing his eyes. Brother Wang jerked up and said, "Damn. That is a Vietnamese boat, not ours." "Vietnamese boat?" Upon hearing this, the young man let go of the gear and looked at the ship in amazement. There were not only Vietnamese words printed on the ship but also many Vietnamese flags. "Sh*t, it''s really the f**king Vietnamese. This group of scoundrels is really braver day by day, they even have the guts to catch fish in our Zhongjian island!" "Brother Wang, they''re coming toward our direction" The young man froze. "Are they planning to crash into us?" "They wouldn''t dare to do so. I''m going to see what these bast*rds are trying to do. Go into the cabin and get the harpoon. If something bad happens, we''re going to have a fight with them!" "Okay. " The young man responded and ran into the cabin. Two minutes later, the boat that was still dragging the long net, blew its whistle and stopped right in front of theirs. Seven to eight ugly Vietnamese guys were standing on the edge of the boat. "You... Guys, get out of here..." A man on the boat who appeared to be their captain said a bunch of tongue twisters in Mandarin. "What did he just say?" They both looked at each in confusion. "I think he was telling us to go away" The young man rubbed his ears and said, "Looks like.seems so. " "Damn you, it''s you who should leave!" Brother Wang was furious. He lifted his foot, grabbed his slipper and threw it at the people on the ship. "$%@*%&..." The men on board were instantly in a rage. After disappearing for more than a dozen seconds, they took out a few high pressured water guns, positioned them on the edge of the boat and sprayed the two of them with water. "F**k!" the feeling of being sprayed by water under high pressure on their whole body was indescribable. The two of them were soaked instantly and ran quickly towards the cabin and shut the hatch with a loud ''bang''. Was there was an unwritten law that said when two ships collide they must fight each other with high-pressure water guns? "Hahaha..." the Vietnamese men on board laughed hysterically. The young man wiped the water off his face and said, "What should we do now, brother Wang? We don''t have water guns on board. " It is not every day that fishermen of these two countries had a disagreement. When they collide near the Paracel islands, one of them should give way. "F**k them, let''s go!" Brother Wang took off his soaking wet clothes and went to the rudder. "Damn them. Big brother Zhou''s boat is going to sail out to sea in a few days. Since their boat is so big, those bast*rds won''t be able to leave this area in a short time, so we''ll call big brother Zhou to fight them off. "Big brother Zhou? The young man''s eyes lit up. "He has a tugboat that weighs more than 4000 tons!" 63 Unforgivable "Haha, they dare to fight with us with that lousy boat! Haha!" The man standing in the middle of the deck laughed, showing all the yellow teeth in his mouth. He was 1.6 meters tall with abstract facial features. "Haha! This one-week old boat is just amazing. The high-pressure hydraulic pump is as powerful as a cannon. With this boat, now we can fight it out with the fisheries administration ship if we see it again!" The ugly-looking men whose average height was no more than 1.65 meters were all full of themselves. "Alright, alright. The fly has been chased away, and we can cast the net in peace now." Reeking of a fishy smell, the captain went toward the control room. "The fishes are fattening up during this period. Let''s cast a few more nets and fetch a good price when we get back." "Brothers, let''s get to work!" the vice-captain shouted and then ran toward the mechanical winch. Thump! The vice-captain seemed to have poor eyesight. The high-pressure hydraulic pump had made half the deck wet, and he slipped and fell when he stepped on it! This eighty-meter long tugboat was operated by using a long machine net which caught the fish in the deep sea. The two steel cables, which were as thick as arms, pulled the fish net, which by itself weighed a few tons. It looked like a deep sea monster that would swallow any living creature that appeared in front of it. "Vice-captain, the fishes in the Paracel Islands are really in abundance. Just one net here is more than what we can catch with ten nets back home," said the twenty-five-year-old man beside the winch, as he looked at the fish net with yearning eyes. "This is the reason we make our way here to the Paracel Islands so brazenly! What we have back home is just a filthy drain!" The vice-captain spat out his stinking saliva and continued, "It''s a compliment to call it a filthy drain. At least there are countless numbers of maggots in a filthy drain." Just as the two men digressed from the topic of the sea to women''s breasts, they suddenly heard a droning sound. The two steel cables were shaking violently as if bitten by a monster, making swishing sounds in the surrounding air. "Ahh! Did we hit some rock?" The whole fishing boat was shaking from the intense pulling force and everyone on it looked terrified. Could this ship which cost over 15 million RMB be so unfortunate as to be damaged on its virgin trip? "No, no..." The man beside the vice-captain shouted, "Vice-captain, look, we''ve caught something big!" "Oh my goodness!!" The vice-captain opened his eyes big. "We''re really in luck this time, this thing definitely weighs dozens of tons!" The steel cables shook violently, letting out nerve-wracking grinding sounds at its connecting points with the hull! "Quick, start the winch!" The vice-captain hit the man who was still in a daze before pressing the button frantically. The big thing that had been caught by the fishermen''s net was none other than Chen Fan''s electric eel avatar. As it had a GPS placed on its front claws, Chen Fan did not have the eel release its current in order to sense its surroundings while he was asleep, thus leading to this tragedy. "Damn, what happened?" Chen Fan was awakened by a strong sense of being restrained, which conveyed to him clearly that the eel was in danger! Chen Fan immediately shifted his thoughts onto the eel, and he saw that the eel''s body was entwined by a mess of fish net. The fish net was tightening fast and pulling the eel upward. "Ah!" Chen Fan''s hair stood up at once and the shocking scene in front of him made him fully awake. After being in shock for half a second, Chen Fan roared as he used the eel''s four claws to hold on to the tightening net and then pull outward. The nylon net now had four three-meter long holes, but it was still not enough for the electric eel to escape. Seeing that the seabed was getting further away, Chen Fan roared again and then used the two front claws to pull at one of the holes. After biting and pulling at it for less than a second, the three-meter long hole split open in all directions. The eel swang its tail wildly and slipped out from the broken net! Chen Fan controlled the eel to swim away, only stopping after it was around three hundred meters away. He looked at the fast rising fish net with lingering fear. "Unforgivable! This is unforgivable!" Chen Fan exploded with rage. If he had been slower, would the eel have been mistaken for a whale and been pulled away? After calming down, Chen Fan moved the eel forward to take a look at who was so bold as to disturb its sleep. A tugboat, an eighty-meter long, huge tugboat! -------- "Oh my god, what exactly did we catch?" The captain pursed his lips and stared at the fish net in disbelief. This was a high tenacity net that cost a few million RMB; even a humpback whale could be caught by it without any difficulty. But look at what happened. The fish net which had been praised to the skies by its seller was now covered in blood and telling the people present that they had been conned. "Was it a giant squid?" The vice-captain came over and pointed to the net. "A whale is not able to do this. They only have teeth and it''s impossible to bite four big holes in such a short time." "I don''t care what it was. I only know that the net is now broken and we can''t catch any more fishes." The captain''s already abstract facial features looked even more horrifying when he was angry and were worse than a demon from hell. "Go get threads to mend the net now. I want to see an undamaged fish net before the sky turns dark. Otherwise, you''ll jump down and catch the fishes with your hands!" With this, the captain went into the cabin without turning his head. "Vietnamese monkeys, it''s the vietnamese monkeys." From a distance away, Chen Fan saw that the ship had a Vietnam logo on it and also flew a flag of Vietnam. At that moment, anger rose in his head like a hydrogen bomb. As a young nationalist, nothing else could make him more furious than this. Not only had they come to the Paracel Islands to fish, but they had even almost exposed the identity of his eel avatar! "I''ll make sure that you sink!" Chen Fan gritted his teeth and then controlled the eel to swim quietly toward the bottom of the tugboat. However, Chen Fan was immediately dumbstruck when he reached the bottom! Although the engine had stopped, the anchor was hanging high on the bow and there was no way Chen Fan could get it to smash its bottom. Moreover, from the looks of it, it was not intending to stay there and would definitely go around after mending the net. Stones? Claws? Teeth? Different methods flashed through Chen Fan''s mind, but they were all overruled. Although the outer shell of civilian ships were not strong, they couldn''t be smashed with stones either! -------- Ten minutes later, Chen Fan shifted his thoughts back to his own body temporarily before making a call to Zhang Xueyang. "Hello, Bro Zhang? Can your factory help me custom-make a three-ton meteor hammer?" 64 Heavy Duty Meteor Hammer "A meteor hammer that weighs three tons?" On the other end of the phone, Zhang Xueyang''s tone was exaggerated. "Brother Chen, what do you want that thing for?" "Of course I have my reasons. One of my ship''s anchors was lost, and I felt that replacing it with a meteor hammer would look cool. You see, other ships all have the same anchors that look like sickles, but if my ship got a meteor hammer anchor..." "Damn, what a nasty idea, but I like it a lot!" There are only some young people in the world who take things seriously because taking matters lightly is the nature of most. When Zhang Xueyang heard that Chen Fan wanted to use a meteor hammer as an anchor, he was immediately in high spirits. "Brother Chen, it''s actually very easy to make a meteor hammer that weighs three tons. In fact, my dad''s company has an electric arc furnace that is specially used in casting. Three tons of molten iron can be produced by smelting and if you don''t need it to be of high quality, I could get it done in a day." "Just the normal one will do as it''s not used in machine bearings. By the way, you don''t have to cast an iron handle but just use an iron chain, like a necklace, about 20 meters thick...about as thick as an arm." "This is very simple! I will go over to the factory now and ask the workers to make the mold and start casting. I''m sure it would be done soon." "Okay, give me an estimated price and when it is ready, just load it directly into the car and I''ll ask Wang Bing to collect it." "Isn''t this a little offensive? I owe you a great debt for helping me and I still don''t know how to repay you. If I am collecting your money for just a few tons of molten iron, that would make me, Zhang Xueyang, a person who doesn''t have the sense of justice!" "Haha, okay then, we''ll connect again over the phone tomorrow!" Chen Fan was too lazy to treat him formally. Chen Fan liked to be proper with women, but he did not have that same tendency with men. When the goods were ready he will ask Wang Bing to pay him 20,000 RMB. Hanging up the phone, Chen Fan shifted his consciousness to the electric eel and continued to follow the Vietnamese fishing boat. ............ The efficiency of a specialized factory was very high. At more than eight o''clock in the evening when Chen Fan was surveilling the fishing boat that was trawling overnight, Zhang Xueyang called him and said that the meteor hammer was done and it was just then being quenched in salt water. As soon as Chen Fan heard this, he hurriedly called Wang Bing, who was still having a great time and asked him to pay 20,000 RMB for the goods from his own money. Then, he asked Wang Bing to drive overnight on the coast highway to Hainan province. The distance from Zhongyun city to Sanya, Hainan is about 2000 kilometers. Wang Bing drove a NAVECO truck at a speed of 110 kilometers per hour managed to reach Sanya city in 20 hours. Upon reaching Sanya city, Wang Bing did not even bother to sleep. After buying something to eat, he rented a motorboat from Yulin harbor and sailed at top speed to Paracel islands with the meteor hammer that weighed three tons on board. After five to six hours at sea, Wang Bing finally arrived at Zhongjian island at about seven o''clock in the evening. "Hello, boss? I''m at the Zhongjian island that you mentioned, but why don''t I see any big ships around here?" "Oh" Chen Fan gave a long yawn, and said with sleepy eyes, "Just throw it into the sea!" "What? Boss, you can''t be serious! I haven''t slept for more than a day and all you are asking me to do now is to just throw this weird ''anchor'' into the sea?" "What are you fussing about? Just do as I say. When you get back to the Zhongyun city, come and get twenty... two.... Erm... " Chen Fan hesitated and said, "...10,000 RMB as your reward." "Hehe...okay then." Wang Bing scratched his head with a smile and thought. I''m only asked to throw an iron ball, not a female corpse! As long he was being paid, why should he care so much? The moment he hung up the phone, he went to the side of the deck and picked up the four meters long solid iron bar. Then, he used the lever principle to push the meteor hammer into the water. Plump! After a big splash, Wang Bing was soaking wet. "Damn, this really wakes me up!" Spitting out some sea water, Wang Bing sailed away without looking back. ......... Ten minutes later, Chen Fan who was hiding nearby, controlled the electric eel avatar to swim over. All he saw was a meteor hammer that was the size of a water tank that had a lot of black spikes attached to its surface. It was connected to a pair of thick, long, iron chains that were ten meters long and were lying on the sandy seabed. "Haha I''m about to send this group of rascals to heaven!" Looking at the giant meteor hammer, Chen Fan''s heart was filled with excitement! Since the last time Chen Fan smashed up Wei Qing''s gambling ship with an anchor, he had been very excited for a long time. He liked the feeling of metals smashing against each other, not to mention that he will be using a specialized weapon this time. The targeted ship was also more prestigious than the previous one, plus, it was definitely much more fun smashing up a foreigner''s ship than smashing up a local ship, right? After letting out a few bubbles filled with hydrogen gas, Chen Fan controlled the electric eel to pick up the meteor hammer that was lying on the seabed with its front claws and immediately swam towards the south. He had been surveilling the fishing boat for nearly two days, so Chen Fan was quite sure that if he didn''t smash up the boat, his blood vessels would explode due to his uneasiness. After swimming towards the fishing ship, which a distance of more than 1000 meters south, Chen Fan examined the meteor hammer and scrutinized the ship to find a place to start! After swimming around at the bottom of the ship, Chen fan decided to target the tail of the fishing ship. He planned to crack open the iron sheet and after the water had filled up the engine room, Chen Fan could just smash wherever he liked. Smashing up an iron diesel tank with a strong swing of the meteor hammer that weighed three kilograms was not a problem at all for a grown-up man, but what if it was a 50 meters long electric eel that was a little shorter than the ship that swung the meteor hammer that weighed about three tons? Aiming at the targeted spot, Chen Fan controlled the electric eel to wrap its thick claws twice around the iron chains, positioned it under the ship and started to swing its tail and spin its body around. One round, two rounds, three, four... The head of the meteor hammer that weighed three tons slowly built up its terrifying speed that was precisely in accordance with Newton''s first law which was also known as the law of inertia. When Chen Fan started to feel dizzy after so many spins, he controlled the electric eel to release its grip. Boom! Chen Fan felt like as though someone had put firecrackers next to the electric eel''s ear as the 80 meters long fishing boat shook violently. It was as though it was hit by a very strong man-made explosive that caused a great shaking sound. Heaving greatly, the electric eel''s front claws gripped the iron chain tightly and pulled it out. Screech! Screech! The screeching sound that was heard from the damaged area of the boat was even higher pitched than the sound of a train slamming on the tracks. The captain who was having a smoke in the operating room was being pressed against the ceiling and fell right back onto the metal floor with a bang. "Ouch, f**k... What is going on..." The captain who was clutching his buttocks rolled on the floor and cried out. His cries were even worse than a pig being slaughtered. Ring... ring..... Security alarms went off, letting out a loud siren sound while a red light flashed on the screen of the control room that indicated the position of the diesel engine room. "Captain...Captain, are we being torpedoed?" The co-captain dashed into the control room and hugged the captain that was lying on the ground. Both of them shook violently. Boom... Within twenty seconds, another tremendous sound was heard and the screen in the control room that indicated the central part of the ship turned red. "Ah..." The two men in the control room, climbed out of the hatch in tears, grabbed the lifebuoy that hung on the wall outside and put it over their necks immediately. ... Boom... Boom... Boom... Within two minutes, the screen that indicated the entire bottom part of the boat turned red, blinked on and off for five seconds and displayed a static image. "Help me..." "I don''t want to die..." "Oh my god, we''re dying..." The seven or eight men who gathered on the deck fell on their knees and cried in despair. There were four big holes at the bottom of the ship, and each of them had a diameter of at least two or three meters. Rumble.Rumble..Rumble. This ship that was 180 meters long was sinking at an alarming rate. The seven or eight people jumped into the sea in despair. Because they sailed for so many years, they knew that if they jumped into the sea after the ship had sunk completely, it would be useless. Even if they had ten lifebuoys, they would be sucked into the whirlpool alive. "This is just so cool!" Chen Fan who was hiding nearby couldn''t get more excited while looking at the ''monkeys'' in the water. There were two completely different feelings after smashing up your country''s ship and a foreign one. He felt as if he was being swept by a wave of guiltiness for smashing up his country''s ship, but now he was even more ecstatic than the first time he watched a porn video. Looking at the men that were struggling in the sea, Chen Fan tried to refrain himself from biting them to death. Instead, he swam to a seabed that was a few nautical miles away and slept on top of the meteor hammer. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = "Mr. Wang, where is the Vietnamese boat that you mentioned? I have scanned it on radar in the control room for half a day, but there were no signs of a big ship in the vicinity of 15 nautical miles." "This area has the largest number of fish in the entire Paracel islands, so by right, the Vietnamese monkeys would not go too far." On a large trawler ship that was over 150 meters in length, Mr. Wang, who was attacked the day before by the Vietnamese water guns, was standing on the deck next to a rich man who was about 30 years old. "Ah" "Brother Zhou, look, there seems to be someone in the water!" "Eh, it seems so!" The rich man looked toward that direction, grabbed his intercom and said, "Liu, steer the rudder left by 20 degrees immediately. It looks like someone had fallen overboard." "... Ah..." After some rustling noises at the other end of the intercom and after a few breaths, the large fishing boat began to move slowly to the left. The ten sailors who were on the deck started to get busy as they bustled around to look for ropes and ladders. "Help me... " "fhkjkl%&#@... " "Save..me. " The people on the deck could hear cries being shouted at the top of their voices. "Damn, they''re speaking in Vietnamese!" The rich man had a different expression suddenly and he listened carefully for a moment. Then, he burst into laughter. "It''s the Vietnamese rascals, it''s the Vietnamese ''monkeys''!" "Everybody, the Vietnamese ''monkeys'' are drowning!" The man shouted at the top of his voice and pointed at them. "Come and see the ''monkeys'' playing in the water!" "Brother Zhou, I know these guys. They are the ''monkeys'' that I told you about who shot us with water guns!" The guy who was shot by the water guns last time had a wonderful expression on his face. "Where is their ship? I remember that the ship had a brand new coat of paint, which means it was a new boat or it was just being repaired. If that''s the case, why don''t I see it now?" "Haha haha It must be because these ''monkeys'' do not have a map of the area, so their ship knocked into a coral reef!" The rich man burst into a series of laughter. "This is great brothers, hurry up shoot them with our water guns!" As soon he finished his sentence, he reached for his waistband. 65 What to Do? Chen Fan was exhausted after not resting for almost two days. After overturning the tugboat, Chen Fan couldn''t even care for the electric eel''s safety and slept all the way until 4PM the next day. After filling his stomach, Chen Fan shifted his thoughts onto the electric eel. He felt frustrated looking at the GPS on the front claws! This incident of being caught by the fish net had triggered off an alarm for Chen Fan. What should he do if something like this happened again? There''s plenty of ships in the sea. Other than hiding in the deep seas, there was no sense of security at all sleeping at the shoals. Moreover, the GPS had too many restrictions, and hence disadvantageous to future journeys! Chen Fan couldn''t come up with anything constructive after pondering over it for a long while. He let out a sigh and said, "Forget it, I''ll think about this after transporting these goods back!" Then, he controlled the eel to touch the GPS sensor with its tongue and brought the screen back to its functioning mode. Triton Island is about 170 nautical miles from the Thanh Thuy District of Quang Ngai Province in Vietnam. It would take Chen Fan around three hours with his current speed. After carefully hanging the extra large meteor hammer around the eel''s neck and avoiding the ships, the eel avatar finally reached the beach which he had agreed on with Chen Shuguang at 7PM. Chen Fan made a call to the guy and arranged to meet at 10PM. After that, he shifted his thoughts back to his own body temporarily and then switched on the computer to kill the next few hours. At 10PM sharp, Chen Fan''s phone rang. The guy said that the waterproofed goods had been thrown into the sea and Chen Fan could go get them. "Quickly leave with your boat then, I''m not gonna be responsible for any lives lost!" Chen Fan hung up after threatening. The guy was indeed timid, escaping in his boat just when Chen Fan''s thoughts shifted back onto the eel. After observing the surroundings, the eel swam to the side of the goods and then grabbed the rope from the bottom. Tiger bones and bear galls were considered lightweight, high-class goods, and the three-by-two meter package was only over 500 kilos which was even lighter than the metal chain on the eel''s neck. After returning a call to Chen Shuguang to inform him that he had already received the goods, Chen Fan controlled the eel to grab the tightly sealed goods and then quickly swam toward Zhongyun using his brain to sense the location of his own body. After three days of swimming, the fatigued electric eel finally reached Zhongyun with a heavyweight meteor hammer and all kinds of high grade Chinese medicines. Chen Fan had a good sleep before calling the guy again to arrange for a delivery place. "Bro, you''re really something. No wonder you''re doing so well at such a young age." Chen Shuguang was standing beside the beach with a locked briefcase in his hand and was looking excitedly at the huge gray parcel in the water. "Haha, Boss Chen you''re not too bad either!" Chen Fan let out a laugh. "Ten million RMB worth of goods is definitely not a small amount." "You''re too kind with your words!" Chen Shuguang opened the briefcase happily and pointed at the stacks of brand-new 100 RMB notes. "Three million RMB, not a cent less. Bro Chen, I''ve a bill counting machine in the car, shall we go over and do a count?" "Sure!" This guy had an air of villainy all over him and Chen Fan had no reason to believe his words. When they reached the front of the small JAC truck, Chen Shuguang took out a bill counting machine used in banks, plugged in the battery and then gestured to Chen Fan to do the counting. Chen Fan leaned to his side and said to Wang Bing who was behind him, "Go!" Wang Bing spat on his palms and gave them a rub before putting the stacks of notes into the counting machine. "Bro," Chen Shuguang smiled cunningly. "Come over here. I''ve got good stuff for you!" "What is it?" Chen Fan walked over, still clueless. "Look, what''s this?" Chen Shuguang took out two bottles with "Hennessy XO" label from under the seat and pointed at the thick black liquid inside. "This is made from matured tiger whip, together with ginseng, and other expensive stuff, using a secret recipe. Not that I wanna brag, but if you drink two small cups before you-know-what, I guarantee" Chen Shuguang did not continue but raised his thumb and gestured to Chen Fan! "Heh heh! Heh heh!" The two suddenly let out a series of chilling sinister laughter. If there had been a girl standing there, she would probably be violated immediately. Their laughter was filled with aggressiveness and ravage! "Boss, I''ve counted. It''s 3 million RMB exact!" Wang Bing passed the briefcase to Chen Fan just as the two men were discussing their topic of interest. "Umm." With the wine bottles in his left hand and the briefcase in his right, Chen Fan said, "Boss Chen, I''ll make a move first?" "Sure, let''s work together again soon!" Chen Shuguang waved happily. On their way home after depositing the money in the bank, Wang Bing asked as he stared at the wine Chen Fan was holding. "Boss, is that hallucinogenic drugs you''re holding? The two of you were laughing so deviously just now that my hair was standing!" "What do you know?" Chen Fan pursed his lips and slammed the car door. After keeping the two bottles properly, Chen Fan laid on his bed and started to feel frustrated. The incident that happened a few days ago had been on his mind. If not settled, the GPS issue would be a big problem and might even affect his future business. With a GPS, other than being unable to release current when he was sleeping, the battery life of the GPS was also a big issue. It could only last for a week without charging, and he couldn''t possibly use the electric current produced by the electric eel to charge it when the battery is flat! And even if this method works, six hours of charging time would probably make Chen Fan so impatient that he would want to swallow it down. But without a GPS, it would be no different from being blind. Like most animals and even better than them, the electric eel can sense the magnetic fields of the north and south poles to tell directions. However, this ability was not able to help Chen Fan get to his destinations accurately. After all, there was no indication of places like Hong Kong, Macau, Fujian, Zhongyun, etc on the magnetosphere. "GPS, GP" Chen Fan pulled his hair as he thought hard on his bed. "GPS!" Suddenly, these three letters gave Chen Fan a new idea. It was unrealistic to keep harping on GPS. There can''t be high water pressure or voltage, and its battery life was short. All these restricted its ability to continue as a pathfinder. What inspired Chen Fan was the GPS''s unique localization function! 66 A Giant Wrist Protector The modern GPS is a satellite-based navigation system that is made up of twenty-four satellites where twenty-one of them are active satellites in orbit and the remaining three satellites are for backup. Due to the continuous transmission of electromagnetic signals from the satellites to earth, the current position of a person can be determined by a theodolite. Signals from any three satellites in the satellite constellation are received by GPS receivers. After the GPS receivers receive the information and trilateration, the receivers will accurately be able to display a user''s position, electronically, according to the electronic map that is stored inside it. It was this "map" that opened up a new door for Chen Fan. Most of us have a world map in our homes which depicts the capital, topography and the latitude of each country. What if you used the laser engraving technology to carve a world map on a piece of metallic material? According to the laser engraving technology nowadays, carving out a world map on the spherical surface of a ping-pong size ball is totally possible. Plus, with the aid of a magnifying glass, you can even see the names of a country''s capital carved on it clearly. With the map, all that is left to be done is to locate one''s current position. North, south, east and west could be calculated easily. As long as Chen Fan didn''t lose his sense of direction, he would be able to locate the electric eel''s position according to the electromagnetic induction transmitted out from the electric eel''s body or the magnetic induction of the earth''s north pole. By obtaining the directions, all that would be left to do would be to figure out the coordinates of his current location so that he would know where his position would be on the map. As the name implied, coordinates meant longitude and latitude. The vertical line was the longitude, whereas the horizontal line was the latitude. On the globe, the graticule is represented by longitudinal and latitudinal lines that are distributed 360 degrees around the globe. If the graticule is unfolded to become a flat plane, one''s current location can be calculated by the geographical coordinate system if either the longitude or latitude is known. After thinking for a long time, Chen Fan figured out a method to calculate. First, one hour of time difference corresponded to 15 degrees of longitude as there was a total of 360 degrees! For example, suppose the time in Zhongyun city was 5 pm. So, if the longitude was shifted 15 degrees to the west, the time there would be 4 pm, and another 15 degrees more to the west would cause the time to be 3 pm and vice versa if you shift it to the east. That being the case, Chen Fan could use the electric eel to estimate the local time by observing the sunrise or tide times by the electric eel. After locating his current position on the map, he could estimate the electric eel''s location by comparing the difference in the two time zones. Then, based on the electric eel''s ability to induce the distance between his own body, the body of the electric eel and the distance between the north and south poles, he would be able to estimate the latitude and longitude of the electric eel. Chen Fan didn''t care much about the precision. It was acceptable to him as long the deviation was not too significant as this was not the missile ''beheading'' operation carried out by the United States that required a high degree accuracy within meters. It was still manageable for him as long the difference was not more than 20 or 30 kilometers. If he was not sure, he could use the Google satellite map to figure out the electric eel''s surroundings. After thinking carefully for a long time and browsing the Internet for a lot of information, Chen Fan thought that this method was feasible. After downloading the latest version of a world map that was in HD quality which depicted all the longitudes and latitudes, he called to Zhang Xueyang to ask if his factory had the laser engraving technology. Zhang Xueyang told him that his factory was involved in mold making and parts processing, so the laser cutting machine that was used to engrave the serial number on parts had only a low precision. Furthermore, his factory did not have a carving machine, but he introduced Chen Fan to another factory that specialized in doing this. The factory that was located on Zhongjiang north road was one of the best factories in the whole laser engraving industry. After knowing about this, Chen Fan thought for a moment and decided to drive himself there to prevent Wang Bing from asking him questions. After asking Wang Bing to look after the house, Chen Fan took a USB disk, car keys and left. By observing the way Wang Bing drove, plus his experience in driving around for a few times under the guidance of Wang Bing, Chen Fan believed that he should not face any problems as long he drove slowly. As for the police finding out that he didn''t have a driver''s license, Chen Fan was quite sure that he didn''t have such bad luck. Automatic cars were very easy to drive, not like manual cars. Learners often faced stalling problems because they don''t know the proper way of shifting gears. As a result, they often experienced the thrill of riding a bumper car every time they shifted between gears after stepping on the gas pedal. The factory that was located at Zhongjiang north road was known as ''Yuanxiang Craft Products'' and according to Zhang Xueyang, the quality of its products was very high with almost no errors in production. After a slow drive to the factory, Chen Fan was satisfied with the structure of a few buildings in the factory after he got out of the car and glanced at it. "Boss, do you have anything that you want to make?" As soon as he stepped through the entrance, the chubby looking boss of the factory who was sitting next to the computer jumped up and greeted Chen Fan warmly after seeing the black BMW that was parked in front of the entrance. "Do you provide services that involve laser engraving on metal?" Chen Fan looked at the machines in the room and said, "The harder the metal, the better. Money is not a problem." "Of course!" The fat boss smiled and took out a metal board that was more than 50 centimeters long from a shelf behind him and tapped it with his fingers. "We have a specialized high carbon ferrochrome alloy metal that is generally used in car parts and it is one of the hardest!" "Let me have a look." Chen Fan took the silver-grey surfaced board which was smoother than a mirror and said, "Well, it''s not bad indeed! It would be better if there was a larger piece, preferably one meter, 10 centimeters thick and has a streamlined shape. Since this is a handicraft factory, I''m sure that it''s possible to make it into a big wristband with leather on the surface. The longer the better, and make it as beautiful as possible." "We have one that is a meter long, but it needs to be redesigned. We''ll use a plasma cutter to cut out the shape that you want." "Come and take a look at this one." Chen Fan went to the computer and downloaded a photo of a hunter''s wristband from the game that he was playing lately and said, "Can this pattern be cut out?" "Hmm....." The fat boss ruffled his hair and said sadly, "It is possible, but coloring it isn''t easy because the paint will fall off if it''s painted with a common paintbrush." "It doesn''t matter. This original silver-grey color is very nice. You don''t need to paint it." Chen Fan pulled out the USB from his pocket, plugged it into the computer, pointed at the world map and said, "After that, reserve a space that is about 60 centimeters in the middle of the wristband and carve this world map onto it. Bear in mind that I will give you a higher price depending on your accuracy and precision." "... Uh..." The fat boss rolled his eyes. He initially thought that Chen Fan was a gamer and wanted to make a huge piece of gaming equipment to hang in his house for display as this was not his first time dealing with this type of business. However, when Chen Fan asked him to carve the world map on it, his brain went blank instantly, and he was speechless. This was because according to the style of gamers, it should have been the map in the game that was engraved. Looking at the highly detailed map, the fat boss took half a day to respond and started to tell Chen Fan about the advancement of his machines, asking Chen Fan to rest assured. Chen Fan was quite strict in his requirement regarding the accuracy and he also wanted all the words on the map to be engraved on it. After receiving 5000 RMB as a deposit, the fat boss said in a slightly reluctant manner, "We will need at least three days to finish it." "Time is not a problem. What I want is quality!" Chen Fan once again reminded the fat boss, "If there is a problem with the accuracy, I would not accept it!" "You can rest assured, I guarantee that you won''t be able to find any mistakes even if you use a laser rangefinder!" The fat boss did not dare delay his work and immediately asked three to four men in the back to start working on this project which he named ''the world map wristband''!" After giving him a series of phone numbers and asking the fat boss to call him as soon as it was done, Chen Fan started the car and headed home. The sky was getting a little dark, and Chen Fan, who didn''t dare drive fast, drove at 30 kilometers per hour on the road. On the way to the north mountain road, a Steyr truck on the main road that was loaded with watermelons suddenly stopped after making a turn at the corner. The truck driver tried to solve the problem by fiddling around, but he was still not able to solve it after ten minutes. "Shit, how can I continue my journey like this?" Chen Fan honked at the truck but his car was in between several cars, so he was unable to drive away. He could only stare at the big truck. After waiting for another few minutes, it seemed like the white Regal car in front could not wait any longer either. The driver turned the steering to the left and drove on the sidewalk after driving underneath the truck. "Damn, seriously?" Looking at the space that was only about five centimeters, Chen Fan''s eyes nearly popped out. He would have been afraid to do this even if there were 50 centimeters of space. After the white car left, there was a huge space. After looking around, Chen Fan found out that there weren''t any traffic police around, so he also drove his car onto the sidewalk. The sky was getting darker and after driving for a few hundred meters, there were fewer people on the road. "Wulala, I am a happy little donkey!" At this moment, a text message popped out suddenly on Chen Fan''s hand phone screen. After seeing that there weren''t many people in front, Chen Fan quickly picked up the phone to see who sent the message. "Dear user: I am going to charge you 1000 RMB from your card (annual fee). I hereby inform you to verify that the customer service number... " "Sh*t! This is already the seventh message this month... " He knew that this was a fraud because the clerk sold his number to a swindler after he got the card. All of a sudden... Chen Fan seemed to have caught a glimpse of a figure from the corner of his eyes, and then... Bang! Ah! Biiii! In 0.3 seconds, his nerve impulses were being sent to his foot to slam down the brakes. Besides that, the excellent braking performance of the BMW 7 series was displayed to its fullest as it decelerated from 20 kilometers per hour to zero. "Oh God!" All his hair stood up suddenly and his heart was thumping harder than a piston engine. "Ah... You... You... Are you okay?" Chen Fan pushed open the car door and anxiously asked the girl who was lying on the ground. Chen Fan had been busy looking at the message just now and didn''t notice the girl who appeared suddenly from the sidewalk. The girl in a black suit was lying on her side on the ground and looked like she was in severe pain. "...Ouch... Oh... The pain is killing me... You will have to compensate me at least fifty to sixty thousand... " 67 You’re My Brother "You look fine to me... or I can send you to the hospital and take care of all the expenses" Chen Fan was stunned. This handsome looking young lady did not look like a scammer! With her looks and figure, she could do better things than coming up with this. "Ouch, no, you have to compensate me with money!" The lady in the black suit rubbed her butt in pain. "Who knows what you''re up to? What if you bring me to a deserted place and get rid of me?" "But 50,000 RMB?" Chen Fan squatted down and flung his hand. "I wasn''t driving fast! You''re the one who knocked into my car." The girl stumbled and continued lying on the ground with a glum face. "I''m rushing to meet a client to sign a contract. I''ll be able to get a cut of 50,000 RMB if the contract is signed, but how am I gonna go now? You have to compensate my loss." "...Hmm" Chen Fan held his chin helplessly as he picked up her small white bag at her side. He pressed the bag and did not feel anything special inside other than things like a wallet and a mobile phone. After passing the bag to her, Chen Fan helped her up and sat the uninjured side of her butt on the hood of the car. "How about you call your client and change the appointment to another day?" Chen Fan naturally did not want to come up with this 50,000 RMB. He estimated that her injury only required an X-ray plus another 500 RMB of medical expenses at the most. Chen Fan decided that he would just run away if this girl gives him unreasonable demands. If she calls the police, Chen Fan would let Wang Bing take the rap and then accuse her of being a scammer. "Argh...my phone''s out of battery and I can''t even check the number." The girl held on to her bag and looked bitterly at Chen Fan. "I''ve arranged to meet the client at Leyi Restaurant at 7PM and it''s already 6.45PM. I had wanted to rush to the roadside to get a cab" "How about I send you there?" Chen Fan opened the car door and gestured her to get in. The girl was silent as she stared at Chen Fan while biting her pink lips. She opened her mouth a few times and then finally said, "I hope you''re not up to anything bad" "Sister, you''re my sister!" Chen Fan bared his teeth and rubbed his head. "Do I look like that type of person?" "Right!" Chen Fan suddenly thought of something. He took out his phone from the car and said, "Quick change your card into mine and call that client." "Mine...mine is a CDMA card, it can''t be used on your phone" "My God" Chen Fan rolled his eyes. "Then what are you waiting for? Get into my car now! I''m not gonna compensate you 50,000 RMB if you get delayed." "Oh." The girl staggered over to the passenger seat and got in. Chen Fan started the engine and stepped gently on the accelerator. The girl sat slanted and said anxiously, "Can you drive faster, there aren''t many people on the road!" Chen Fan stepped on the accelerator with his right leg as if he was stepping on a nail. "Wait till I get onto the main road!" Turning into the motor vehicle lane after two hundred meters, Chen Fan slowly increased the speed to 40 KM/H and drove toward the destination. "Bro, we''ll need one hour to reach it with your current speed." The girl pouted. "You''re driving a BMW, not a Kia!" "It''s the aftermath of being frightened by you just now!" Chen Fan wiped off the imaginary sweat off his forehead. Twenty minutes later "Bro, I''m begging you, can you please drive faster? Don''t tell me you''ve only gotten your license yesterday? Your driving sucks!" "How about you take over?" "...I" An hour later, which was a few minutes past eight, Chen Fan and the girl finally reached Leyi Restaurant. "I''m done for, I''m really done for this time! I''m an hour late. The client must have left." The girl almost cried. "I don''t care, you have to pay me 50,000 RMB!" "Well, go up and take a look first. Maybe he''s still there." Chen gave it a thought and then said, "If he''s really gone, I''ll pay you 50,000 RMB." Chen Fan said with pertinence, trying to conceal his craftiness. "Alright." The girl opened the car door and had one foot on the ground before suddenly retracting. "No no. You agreed so readily, you must be thinking of running away after I go up." After being exposed of his intentions, Chen Fan''s eyes darted around. "How...how is this possible?" "You don''t seem to know how to lie!" The girl threw Chen Fan a fierce stare. "Come help me take a look. He''s an artist in his forties with a braid at the back of his head. He''s easily recognizable." "Erm...well...alright." Chen Fan pulled out the car key and got out of the car. Three minutes later, Chen Fan walked down the stairs leisurely with both hands in his pockets. He stood beside the car door and heaved a heavy sigh. "Umm, I''ve got good news and bad news. Which one first?" "Neither. I only wanna know if he''s still there!" The girl shook her head hard. "The good news is, there''s really a man with a braid inside, and the age matches, but" "Speak faster!" Chen Fan did not answer her but asked instead, "You''re the salesperson for Bolan Gardens, am I right?" "How...how did you know?" "I hate to say this, but I heard the artist making a phone call just now, and I overheard something crucial." Chen Fan sighed, "The bad news is, he said ''Why isn''t the salesperson named Xia Qianxue here yet? Manager Liu, get me another person''..." "Ah!" Xia Qianxue was almost breathless. "You...you...you, you have to pay me 50,000 RMB!" "You''re making things difficult for me!" Chen Fan said after a moment of silence, "Actually, you can''t put all the blame on me. First of all, you were the one who was not careful and knocked into my car. And your phone was out of battery, this was also one of the main causes" Xia Qianxue bared her teeth and blurted out "I''m gonna call the police! Umm, can you lend me your phone? My battery''s dead!" "I''m sorry, but I didn''t pay my phone bill" Chen Fan gave a helpless expression before going into the car. "It''s unrealistic for me to pay you 50,000 RMB, but I can send you to the hospital now." "Then...then" Xia Qianxue took out a colorful advertisement booklet and looked at Chen Fan with droopy eyes. "Why don''t...why don''t you buy an apartment, for yourself, or for keeping...that" "Keep what?" Chen Fan didn''t realize what she was referring to. "...pets" Xia Qianxue puckered her lips. "A 150 square meter apartment only costs 600,000 RMB, and we''ll give you an additional free, permanent, basement parking lot." "Pets?" Chen Fan mumbled to himself before understanding what she meant. "Show me the booklet." Chen Fan took the Bolan Gardens brochure and flipped it open. He indeed had intentions of getting a place. Brand name cars, mansions...these are all items that a successful man must have. He already had a car, but his place was just an ordinary 100 square meter commercial housing type apartment. Although it looked okay for now, it would be unimpressive if he really brought a girl back. When he called Zhang Xueyang in the afternoon, Zhang Xueyang asked Chen Fan if he had any free time. His father was expanding the business and would like Chen Fan to bring back a few more machine tools. The price was still 1 million RMB for each machine. Even without the few million that was coming his way, the 6 million RMB in Chen Fan''s bank account was sufficient to let him spend lavishly for a while. Making money was a piece of cake for him anyway. "How much is this?" Chen Fan flipped to the last page and pointed to a three-story white mansion with a view. "I''ll buy this if the price is right!" "Ah!" Xia Qianxue covered her mouth with her small dirty hand, and her eyes were like simmering water. "Bro, you''re so macho!" "This villa with a total area of 588 square meters is the top product of our company. It has a 60 square meter garden, two parking lots and a 100 square meter underground storeroom. Even the master bathroom is extra big and luxurious at 50 square meters, complete with sauna and Jacuzzi." "I''m asking you, how much is it?" "5,888,800 RMB!" Xia Qianxue''s eyes lit up. "Bro, I''ll get a cut of 200,000 RMB if you buy it. I''ll split half of it with you!" 68 Ten days later "5,888,800... " Chen Fan did some quick mental calculations and found out that Bolan Gardens, which was located in the downtown of Zhongyun city, had quite a good geographical environment and the price of more than five million RMB was actually much cheaper than the ones in the main city. Thus, this was considered a reasonable price in Zhongyun city. "Are there any discounts? Try to make it cheaper!" Chen Fan turned over and asked softly. "I can reduce the price to a whole number of five million RMB, but I''ll need to ask my manager if you still want a cheaper price!" Xia Qianxue pushed open the car door and got out in a crooked manner. "I''ll go to the telephone booth now, give him a call and see if I can get more of a discount." Should I run away? Chen fan gave it some thought and finally decided to screw that thought. It''s bad enough to crash into someone who was walking on the sidewalk, not to mention that he also caused her to lose cash worth 50,000 RMB. After five minutes, Xia Qianxue stumbled into the car while caressing her painful buttocks. "I tried my best to help you to get the most discount but my manager only agreed to discount another thirty thousand RMB. However, he said that he can give you two 52 inch LCD TV''s as a gift." "I see..." Chen fan twitched his mouth and after stuttering, he asked, "If that''s the case, when can I have a look at the house?" "Now! You can have a look at it now!" Xia Qianxue''s eyes were filled with hope. "Should we go now?" "Now? Aren''t you going to the hospital?" "No, I''m not going, I just fell on my butt, and it''s nothing...!" Xia Qianxue''s sentence hung in midair as she felt embarrassed suddenly and her face flushed red as though someone was applying blusher to her cheeks. She thought it was quite weird for her to mention the word ''butt'' in front of a man! The evening sunset shone in through the open windows of the car. It contoured her face by shining a golden light on her that was like glittery gold powder. Her cheeks and ears look so tender and soft from the light. Will her face burst like a bubble if I touch it? Chen Fan looked at her cheeks and suddenly remembered a word, ''breakable''. "Then let''s go now and if it is up to my expectations, it isn''t a problem to pay immediately!" After taking a left turn, Chen Fan drove to Bolan Gardens. Bolan Gardens, which was built by Wancheng Construction Company last year, had cost more than 40 million RMB. The whole garden covered an area of 6000 square meters and there were all kinds of facilities such as a swimming pool, fitness center, entertainment center, etc. As soon it was launched, it immediately jumped to the first place in sales in the whole Zhongyun city, especially the two-story compound apartment, and the three-story villa which was popular among many people. ............... After reaching the show house of Bolan Gardens, Xia Qianxue led Chen Fan to the manager''s office while walking in an awkward manner. Xia Qianxue was as diligent as the ancient bondmaids. She took out a packet of premium tea leaves from the cupboard and said, "Please have a seat on the sofa and wait for a while. Our manager went to get the keys and will attend to you immediately after that. I''ll make you a cup of tea to quench your thirst in the meantime." Chen Fan leaned back on the sofa with his legs crossed and sipped his tea while asking Xia Qianxue about the house''s interior design. After the two of them talked for a while, a middle-aged woman who wore a pair of gold framed spectacles, and a fine tailored black suit with a red badge on her chest that said ''sales manager'' walked out from the room. Her job position was displayed clearly. "May I know how to address you and shall I take you to the house now, sir?" Chen Fan felt a little strange being called ''sir'' by a middle-aged woman. "My surname is Chen." Chen Fan put down his cup and got up."If I''m satisfied with it, I hope to finish the procedures as soon as possible." "Of course, Mr. Chen, please follow me!" The sales manager spoke in fluent Mandarin like a radio announcer, bowed slightly and made a ''this way please'' gesture. They sat in a four-seated sightseeing electric car and arrived at a small white three-story building that was located at the center of the housing estate. The sales manager opened the iron gate skillfully and pointed to the house. "Mr. Chen, this is the house that was designed by the famous French designer, Leander. It is a ''Paris Champs-lyses'' luxury villa design. It doesn''t only have a private garden, but you can also enjoy a moonlight dinner with your lover on the balcony." "I would like to have a look at the interior design!" Chen Fan was not impressed with the way people these days liked to boast that everything had a foreign design. It was obvious that they could copy a villa''s design from photos on the Internet. They just wanted to boast that it was designed by a famous French designer. It was more likely designed by a student who was studying abroad in France. "Sure, please follow me!" Five minutes. Less than five minutes and Chen Fan already felt like buying it. It was not because of how glamorous the design was, or how much Chen Fan liked it. It was because Chen Fan couldn''t stand the sales manager anymore. She was just too good at boasting. Tiles that were obviously made in Foshan escalated into tiles that were imported from England. She could even boast that all the lights in the room were imported from the United States without thinking twice. Ok ... When Chen Fan walked up the stairs, he purposely glanced at the light bulb in a wall lamp, and saw several small words that said ''Zhejiang Changxing Star Lighting Co., LTD.'' There was even a pentagon-shaped star in the middle that was the company''s logo. Fortunately, Chen Fan''s credit card had a very high limit that was approved by the bank, otherwise, he would have had to go to the bank for a fund transfer. After photocopying a few copies of his ID card, Chen Fan paid twenty percent of the total price as a deposit. After asking the team of interior designers to renovate the house according to the drawing he had chosen from the computer, he asked when he would be able to move in. The sales manager replied, "If genuine wood and environmental materials are used in the renovation, it would take at least ten days. Because the formaldehyde in new houses is quite difficult to remove, it takes a lot of time and manpower." "Okay. I''ll pay you the balance when I get the statement tomorrow and just give me a call when it''s finished." After coming out of the sales hall, Chen Fan who wanted to go straight home was being dragged away by Xia Qianxue for a meal as she was very grateful to him. She would even give back Chen Fan 100,000 RMB after he had cleared the payment. Chen Fan only started to drive back home slowly after eight something at night. Back at home, Chen Fan shifted his consciousness to the electric eel avatar and concentrated the electromagnetic induction on to the pituitary gland which was about the size of a watermelon. Now, whenever Chen Fan stimulated the pituitary gland, the word ''familiar'' wasn''t even accurate in describing how the process felt to Chen Fan anymore. There had to be a better word to describe how Chen Fan felt. The lobe of the pituitary gland that was involved in releasing growth hormones may have already been able to carry out the process automatically due to Chen Fan who kept stimulating it. Growth hormones were being released rapidly as long Chen Fan concentrated the electromagnetic induction on that area even without releasing any voltage. If the stimulation was further aided by a release of an amount of voltage, the secretion of growth hormones was even more violent than the Yellowstone Caldera. With only a dozen minutes of stimulation, Chen Fan was sure that the electric eel could instantly devour a three-ton shark due to hunger. After stimulating the pituitary gland intermittently for more than half an hour, the electric eel avatar took off the meteor hammer that was hanging around its neck with its claws, bit off the piece of GPS receiver that ran out of battery and swam forward. If Chen Fan spotted any fish that weighed more than 500 catty along the way, he would control the electric eel to stop directly in front of them and let them enjoy an electrical shock up to 7000 volts. After a short rest, Chen Fan returned to his old resting place and hung back the three-ton meteor hammer on the electric eel''s neck to be used later as exercising equipment. The electric eel was not making a fortune by catching squids or selling porcelains anymore. Chen Fan had already set a higher target which was the human-made tools. Although the ocean was the greatest treasure of mankind, it was not the ocean that created the treasure, it was humans that do instead. However, the only tools humans could rely on in the ocean were ships and submarines. What Chen Fan wants to achieve now is: Work hard to train the electric eel so that it can be the ''king'' of the ocean. After an hour of frenzied stimulation that used up most of the electric eel''s physical strength and electrical powers, Chen Fan settled down the electric eel and shifted his consciousness back to his own body. ------------------- There wasn''t much to do these few days. During the day, Chen Fan would go to the office and carry out the electric eel''s training at night. Three days passed and Chen Fan received a call from the owner of ''Yuanxiang Craft Products'' saying that they had finished making the wristband and he could drop by to collect it. After getting the wristband that cost him 10,000 RMB, Chen Fan took advantage of the darkness at night to strap the colorful wristband on the electric eel''s claw. After examining it a few times by using electromagnetic induction, Chen Fan nodded with satisfaction as the map measuring 60 centimeters wide was indeed extremely accurate just like the boss promised. One wouldn''t be able to notice the differences even if it was compared with a Google satellite map. Even after having the wristband, Chen Fan still needed to learn the way to determine his location on the map accurately and he planned to try it out on his next trip to Japan. Japan was only a few hundred miles from Zhongyun city in China. Even if the location was not accurate, Chen Fan would be able to double check the position by using Google satellite map, although it is very troublesome. Seven days later... Chen Fan received a call from the sales office of the Bolan Garden, saying that his house renovation was finished and he could officially move in. 69 Also Stays Here "Oh...Yeah... Ha...Come on... Go..." After hanging up the phone, Chen Fan shook his butt as he sang happily to the lyrics of some song to express his current mood. Chen Fan had stayed in this 100 square meter commercial housing unit for over ten years. The door wasn''t even finished properly. Now that he was going to move to a super huge, and luxurious villa, Chen Fan could not help but feel emotional. "Boss, you got the house?" Wang Bing who was watching television stood up. "Bingo! You''re absolutely right, but there''s no prize for that!" Chen Fan snapped his fingers said, "Let''s go have a look at the mansion." -------- "Haha, I belong to the upper class now!" Sitting in the black BMW, Chen Fan mumbled to himself as he tapped on the glass window. "I think you lack two mistresses." Wang Bing mumbled without turning back. Wang Bing''s driving skills were superb. Chen Fan took forty minutes to get there, but he took almost twenty minutes to park the car beside the three-storey, white villa. The one who received Chen Fan wasn''t Xia Qianxue, but the sales manager in his thirties. Don''t tell me she''s going back on her word and not giving me the 100,000 RMB? Chen Fan shook his head to banish this thought. "Mr Chen, should I bring you around?" The sales manager gestured to him. "Feel free to let me know if there are any areas that need to be improved and I''ll get the workers to redo them." The first story included a living room, a dining room, two guest rooms, a kitchen and a bathroom. The second story had a study room, the master bedroom, a second bedroom, a bathroom and a mini bar living area. The third story had a fifty square meter balcony with pale yellow wooden fencing and an excellent view. There was also a 100 square meter gym with basketball court markings on the floor. The most amazing thing was a glass wall made up of three huge, full height, glass panels which was on the side facing the sun. Chen Fan''s taste was still at the level of the ''nouveau'' wealthy. He only needed it to be spacious and feel grand. As for the layout and style, he was totally clueless about that. After walking up and down a few times, Chen Fan did not notice anything wrong and felt that it looked very good instead. Chen Fan was particularly fond of the shelves in the study room and the main living room. They were useful tools in helping him to act scholarly. "Help me look around and see what needs to be improved on." Chen Fan mumbled to Wang Bing when the sales manager wasn''t looking. "Ah." Wang Bing opened his mouth and scratched his head, "It looks great! Very impressive, and very, very big!" This guy had a limited vocabulary. His ability to express himself was greatly restricted by repeating the same words. "My god!" Chen Fan said with scorn. Since there was no issue, Chen Fan readily followed the sales manager to settle the payment. Ten days ago, he still had 6,400,000 RMB on his bank card, but now there was only a little over 300,000 RMB. After some thought, Chen Fan withdrew another 300,000 RMB for buying furniture later on. After getting a huge stack of property ownership certificates and the keys, the first thing Chen Fan did was to get a locksmith to change all the locks, spending 1,000 RMB on it. Standing in the empty main living room, Chen Fan took out a stack of sealed notes and passed them to Wang Bing. "Go to the antique market at Bajing Street and get bottles and vases. I want the shelves in this living room all filled up. Remember not to buy at the shops but go to those temporary stalls set up by old people." "Buy fake goods?" "Yes! Tell them you wanna buy fake goods when you get there and let those people give you recommendations. The stranger the better!" "Alright!" Wang Bing nodded as he took the notes and left. After dismissing Wang Bing, Chen Fan called Yiteng Yun and the rest to get them over to help decorate the new house. After half an hour, Zhang Lele, Yu Lin and Yiteng Yun arrived in a cab. "Boss, you just bought this house?" Yu Lin got out from the passenger seat and pointed at the villa behind Chen Fan. "Oh my goodness, this costs at least 6 million RMB!" "Around there!" Chen Fan leaned to one side and let the others come in from the white metal side door. "I just got the keys today. Help me see what type of furniture I need to buy." "I''m good at tidying up. Boss, what style do you like?" Zhang Lele asked with a smile. "Style" Chen Fan gave it a thought before saying, "Let''s go in and discuss." When they reached the living room, Chen Fan pointed at the empty space and asked, "Take a look, what should be placed here?" "Boss, your main color theme here is white, so I think you should also get white furniture for the living room. It will look more coordinated this way." Yu Lin walked two rounds and then pointed at the window. "Get those huge white curtains, they''ll definitely look good." "Get those made of soft cotton material, it feels comfortable touching them." Zhang Lele chimed in. "Get those with soft patterns instead of straight lines, they look too stiff." Yiteng Yun also expressed his opinion. After discussing the rooms downstairs, they went to the second story. "Goodness! What a huge master bedroom." Yu Lin exclaimed. "You have to buy an extra big bed, like those that can sleep three or five people. "Three or five? Are you keeping pigs?" Zhang Lele scorned. "Alright, alright. We''re done with both upstairs and downstairs. I''ll now assign the tasks." Chen Fan smacked his lips and touched his chin while looking at Zhang Lele and then Yu Lin. He let out a laugh and then said, "Yiteng Yun will get the furniture for downstairs and the budget is within 100,000 RMB. Yu Lin will be in charge of the furniture for the second story and the budget is also within 100,000 RMB. As for Lele, you''ll be responsible for the kitchen, bathrooms, curtains, mattresses and such. The budget shall be within 50,000 RMB. Get the things delivered here after you''ve chosen them and I''ll settle the bill." "Yes boss!" "Oh, Yiteng Yun, make a trip to the bookstore and get a thousand books. I don''t want low end ones. Get those books with English or French covers...books on economics, psychology, philosophy. I want the original versions of books by Shakespeare, Tagore, Pushkin, Hugo. Don''t buy the translated versions." During the house viewing, Chen Fan was still despising the sales manager for glorifying foreigners, but he also had the same problem! "...Umm" Yiteng Yun was speechless. He had seen Chen Fan complaining about not understanding the English interface when he was playing games in the office, and even downloaded a translation patch from Baidu. After the others left, Chen Fan laid leisurely on the open-air deck chair on the third floor balcony. He gazed at the view of the entire residential district while waiting for the four to come back. "Life is really beautiful!" Chen Fan exclaimed happily as he looked at the heart-shaped artificial lake in front of the villa. The entire Bolan Gardens had eighty-eight villas like this. They were all situated in the center of the residential district, and there was artificial lake in the middle which was over 3,000 square meters. After looking around aimlessly, Chen Fan''s eyes suddenly stopped at the balcony of the villa on the right. There weren''t many things that could catch Chen Fan''s attention, but the balcony on the right fulfilled the requirements. There was a beauty holding a watering can, watering the plants on the balcony, and it was a blonde foreign lady. "A foreigner mistress kept by a Chinese?" Chen Fan turned his head sideways and looked carefully. "Wait!" Chen Fan rubbed his eyes hard. "Isn''t this girl the mixed-blood I saw at Wansheng Restaurant the other day? Ma Rongtao''s niece? She also stays here?" Shaking his head, Chen Fan could not help but feel overcome with emotion about the coincidences in this world. Such a gorgeous mixed-blood lady actually became his neighbor. After secretly observing her for a few minutes, the girl raised her fair slender hands and stretched herself before going into the house. "Now life is even more beautiful!" "Boss, come open the door downstairs!" An hour after the beauty disappeared, Zhang Lele, Wang Bing and company led a group of people back. "Coming!" Chen Fan got up from the deck chair and shouted. A dozen electric tricycles carrying all kinds of furniture blocked the tree-lined pathway in front of the door. The workers on the tricycles all looked enviously at Chen Fan and the villa behind him. "How much did you spend in total?" Chen Fan mumbled. Yiteng Yun said softly, "The furniture, electrical appliances and over eight hundred books cost 230,000 RMB in total. We bought high-grade goods and we can call them over to do repairs if there''s any problem." "Come in quickly!" Chen Fan opened both sides of the main door and made space for them. "Alright!" The workers replied and then got off the vehicles before untying the ropes on the furniture. As there were too many things needing to be done up on both floors, the workers stayed busy until 5PM before they finally finished placing all the furniture. After making the payment, Chen Fan had Zhang Lele get some food and wine so that they could all have a good meal at night. "Boss, this is really grand," Wang Bing said with enjoyment, as he sat on the white European-style couch in the living room. "It''s enjoyable being rich!" "Look!" Chen Fan pointed at the strange-looking "antique" on the shelf. "With the BMW and this villa, laymen will never guess that these are all fake!" "Yes, we should place another two terracotta sculptures at the door and carve the wording that they were made during the Qin Dynasty." Yu Lin blurted out his thought. "I think it''ll be more impressive to place an army tank in the garden!" "It''ll be even more impressive to place you at the door!" Chen Fan stood up and verbally attacked Wang Bing. "Quickly clear the table and get ready for dinner. I''m famished." After the men set up the table, Zhang Lele walked in with bags of food. "Dinner''s here!" Zhang Lele happily placed the food on the table. "I specially went to Duck Neck from Nanyang Food Centre. Yu Lin, it''s your favorite!" "Alright, get them out quick. My stomach''s almost corroded by digestive juice!" Chen Fan took a bottle of Dynasty Dry Red and poured half a glass for everyone. "Come, cheers!" "I have to pick up a call!" Zhang Lele stuck out her tongue as she took out her phone from her pocket. Zhang Lele who was talking and laughing started to turn pale, and then covered her mouth and started crying. "Fell out of love?" Yu Lin said in a low voice. "Got dumped?" Wang Bing said. "I think so!" Chen Fan puckered his lips and nodded. "The possibility is ninety-nine percent!" Yiteng Yun pushed back his glasses. After Zhang Lele hung up the phone, Chen Fan asked softly, "What''s wrong? Did you fall out of love?" "No" Zhang Lele wiped her tears and shook her head. "A good friend of mine fell out with me" "Be uncompromising, the world will be a dangerous place. Be without awareness, life is like a dream. Only by setting oneself free can the human heart be as vast as heaven and earth." Yiteng Yun suddenly came up with this, making everyone look perplexed. "What are you talking about?!" Chen Fan passed a piece of tissue to Zhang Lele and said casually, "Don''t cry, just let it be. Food is more important." Ring! Chen Fan''s phone also rang. "I need to pick up a call too." Chen Fan took out his phone and looked at the number. "Hello, Bro Zhang! What''s up?" 70 Attacked by a Nuclear-Powered Submarine Chen Fan''s current mood was very complicated, and he was very angry when he thought of the incident yesterday. He got a call from Zhang Xueyang yesterday, saying that he got another three machine tools from Japan and asked Chen Fan to help him transport them back again. By accepting the job, Chen Fan could earn three million RMB in two or three days. Only a fool wouldn''t accept it, plus he didn''t have much money left, therefore, Chen Fan accepted the job immediately without hesitating at all. After Zhang Lele and the others had left that evening, Chen Fan went into his master bedroom on the second floor and lied down on the big bed that was two meters wide. After shifting his consciousness to the electric eel avatar, Chen Fan started swimming immediately to Japan after deciding to leave the meteor hammer behind as it was quite heavy. This new piece of gear that he had, the ''world schema edge counter current wristband'' was very useful. Chen Fan only needed to do some simple mental calculations and then used the electromagnetic induction to scan the map twice. By doing so, he would know the location of the electric eel easily. At about five o''clock in the morning, Chen Fan controlled the electric eel to stop at Fujiang island which was more than 50 miles from Japan''s mainland. After eating a hearty meal, Chen Fan shifted his consciousness back to his own body and went to sleep. ......... Who would have predicted that what happened next. When Chen Fan opened his eyes after he shifted his consciousness back to the electric eel avatar in the afternoon, he felt as though his chest was being punched by an invisible fist, and he could hardly breathe. In the sand bed, which was at a depth of more than 200 meters, with the electric eel at the center point, there were two black submarines on both sides of the electric eel. There was a big submarine on its left and a small one on its right and both submarines were about 100 meters away from the electric eel''s body where the area was not covered by electromagnetic induction. The one on the left was about 100 meters in length and 13 meters in width and it looked like a giant missile. After Chen Fan identified it through the Internet, he found out shockingly that it was actually the fourth generation Seawolf-class nuclear-powered submarine from the United States. On the other hand, the one on the right was about 110 meters in length and ten meters in width. This slender, streamlined submarine, was actually the Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarine that was of the same generation as the Seawolf-class. "God, what the hell is going on here?" The two nuclear-powered submarines that were absolutely astonishing were like two kiloton nuclear missiles that exploded at the softest part of Chen Fan''s heart. Only God knew what caused these two nuclear submarines to be positioned near the electric eel and what was going to happen to it. The only thing Chen Fan was thankful of was, in order not to repeat the mistake of getting dragged by the fishing net, Chen Fan used the electric eel''s four claws to dig a hole in the sand bed as its resting place, so only its dark back was exposed. Whatever the reason was for the two nuclear submarines to be positioned there, Chen Fan believed that the electric eel would not be detected by the submarines as long it didn''t make a sound or move. Regardless of whether it was a submarine or a ship, the only way to observe and detect it in the water was by sonar. The penetration of light into the sea was limited, so we would only able to see objects within ten meters deep even in the clearest waters. Radar detection in water loses its effect too fast. Furthermore, the shorter the wavelength, the faster the loss. The waves can only spread to a few dozen meters even after using a high-power, low-frequency, electromagnetic pulse. We humans had tried all kinds of advanced detection methods, but we ultimately chose to use sonar which was an ''antique'' method that was a few centuries old. Sonar had two detection methods; passive sonar and active sonar. Passive sonar was used by humans or equipment to analyze the frequency of various sounds in the ocean. After analyzing the sound frequency, one was able to determine whether the sound was originated from a submarine, torpedo or the sea. Active sonar was similar to a bat''s ultrasonic wave. It created a sound and when echoes were received by an instrument, a rough outline was displayed on a screen. As long the electric eel remained still, nobody would be able to identify this sea monster even if the active sonar method was used because there would only be a slight change in the outline. .................. In the Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarine. The 39-year-old Captain Carnegie was in the submarine command room frowning as he listened to the various parameters that were being reported by his staff. Yesterday in the morning, he directed this glorious submarine to depart to the United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka in Japan. It arrived in order to attend a military practice by the code of ''shark hunting''. The practice was not much different from what used to be about the annihilation and anti-annihilation drills of two submarines from different unknown models at designated areas. As a graduate of the US naval academy, Carnegie had proven to be excellent, outstanding, and he was very confident of himself. However, his confidence level and outstanding performance had been challenged today. From last night up until now, his opponent''s submarine had come up with various kinds of tricks that involved the positioning of the submarine in a turbulence to interfere with the passive sonar, or by using an underwater bait that imitated the sound of a submarine to cloud the technician''s judgment. These various kinds of impeccable methods used clearly showed that he faced a strong opponent this time. Furthermore, according to Carnegie''s analysis of the whole naval base, he found out that his opponent''s submarine commander seemed to be nobody else but Bemander who had a crush on the same girl as he did in school. After a series of chasing and being chased, the staff of both parties were fatigued. In the morning, both parties turned off the ''jet propulsion pump'' at the same time, settled down the submarine on the sand bed to rest and prepare for the next battle. "Hey, did the sonar detection detect any movement?" Carnegie picked up the receiver and spoke in an extremely soft voice. "Sir, no movement has been detected for the time being!" The sonar technician who wore a huge headphone replied with a similar volume. "Damn, if that''s the case, everybody just sit down here and wait until the training ends!" Carnegie swore and continued to stare at the huge pile of data on the screen, trying to figure out their location. It was impossible to just hide and wait until the training ended. There must be a winner in the next seven days, otherwise, both parties would receive punishment for sure. Just as Carnegie was recalling his opponent''s way of doing things in school, the voice of the sonar technician was heard from the other end of the walkie-talkie. "Sir, our opponent activated their active sonar!" "What?" Carnegie sprang up from his position immediately with a ''whoosh'' and shouted to the people around him, "Immediately release the underwater jammer and activate the active sonar too." Dong...dong...dong The two submarines were like two giant bass trumpets that gave off an extremely low sound in a frequency of every two seconds. After hearing these weird sounds, Chen Fan who was hiding in the middle knew instantly that the two submarines had activated the active sonar system that emitted loud sounds to detect the surrounding environment. "Damn!" While bearing with the loud noise, Chen Fan was scared to even breathe. Bang! Bang! The two nuclear submarines released a cylindrical-shaped jammer each from the torpedo launchers at almost the same time. Two cylindrical jammers which had just been ejected from the capsule let out a series of disorderly sound waves that were even more unpleasant than the sound of a drake. It also caused fishes that were within a few miles to swim away. Dong...dong... screech. The sounds were like a symphony orchestra that had purposely performed badly and it caused Chen Fan''s heart to thump loudly as he was the sole audience. 71 Heavyweight Torpedo "Turn the power of the active sonar to the maximum!" Carnegie stared hard at the screen. Both parties were releasing interference signals, and the entire screen looked as if there were numerous elves dancing on it. "Helmsman...Helmsman." Carnegie turned his head and said to the operator, "Make use of the chance now to raise the submarine up by twenty meters in a horizontal position, and then use the front sonar to do an extensive search." "Yes!" The operator replied and then quickly lifted the water tank control levers at the two sides, using the compressed air to expel the seawater. Dong... Dong. Chen Fan realized that the Virginia-class submarine rose up twenty meters, but the Seawolf-class submarine suddenly turned off its active sonar and left only its underwater noise jammer functioning. "Don''t tell me that the Seawolf-class submarine is gonna betray the country, and the Virginia-class submarine is here to destroy it?" Chen Fan did not dare breathe too heavily. It wouldn''t be fun if the sonar mistook him for a submarine and shot him with a torpedo. "Officer, the ''shark'' turned off the active sonar. The acoustic interference is too strong now, and we are unable to determine its location." The sonar operator shouted. "We''ll shut off immediately, maintain the submarine''s horizontal angle and then fire two underwater decoys!" The entire submarine was filled with noises from the jammer and the active sonar. Carnegie had no choice but to shout at the top of his voice. The underwater decoy was to fire simulated ship echos or propeller noises in order to trick the other party''s sonar and sound-controlled torpedo into making the wrong decision. Bang! Bang! Looking at the torpedoes at the two sides of the Virginia-class submarine eject white waves from their emission pipes, Chen Fan''s heart almost popped out. It was only until he realized that they were not torpedoes that were fired from the emission pipes that he felt relieved. The volume produced by these two underwater decoys was much smaller. Chen Fan would not have heard anything if not for the electric eel''s better sense of hearing. "Brothers, please get lost, you''re not welcome here." Chen Fan felt terrible being stranded in the middle of the two submarines. He even had the impulse to slip away. The Seawolf-class submarine suddenly sprouted a few jets of water from its two sides before slowly rising to a horizontal level of over twenty meters. After releasing a few noise jammers into the surrounding area, the pump jet propulsion on its back suddenly turned, pushing the submarine to move toward the right. The sonar operator quickly reported, "Officer, the ''shark'' released another three interference decoys!" "Move fifty meters forward immediately, get out of the high interference area, and then monitor the passive sonar carefully!" Carnegie touched his chin as he spoke into the receiver. Ten minutes later "Officer, we''ve managed to monitor the ''shark''s'' vortex shedding two thousand meters ahead!" "Haha, follow its vortex wave blind zone closely, and fire a torpedo when there''s a chance!" Within the next few seconds, a series of deafening alarm sounds came from inside the Virginia-class submarine. There were only two situations where the submarine would have produced such a horrifying alarm sound; a nuclear leak or being targeted by a torpedo. "The torpedo room, quick! Release the torpedo decoy now." The terrified Carnegie did not care if his loud voice would be detected by the other party''s active sonar anymore. "Helmsman, incline forty-five degrees to the left!" Seawolf-class submarines were usually equipped with MK48-5 heavyweight torpedoes. As long as this type of "beast" got within ten meters, the base control room would give you an immediate failure. -------- "They are gone, finally gone!" Chen Fan looked at the submarines going away toward the south and felt greatly relieved. It didn''t matter as long as he was not being targeted. Whether the other party was betraying the country had nothing to do with him. "Ahh" Chen Fan who had planned to stay for a while suddenly started trembling and his eyes opened wide. The instinct deep inside him was shouting out to him, "I''m gonna die!" The electric eel was in the water and danger was approaching. A super torpedo, six meters in length and fifty-three centimeters in diameter, with a red cap and green body was shooting toward Chen Fan at a speed of fifty-five knots, dragging long watermarks at its end. The 1.5 ton MK48-5 torpedo was a newly equipped heavyweight torpedo used by the United States Navy. They were mostly used on nuclear submarines to attack submarines and medium and large size surface ships. The warhead of the torpedoes was charged with 100 to 150 kilos of explosives. A single torpedo can send a large size submarine or a medium size surface ship to the bottom. There was no hesitation and also no time to think! The fifty-meter long electric eel jumped up from the soft sand bed and then went in the opposite direction as the torpedo. The torpedo''s speed was fifty-five knots, and the eel''s fastest was five knots higher, but its endurance was thirty minutes less than the torpedo. The red-capped torpedo was fired by the Seawolf-class submarine. Its target was originally the Virginia-class submarine, but it avoided the submarine when it was ten meters away from it under the instruction of Carnegie. The torpedo which had lost its target and got out of control, moved aimlessly forward in a straight line. How fast was sixty knots? This speed was equivalent to a big train traveling at 110 kilometers per hour. Not daring to turn its head back, the electric eel shot toward the submarine from the seabed like an arrow leaving its bow. It was hard to imagine what it was like being chased by a torpedo weighing over a ton. It was a hundred times more horrifying than being caught by the fish net the previous time. The eel swam wildly at a speed it had never swum before for around eight minutes until he could no longer hear the sound of the torpedo. Chen Fan looked behind him with fear still lingering but it was a great relief that the torpedo could no longer be seen. "It shouldn''t be like this" After a long while, Chen Fan finally calmed down. If the torpedo was really attacking its target, it would explode immediately when reached a probable range even if the target was not found. It would try its luck to see if it could use the enormous pressure from the explosion to destroy the submarine''s pressure hull within a close distance. But the torpedo did not Could the two submarines just be having a drill? Chen Fan came up with this possibility after some pondering. After analyzing this in detail, Chen Fan still felt that it was highly possible that it was just a drill. It would be breaking news if a submarine wanted to revolt. The United States might even declare war with another country because of this submarine. "This is really exciting!" Shaking the eel''s head, Chen Fan decided to put his doubts aside for now and continue to swim toward Japan. "Eh?" After swimming about two nautical miles forward, Chen Fan suddenly saw bright green dye underneath the eel spreading slowly upward. And the culprit was the torpedo which scared Chen Fan out of his wits just now. "It''s really a drill torpedo!" Looking at the torpedo slowly floating toward the water''s surface, Chen Fan finally affirmed that the two submarines were just having a drill. Torpedoes used in drills were not filled with explosives, but eye-catching dyes. After the torpedo hit its target or traveled its maximum range, it would float to the water surface with its own buoyancy. Helicopters or speedboats would recover the drill torpedoes, and they would be used again after inspection and loading. Looking at the slowly rising torpedo, a bold and exciting idea came to Chen Fan''s mind, and then exploded. 72 Where Is The Torpedo? The sun shone on the surface of the sea, covering it like a layer of shimmering silver dust or like crumpled green satin. In the SH-60B Seahawk ship helicopter, two observers and pilots were scanning this area over and over again, searching for something. "Report, Seahawk didn''t manage to locate the target, repeat, Seahawk did not manage to locate the target, over!" In the helicopter, an observer switched on the radio and talked over the microphone. "Continue to expand the search area because it is impossible that the torpedo had been eaten by sharks." An angry voice was heard on the other end. An hour later... "Report, Seahawk''s fuel has dropped to the warning level...target is still yet to be found, repeat, fuel has dropped to the warning level, but the target is still not yet to be found Permission to return to base immediately, over!" "... Retreat... " There was a pause on the other end of the microphone before a deep voice was heard. ........................ Located on the east coast of Honshu island, covering an area of about 2.3 million square meters, was the largest and most functional naval base of America at Yokosuka port. In a white colored six-story building that was surrounded by heavily armed soldiers... "Can anyone tell me where the torpedo went?" Admiral Carlton slapped his hand on the table. "It''s been two days. Why is it that no sign of the torpedo has yet to be found?" "Sir, I can assure you that when I ordered the release of the torpedo, I strictly followed the protocol of the submarine manuals, so there were absolutely no mistakes made," said Belfort, the Seahawk nuclear-powered submarine commander, as he sat at the conference table with an innocent expression. "So you''re saying that our military factory produced an unqualified torpedo?" Carlton raised his eyebrows coldly. "Each torpedo that is produced by our factory needs to pass 13 stages of safety inspections that are extremely strict. The torpedo will be rejected and reproduced even if the paint on its surface is not smooth enough, not to mention its suspension feature. Therefore, I have enough reasons to suspect that you made a mistake in controlling it!" "Sir? Could it be possible that the torpedo got stuck in the mud? We had a case where a submarine crashed onto the coral reefs last year, not to mention that torpedoes don''t have the feature to see which direction they are headed. So I think it''s not impossible for it to get stuck in the mud." Carnegie stood up and voiced his opinion to calm down the situation. "The water depth in that area is only 250 meters at the most, so even if the torpedo really got stuck in the mud, what about the dye? Why didn''t the dye leak out to the surface? Or are you telling me that something could go wrong in a procedure like this where even a junior high school student in a military factory could handle it easily?" "Maybe it got stuck too deep in the mud that blocked the opening, so the dye couldn''t leak out?" The commander, Belfort, shrugged his shoulders and said, "You know, the world is full of wonders. Once, a girl I knew from elementary school found out that her husband was cheating on her, so she jumped off a building to commit suicide. Coincidently at this moment, she fell on top of a man who was passing by the apartment, and he died. In the end, she only suffered from minor injuries whereas the man died. What was even more astonishing was, the man was her husband who betrayed her!" "F**k you!" Carlton, who did not swear for many years, finally lost his temper and broke the record! ................................. Li Bo, who was 20 years old this year was a regular sailor at the Zhongyun torpedo naval base. As the sun was setting, Li Bo was sitting alone on the dock and fishing with a fishing rod made from a clothesline. The sailor''s life was so boring because he often spent a few months at sea. If it wasn''t for fishing occasionally, he might have gone nuts due to boredom. "Eh, what''s that?" Li Bo put down the rod and stood up to look out into the distance and saw a huge object floating on the glittering surface of the sea. After waiting patiently for quite some time, Li Bo managed to identify what that object was. It turned out to be a five-meter long, grayish brown whale shark that had many yellow spots and vertical stripes on its back. It was not unusual to see a large dead fish at sea. When Li Bo was undergoing military training, he even saw a blue whale which weighed more than 20 tons that had been shot by a torpedo. However, what made Li Bo feel strange, was that a long green tube with red at the tip was poked into this whale shark''s mouth. "What is this?" Li Bo was a bit surprised to see that it looked like a torpedo that he was so familiar with! Five minutes later... "Brigade commander, brigade commander, there''s bad news." Li Bo sprinted back to the base while shouting loudly. Cough... cough. "Why are you panicking? Don''t tell me that you saw a ghost?" The brigade commander who was sitting on the parallel bars was choked by his smoke due to shock. Li Bo was out of breath. "Torpedo, there''s a there''s a torpedo in the fish''s belly. " "Ah!" The brigade commander almost fell off the parallel bars. After steadying himself by holding onto the iron bars, he said, "Quick... take me there to have a look." As they rushed to the pier, Li Bo pointed to the whale shark which was gradually being washed up further on to the shore by the waves and said, "Look, it really is a torpedo." "It''s a US military Mark 48 torpedo." The brigade commander who was very familiar with the torpedo models all around the world let out a small cry, "Hurry, go and inform the torpedo hoisting group immediately!" The U.S. military Mark 48 torpedo was no doubt something great! Even the locals or the Russians hadn''t managed to come up with something more advanced than them, so if it''s really was Mark 48 torpedo, this would be a great stepping stone in the improvement of manufacturing a torpedo for the research team. Half an hour later, the torpedo hoisting team from the base managed to get the big torpedo that weighed more than a ton into the warehouse. "It really is a U.S. military Mark 48 torpedo. "The brigade commander stroked the torpedo that was on the shelf like it was his beloved son. "Captain, how do you think that this torpedo ended up in the belly of a whale shark?" Li Bo squatted in a corner and asked with a puzzled expression on his face. In his impression, this type of super, high tech stuff would have needed to undergo a mission that had been planned for half a year by a few dozen special agents. It would have required the sacrifice of three to five people and the transport between five and six countries in order to be in the hands of the research center. "How would I know?" The brigade commander rolled his eyes annoyingly at Li Bo, turned and looked at the coveted torpedo. "I don''t care whether the torpedo was sent by someone who has an ulterior motive or that it was really just pure coincidence that the whale shark swallowed it when it was being fired. All I care about is that it''s in our hands now!" "Oh, yes!" The brigade commander added. "You will speak to no one regarding this matter. You will keep it a secret forever and whoever leaks out this information will face the consequences of being called to the military court when the military police manage to catch you in your house!" "Yes, sir!" The few people next to him did the most standard salute in 0.5 seconds and said, "We will keep it a secret even without telling our own sons!" "Good, I trust you all!" The brigade commander nodded. "Li Bo, follow me to the warehouse to get a gun. The rest of you keep a close eye on the torpedo before our superior sends someone to retrieve it! When this is done it would be definite that each of you will get a meritorious service medal." Half an hour later, the brigade commander opened the door of the underground bunker and with the aid of the dim lighting, he went into a space which was a little larger than a telephone booth where it was surrounded by lead sheets that were ten centimeters thick. The brigade commander opened the lock on the door and went in quickly, slamming the door shut. There weren''t any other decorations in the room except for an old telephone on the shelf. Ahem. After clearing his throat, he picked up the phone and shuddered while pressing a few numbers. Five seconds later, a robotic sound was heard on the other end of the phone. "Hello, comrade, this is the secretary of defense department..." 73 Treasure Again If Chen Fan had to choose some words to describe his current mood, he would definitely choose ''ecstatic'', ''overjoyed'', ''elated'', and ''delighted'' to express his feelings. This strong sense of happiness wasn''t from the 3 million RMB he had gotten from last evening''s machine tools transaction with Zhang Xueyang. Neither was it from Chen Fan following Lei Feng and doing the good deed of placing the torpedo into the whale shark''s stomach and then giving it to the PT boat base stationed near Zhongyun City. Honestly speaking, if someone had offered a good price to buy this torpedo, Chen Fan would not hesitate to sell it off. He would not feel any mental pressure even if the other party was a terrorist using the torpedo for a suicide attack. The origin of this strong happiness could be traced back to the day before when the electric eel brought the three machine tools and the torpedo back. Last morning, the eel grabbed the three machine tools and the torpedo without explosives on each of its four claws, and swam toward Zhongyun City. When Chen Fan stopped at fifty nautical miles west of Jeju Island to hunt the poor whale shark, he accidentally discovered a shipwreck at the bottom of the sea. Shipwreck What does discovering a shipwreck imply? It means that there must be lots of goods or jewelry on the shipwreck. Every ship voyage during ancient times involved high risks and depended a lot on luck, so it had to carry highly profitable goods to make the risk worthwhile. It was evident that the captain of the shipwreck wasn''t nuts. When Chen Fan controlled the eel to go near the shipwreck and then use its electromagnetic induction to detect the goods on the ship, the image that Chen Fan got almost made him faint from joy. Other than the decayed tea leaves and silk in the cargo hold, there was also around five tons of silver on the 50-meter long and 12 meter wide barque. Five tons Silver was around 3.95 RMB per gram in the current market. Five tons equals 5 million grams, and 5 million grams multiplied by 3.95 RMB equals 19.75 million RMB. It''s almost 20 million RMB how could such an astronomical figure not set Chen Fan on fire? Chen Fan immediately shifted his thoughts back onto his own body. Then, he quickly switched on the computer and marked the electric eel''s location on Google map. After memorizing the location, Chen Fan did not bother to close the website. He straightaway controlled the eel, with the whale shark in its mouth, to swim quickly toward Zhongyun City. After that, he inserted the torpedo into the whale shark''s belly and secretly sent it to the PT boat base before contacting Zhang Xueyang to transact at the seaside, and then received the 3 million RMB easily. The first thing that Chen Fan did after getting the money was to buy a 1,500 meter long nylon rope which was as thick as a child''s arm. He had the two delivery men throw it into the sea without feeling pressured by the look in their eyes which said "you''re an idiot". After the men were gone, Chen Fan got the eel to grab the nylon rope and rushed to the shipwreck location. Since there was too much silver in the shipwreck, and the bulk of it was mostly in decayed bags, Chen Fan decided to bring the whole barque back. After letting the eel be the "treasure keeper" temporarily, Chen Fan went to the intermediary companies to see if he could buy a warehouse near the seaside so that he could hide the shipwreck there when the eel brings it back. There were two types of seaside warehouses. One was built on land and used for keeping goods. The other type was built by the sea using steel, with the exit extending into the sea. It was used for docking ships, and was similar to a garage. Chen Fan wanted to buy the second type. After going to a few bigger scale intermediary companies in the city, Chen Fan quickly zeroed in on the information of one of those. "Due to poor management, I have decided to let out a 1,500 square meters enclosed dock by the sea. Contact number: XXXXXXXXXXX (sincere buyers only)" -------- "Young man, 1.5 million RMB is really the lowest that I can go!" Wearing a thick gold chain on his neck, a forty-plus year old man with a big belly and a crew cut hairstyle said as he tapped on the seventy by twenty meter metal dock behind him. "Look at the material, they''re all pieced together with original 0.8 centimeter steel plates. This steel material alone cost me more than 1 million RMB, and there is also cost of the land and cement." "Come on, we''re both locals, there''s no need to cheat me." Chen Fan tapped on the silver-painted iron sheet. "Let''s calculate based on 1 RMB for a pound, your dock couldn''t possibly use 1 million pounds of steel materials." "Well" The man touched his chin and said, "There''s also the transportation fee from the steelyard, labor cost, painting cost" "1.3 million RMB. Are you selling or not?" Chen Fan couldn''t be bothered to talk more. If the dock had been located in the city, 3 million RMB would have been reasonable, but it was near the sea "Young man, this price really won''t do" The man pulled a glum face. "At least...at least 1.4 million RMB" "Alright, bye." Chen Fan walked off. "Hey, hey young man, don''t go" The man quickly ran forward to grab Chen Fan''s arms and said in a fawning tone, "Let''s discuss, let''s discuss further!" In the end, Chen Fan got the dock at 1.3 million with his relentlessness. After getting the man to sign the transfer document and the intermediary to stamp on it, Chen Fan asked for things such as the land certificate and ownership certificate, but he couldn''t be bothered to do the transfer of ownership. Chen Fan was now powerful and bold. If the man dared to do come up with any tricks, Chen Fan would not let him off! All the documents were in his hands anyway so there was no way the man could get away with it. The silver steel dock had been used by the man previously to dock cargo ships. Other than having sufficient space inside to unload goods, the part adjoining the sea had a thirty-meter long and ten meter deep gully dug out by a water excavator. After changing the locks of both the front and back doors, Chen Fan took a cab back to Bolin Gardens and shifted his thoughts onto the electric eel again. It was strange. According to Chen Fan''s assessment of the shipwreck, there was no reason it would sink. Other than being corroded by seawater all over, there was no other damage. The puzzling thing, was that it sank, and it was during the Qing Dynasty. Nonetheless, these superficial questions did not stop Chen Fan from plundering the treasure. Even if a few gods of the sea, like Poseidon from Greek mythology suddenly appeared now holding a trident sitting in a golden horse carriage, Chen Fan would not hesitate to electrocute them with high discharge before swallowing them alive. After swimming a few times around the shipwreck, Chen Fan controlled the eel to use its claws to spread the rope on the seabed before flipping the shipwreck to the left so that it laid on the rope. After going around the shipwreck and twisting it tightly with the rope, the electric eel grabbed the fifty-meter-long shipwreck like an eagle holding onto a lamb and swam toward Zhongyun City with all its might. 74 Kun Wu This three-masted ship had been so badly eroded that it took Chen Fan a day''s work to drag it back carefully to Zhongyun city. In the night, Chen Fan quietly opened the gate of the dock and controlled the electric eel to drag the boat into it. The whole base of the dock was made of cement and water could reach up to ten meters high during high tide. This ship was 50 meters long and was an absolute masterpiece during the Qing Dynasty. The maritime trade was banned for a few hundred years during this Dynasty which left the shipbuilders feeling tormented. After controlling the electric eel to pull off the ship''s wire rope in an extremely violent and cruel way, it then ''rewarded'' the ship with a few ''furious charges'' and ''war tramples'' until the eroded ship finally turned into a piece of junk. After getting the electric eel out, Chen Fan slowly turned the wheel and closed the two doors. When the gate was completely closed, he activated the water pump to drain out the seawater from the dock. The two diesel pumps that were 50 centimeters wide in diameter had to keep on pumping out the seawater for a long period of time before they emptied the dock. Every good was worth its price. Due to the sealing performance of the dock that was very below standards, Chen Fan still needed to get a small water pump and place it in the doorway to ensure all the water that leaked in flowed back into the sea even after the high-power pump had completed its task. Squatting on the concrete steps, Chen Fan looked greedily at the remains of the ship that was even more abstract than the drawings of the Dutch abstract artist, Mondrian. The tea and silk that had decayed a long time ago were not the targets that Chen Fan was concerned about. Instead, the silver ingots that were slightly corroded by the seawater that were sandwiched in between the teas and silks were Chen Fan''s true aim. With a shout of joy, Chen Fan ran down the steps, picked up a few sycees that had 30 years of Daoguang printed on the surface and kept examining them in his hands. Five tons of silver seemed like a lot but it was actually only a small pile. Looking at the blackish silver ingots that were corroded by the sea water, Chen Fan couldn''t help but smile widely like a Cheshire cat. Of these pieces of silver, Chen Fan planned to keep a dozen as a collection and melt the rest of them in the furnace to sell as ordinary silver. Although Chen Fan could double up the price and sell these antiques, he was worried that it would be the police knocking on his door first, not the dealers due to the sudden increase in the number of antiques in the market. However, only somebody like Chen Fan, who was the black sheep of his family, could do something despicable like this. Although the silver ingots were not of the best quality and wouldn''t fetch a good price in the market, they would still be far more valuable than the melted pieces of silver if Chen Fan sold them off slowly. Rubbing his hands, Chen Fan threw the silver ingots onto the concrete floor piece by piece and decided to melt them. To dig out silver ingots from a pile of rotten wood and corroded nails that were mixed with all sorts of decay was not easy. After a busy night of digging, Chen Fan walked over to the entrance of the dock and washed his hands that were covered in black dust until they were clean. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Chen Fan threw the sack in the corner of the wall and decided to sleep until noon. ......... Twelve o ''clock noon! "Wake up you lazy pig, wake up you lazy pig..." Still fast asleep, Chen Fan was awakened by the alarm on his mobile phone. "... Ha..." With a big yawn, Chen Fan rubbed his sleepy eyes, got up from the sack and headed to the back door after shaking off the dust from his clothes. After stopping a cab, he went to the hardware market and spent 2,570 RMB on two pieces of corundum crucibles, a porcelain ladle, a long iron plier, a fire stove used for hotel use, two bottles of liquefied gas, two bottles of industrial oxygen, a connecting hose and four pieces of ceramic mold that can cast up to six kilograms of silver. After buying the apparatus, Chen Fan bought a few more barrels of distilled water and a lot of food and drinks to prepare him for the next five to six days of work. The melting point of silver is very low, it only needs about 950 degrees to melt it into a pool of white water whereas the combustion of a mixture of gas and oxygen could achieve a temperature of more than 1500 degrees. Because he bought so many things, Chen Fan spent 200 RMB and rented a Great Wall Wingle to transport the stuff to Sea Road. After refusing the driver''s help politely, Chen Fan carried all the things slowly to the dock by himself. If he had to carry all those things a half year ago, he would have been afraid that he wouldn''t have been able to do it even if someone pointed a knife at his neck and threatened him. But now, the only effect on Chen Fan was that he was starving after the task and it was all because of the strength of the electric eel! .............................. After installing the fire stove, Chen Fan added water into a pot, placed it on the stove and started his first "melting" experience. Of course, the first thing he melted was not silver. Instead, he "melted" three packets of KSF instant noodles with eggs. The ''fierce'' fire that was produced with oxygen, managed to boil the water in less than a minute. Squatting on the ground, Chen Fan slurped up his noodles in a large white porcelain bowl while looking at the silver ingots in the cauldron that were slowly melting under the fire. As he finished eating the egg noodles, the silver ingots in the two cauldrons had also turned into white water. After flipping over the few pieces of silver ingots that were left with the iron pliers, Chen Fan shifted back into waiting mode once again. After ten minutes, Chen Fan stirred the contents gently with a ceramic ladle, causing the impurities to rise up slowly. Then, he skimmed out the blackish impurities, clamped the crucible with the pliers and poured the silver molten into the four molds by the side. One pot can cast two molds of five kilograms. If there were two pots and four molds, Chen Fan would need to have 250 pots to melt all five tons of silver. "250?" Chen Fan cooled the mold in water and twitched his mouth. "250 it is. I could do it without any pressure." Melting five tons of silver was monotonous but also exciting work in a way. After casting 200 pieces of shimmering silver until eleven o''clock at night, Chen Fan finally wrapped himself in the newly purchased blanket and slept. "200 pieces of silver equals 2,000 catty, equals one million grams and 395,000 dollars..." There was a smile on Chen Fan''s face for the whole night. After three days of hard work... Chen Fan finally melted all five tons of silver after emptying the fourth can of gas. However,... What made Chen Fan annoyed was that after the five tons of silver had been reprocessed, the weight loss from the impurities that were removed was more than 1,000 catty, and this meant that Chen Fan ''s wealth had shrunk by 2.2 million. "Bah, what kind of lousy extraction skill is this?" Chen Fan spat his saliva in disdain towards his ancestors and activated the two high-power pumps to fill the dock with seawater. After maintaining a balanced pressure between the internal and external environment, he walked over to the winch and turned the shaft with all his might to open the steel door which was two centimeters thick. After the extraction of silver was completed, Chen Fan decided to dump all the waste into the sea with the aid of the electric eel. He didn''t want to take the risk of leaving the waste in the dock should someone find it thus destroying his dreams of success due to the electric eel being exposed. After opening the door, Chen Fan leaned against the wall and shifted his consciousness to the electric eel that was not far away. By controlling the electric eel to swim in through the channel, Chen Fan used the huge body of the electric eel to push the waste out of the dock little by little. "Ah" As half of the waste was being pushed out, Chen Fan suddenly let out a cry as if something had been thrust into the back of the electric eel. "What the hell?" Chen Fan stopped his work in confusion. The skin of the electric eel was very slippery, not to mention that it was also very thick. Logically speaking, all the ironware that was on the ship had been corroded by seawater into a pile of junk so there shouldn''t be any sharp things that could pierce the electric eel''s skin! After using electromagnetic induction to scan the body of the electric eel for two rounds, Chen Fan found out that the culprit was actually a ghostly dagger that was 30 centimeters long. "It must be a treasure since it didn''t corrode even after it was immersed in seawater for nearly 200 years!" Without any hesitation, Chen Fan took off his clothes, jumped into the water and pulled out the dagger from the electric eel''s back. Although the wooden handle of the dagger had decayed badly, the whole blade was still intact without even a trace of rust. "What is this?" Chen Fan was stunned when he saw the black knife that was carved beautifully with many Wisteria Sinensis. Not to mention its absolute beauty, there were two traditional characters carved at the place where the handle and blade were connected. "Kun... Kun Wu?" Chen Fan was puzzled. Why isn''t it Mo Ye or Yu Chang? After climbing up to shore, Chen Fan slashed at the silver ingot next to him with the dagger immediately as he wanted to try out the sharpness of the blade that didn''t look sharp at all. Kachang! With a slash, the blade of the dagger that was five centimeters wide, surprisingly cut the silver ingot in half. "Oh my God..." In disbelief, Chen Fan looked at the dagger as though a piece of glass was about to shatter. 75 Made a Huge Sum Although silver is a soft metal like gold that even a blunt knife can make a mark on it, Chen Fan did not exert much strength. Leaving a mark and the blade not being inserted are two completely different things. "I''m gonna see how sharp you are!" Chen Fan murmured before stabbing the steel sheet wall of the dock with all his strength. The 8 millimeter steel sheet had a hole made forcefully by the dagger named Kunwu. There was a clang as Chen Fan withdrew the dagger from the steel sheet before he took a close look at it. There wasn''t any abrasion at all on the blade of the dagger. "Magic weapon?" Chen Fan''s brain got stuck. This is an 8 millimeter steel sheet, not an 8 millimeter piece of wood. Cutting tools produced from reputable factories were usually very sharp. For example, Gerber cutting tools made from special steel material with Rockwell hardness of around 60 could easily stab the outer shell of a diesel barrel without damaging the blade. How thick was a diesel barrel? A real high grade product would be around 3 millimeters. It must be noted that the strength increases by a geometric progression with the thickness of the steel. "I hereby announce that you will take on my surname from now onward!" Chen Fan greedily kissed the handle of the dagger before finding a piece of sackcloth and carefully wrapped it up. He was going to find a master with great workmanship in the city to replace the handle and sheath. If it had been a person who had gotten that stab, he would not be able to take it even if he was Schwarzenegger. However, to an over fifty-meter long electric eel, it was no different from an ordinary person being pricked by a thumbtack. After controlling the electric eel to clean up the remains of the shipwreck, Chen Fan looked at the neatly placed silver bullion and scratched his head. It was a huge amount, but he had no way to get rid of them. After some thought, Chen Fan decided to call Zhang Xueyang to ask if he had any way out. They had already collaborated more than once, so one more time wouldn''t make any difference. "Silver bullion?" Zhang Xueyang didn''t sound too excited over the phone. "It''s just a few RMB per gram, you can just sell it to some jewelry recycling facility, not as if they''re gold bullion." "The thing is, I have four and a half tons of silver bullion. The amount is too big and it might attract unnecessary attention!" "What did you say?" Zhang Xueyang was shocked. "Four and a half tons? Don''t tell me you robbed some jewelry factory?" "Come on, that''s bullshit!" Chen Fan scorned. "So do you have any way out, otherwise I''m gonna hang up!" "Well...there''s definitely a way out. It''s not four tons of gold. Any major jewelry factory will be able to stomach that. I have a friend whose family manages a jewelry factory, I''ll give him a call." Zhang Xueyang paused and then said, "But you have to lower the price because he can just get it from legal means if he earns nothing out of it!'' "Just do your best. I''ll wait for your call." After hanging up, Chen Fan got the eel to throw all the fire stoves, crucibles, gas bottles etc away into the sea. Ten minutes later, Zhang Xueyang called and said that his friend had agreed, but it had to be ninety-five percent of the market price. "Sure, get him to send a truck to Fuxin Beach. I''m here right now." Chen Fan agreed right away after doing a rough estimation and thinking that the price was still reasonable. After hanging up, Chen Fan hid the Kunwu dagger and the twenty silver bullion before going out to wait for Zhang Xueyang and his friend. Twenty minutes later, a small white JAC truck came with Zhang Xueyang and a fat man in his thirties in it. "Bro Chen, this is Boss Zhao whom I was talking to you about!" Zhang Xueyang warmly introduced the two after getting off the truck. "Hello, how are you?" Chen Fan said politely before pointing to the dock behind him and gestured that the goods were inside. "So much?" Boss Zhao gasped in astonishment, not because of the price of over 10 million RMB, but because of the amount of silver bullion. Zhang Xueyang did not say much over the phone, only saying that the amount wasn''t small. Boss Zhao had thought that Zhang Xueyang was ambiguous because he was afraid that he might not come if it was too little, but now he was the one who got a shock instead. "How is it, Bro Zhao? Are you able to stomach all these?" Zhang Xueyang turned to Boss Zhao who was bedazzled by the shiny silver bullion. "Of course!" Boss Zhao nodded without hesitation as he inspected the authenticity of the silver. Based on the price of ninety-five percent of the market rate, he would make at least a million RMB. There was no reason for him to say no. "Bro Chen, please open the back door. I''ll get the truck in now to load the goods." With this, Boss Zhao ran out feeling very pleased. "Bro Chen, did you get involved with those Southeast Asian rascals? Otherwise, how did you get so much silver?" Zhang Xueyang looked around and then whispered to Chen Fan. "No, I clinched a big deal recently. The other didn''t have cash, so he paid me a few tons of silver instead." "Bro Chen, you''re indeed an outstanding talent, a role model for our generation!" Zhang Xueyang raised his thumb up. The three young, strong men took almost two hours to load the four and a half tons of silver onto the truck. After that, Chen Fan got into his truck and followed Boss Zhao to his factory who would weigh the goods before going to the bank to remit the funds. 16 million RMB, plus the 3 million RMB from Zhang Xueyang a few days before, totaled 19 million RMB! What an enormous figure. Even Chen Fan who had seen much big money recently had his hands trembling. It wasn''t just purely about money. The key was being able to witness the result of his own labor. Nothing could be compared with this sense of achievement and pride, even though the sources were nothing to boast about! Taking in big gulps of air and massaging his stiffened face muscles in front of the bank, Chen Fan hailed a cab to the dock, planning to bring back the dagger and the twenty silver bullion. -------- After getting home and soaking in the double bathtub for a while, Chen Fan looked at the water-resistant Vacheron Constantin he got at 80 RMB on his wrist before changing into clean clothes. He was going to find a place which specialized in selling knives to make a new magnificent-looking sheath for the dagger. The dagger was extremely sharp. Chen Fan only discovered when he got home that the sackcloth had been cut into stripes by the dagger. Only the outer layer was still intact. After wrapping the dagger with a new towel and two layers of newspaper, Chen Fan walked to the courtyard and pressed the remote of the shutter door, getting ready to drive his BMW 740 out. At that moment, an inquisitive sounding female voice came from outside the white garden fence. "...You...aren''t you the man who saved my aunt before?" Wu Ruoyu stood outside the fence, saying in a pleasantly surprised tone. "What a coincidence, you''re also staying here!" 76 Kun Wu cutting Jade Dagger "Eh?" Chen Fan stood like a jade statue. He was stunned at first and had the same astonished expression on his face that Wu Ruoyu did. "I just moved in last week. What a coincidence!" he said as he resumed putting the dagger on the car bonnet. "Hehe." Wu Ruoyu who was wearing white, Louis Vuitton casual wear, stared at Chen Fan and smiled while playing with her hair. "You were in such a hurry the last time. My uncle and I haven''t even thanked you yet!" "There is no need to thank me as I was rewarded with two million RMB!" Chen Fan smiled and said, "It''s not a big deal because I found it one day while fishing in the sea. It''s useless to keep it anyway, so I decided to give it to your uncle since I heard that he had been searching high and low for it." "You don''t know how important it was to us! If you hadn''t shown up that day, my uncle was considering hiring mercenaries to rob the National Maritime Museum of Tanzania," said Wu Ruoyu with a bitter smile. "Seriously?" Chen Fan''s mouth gaped open wide. Although he knew that Tanzania was a politically unstable country, it was still unlikely for someone to rob the National Maritime Museum in such a flagrant way. "Isn''t it all due to being in a desperate situation?" said Wu Ruoyu while tossing her hair. "Fortunately, my uncle gave up on the idea when you showed up." "By the way, it seems like you''re going out, so I''ll not disturb you anymore. Anyway, we''re neighbors now, so we will have a lot of chances to meet up!" Wu Ruoyu flung away her super soft hair that looked like dragon beard noodles, turned her body and smiled politely. "I''ll treat you to dinner some other time to thank you!" "Ha-ha" Chen Fan scratched his head and said nothing. "This doesn''t seem right," said Chen Fan after Wu Ruoyu left gracefully. Chen Fan quietly muttered a few words, "According to the plot in most novels, the girl should be walking into the room while smiling happily and then she says in a seductive manner, I decided to give myself to you to express my gratitude!" While patting his head with a puzzled look, Chen Fan fished out his car keys and got into the car. Chen Fan was about to drop by Yuanxiang Craft Products which was the processing factory that he went the last time. Since they managed to make the complicated wrist protector the last time, Chen Fan was sure that making such a small scabbard and handle would be an easy task for them. After driving slowly to the factory, Chen Fan got out of the car. Without even being able to stand still, he was greeted warmly by the fat boss. "The arrival of Mr. Chen really brings fortune to my factory!" The fat boss smiled like the Maitreya Buddha and said, "What is it that you would like to make this time, Mr. Chen?" "Well, I have hands on an ancient dagger, but the scabbard and handle are rotten, so I wanted your help in making a new one. Chen Fan unwrapped the newspaper and towel and handed the Kun Wu dagger to the boss. "Take a look and see what kind of scabbard is suitable for it." "Wow... So sharp!" The fat boss sucked in a cold breath. There were already two deep cuts on the towel that it was wrapped in. If human''s body was cut by this, it would be just like slicing up a melon, "Kun Wu?" With the aid of some sunlight, the fat boss was able to identify the words on the blade while examining it and spat a lot of saliva when he said, "Could this be the ''Kun Wu dagger'' that is ranked third among the ten most powerful weapons in the world? No, it''s too short. It doesn''t look like it. Could this be the ''Kun Wu dagger'' that could cut jade that was recorded in the book of The Ten Continents Of The Sea, Feng Lin Zhou?" "Kun Wu dagger that cuts jade?" Chen Fan was dumbfounded for a long time before asking in an idiotic manner, "What is that?" "Once upon a time during the era of Emperor Mu of Zhou Dynasty, Xi Hu offered him a Kun Wu jade knife that was a foot long. It was a dagger that cut jade as easy as cutting into the mud... The dagger was originated from Liuzhou." The fat boss muttered out a bunch of ancient information. "But at that time, Oracle writing was used!" The fat boss touched his chin, "Although the shape and length of the knife match with the description in ancient books, the characters ''Kun Wu'' were not written based on the oracle bone script Besides, the book didn''t mention that those two words were carved on it, so it seems that this is a second generation that was made after imitating the original one!" Chen Fan was shocked and his eyes widened, "Are you serious? If it cuts jade like cutting mud, isn''t this even greater than the Yuchang sword?" Bear in mind that cutting a piece of iron plate is completely different from cutting jade. If you are not afraid of the knife cracking, try cutting a thin iron plate with a military sword of the hardest metal that is sold in the market. Even so, it''s not logical to refer to it as the sword that cuts jade. It would be more logical to describe it as the sword that smashes ''jade-like mud''. "I think the phrase ''cutting jade-like mud'' is only a figure of speech of the ancients. Just like the phrase where ''a single smile could overthrow a country'', is just a hyperbole." The fat boss obviously didn''t believe it either. "By the way, I happen to have some remaining pieces of jades used in decoration, shall we test it out?" The fat boss lured Chen Fan to test it out as his eyes gleamed deviously. "Let''s try it out then!" Chen Fan replied with a ''whatever'' attitude. Since this dagger could cut through iron, it should not face any problems in cutting jade as well. Kachang! The two of them squatted on the ground, both dumbfounded, as the jade that was the size of an eraser was sliced into two. The incision was neat and smooth and even the cement ground under it was sliced opened a little. "Damn, whoever made this dagger has some serious skills. It works exactly like the genuine one." The fat boss squatted on the ground with an expression as though he had seen a ghost. "Nope, it''s even better than the original. Original ones are mostly just exaggerated by the ancients. You shouldn''t believe what they say because it''s not true." "Who cares who imitated it?" Chen Fan stared at the Kun Wu dagger and said, "Just make the handle and a scabbard for it as fast as possible." "Sure." The fat boss thumped his chest and said in confidence, "Dealing with knives is my strength. I will make a soft scabbard from well-processed sharkskin, and carve nice patterns on it by using the laser engraving machine." "Sharkskin? Wouldn''t it be sliced open by the dagger?" "Just add in a layer of thin steel!" The fat boss shook his head. "By the way, do you want the handle to be soft or hard? If you want it to be soft, we will use python skin as the texture is great to grip and it''s a nice match with the sheath that is made from sharkskin. If you want it to be hard, I''ll use red sandalwood as it looks exactly like a rhinoceros'' horn after polishing." "I want both," Chen Fan thought for a moment and continued, "Sandwich the dagger between two pieces of red sandalwood and wrap it up with a layer of python skin. Make sure that the hilt fits perfectly into the scabbard and the appearance of it must be very nice. Don''t give me something like the ones that are sold at the night market, or else I won''t pay for it!" "Of course I won''t give you anything crappy like that!" The fat boss seemed to be greatly insulted and clenched his teeth, "If there are any flaws, don''t even bother about the payment as I... I.... I will eat the two pieces of jade that are on the ground!" ...... In actuality, what the fat boss said was very true. The more Chen Fan looked at his craftsmanship, the more awed Chen Fan was as it was hard to believe that an ordinary looking fat man was so skillful. After seeing the fat boss measure the length of the dagger in a split second by using a pair of vernier calipers, a delicately grey-colored sharkskin scabbard and a purplish handle made of sandalwood wrapped with python skin were done in only about two hours time. "It''s... really... beautiful." Looking at the exquisite patterns on the scabbard and the greyish handle that had a texture as smooth as a girl''s delicate skin, only greed gleamed in Chen Fan''s eyes. It must be admitted that a man''s special feelings towards gadgets such as swords and knives are the same as a woman who has no resistance to cosmetics and perfumes such as Estee Lauder and Lancome. "It indeed is!" The fat boss also sighed and said, "But unfortunately, although the man who forged this dagger is very skillful, he wasn''t that smart. I can''t understand why he didn''t carve oracle bone inscriptions on it instead of two traditional characters. Otherwise, a lot of people will easily believe that this is a ''Kun Wu jade knife'' judging by its appearance!" 77 Certification "Boss Chen, if you''re gonna bring this dagger around, it''s better to get an antique certification for it. You can then put it in your bag and get on a plane without any issue." "Can I get the certification here?" "I can''t do it, but I have connections to get it done, just that it won''t be authentic enough to dupe those antique dealers." Chen Fan gave it a thought before saying, "Make it a Qing Dynasty one, a value of 20,000 RMB will do. No one will believe it if the amount is too high." "Alright!" The plump owner took out a digital camera and placed the dagger on a piece of white paper before snapping two pictures. "One more thing, if you''re taking it on a plane, make sure you don''t leave the country, otherwise it will be confiscated by the security officers." "Umm, when can you get it done?" Chen Fan nodded as a form of acknowledgment. The owner laughed, "It''ll be ready tomorrow. I''ll get someone to send it over to you." After promptly passing 8,000 RMB to the owner, Chen Fan walked out with the dagger feeling satisfied. It was better not to bring a gun around unless absolutely necessary, but it was different in the case of a dagger, especially one which had an antique certification as a cover-up. Even if it was discovered by the police, they could not confiscate it as they pleased. -------- After getting home, Chen Fan laid on the couch in his bedroom gazing at the dagger, and his thoughts started drifting. If someone was to say that the dagger was one of the top ten magical weapons in ancient times, the ''Kunwu Sword'' that Pangu''s spine turned into, only a lunatic would believe it. But if someone was to say that it was the ''Kunwu knife'' used by Emperor Mu of the Zhou Dynasty to cut jade, although Chen Fan would also scoff at it, he still had a tiny bit of wishful thinking deep down inside. With today''s standard of forging, it was extremely difficult to cut jade as if it were clay, let alone make a sword using the smelting techniques during ancient times. However, this dagger greatly challenged Chen Fan''s cognitive view. It had been immersed in the corrosive seawater for close to two hundred years. Not only was it undamaged, even stabbing through a steel sheet did not leave any mark on it. "Who cares?" The dagger was in his hands and there were plenty of chances for him to study this in the future. So be it if he couldn''t figure it out. Chen Fan sat in front of the computer and logged into level 80 of the game which he had just spent money to attain. At noon the next day, the owner called Chen Fan to inform him that the antique certification had been done and then asked him for a location for his worker to send it to. On the blue leather booklet were the words ''Certificate of Authenticity'' in large silver letters. In it was a clear picture of the Kunwu dagger, its specific measurements, and an appraisal by some ''expert''. After getting home and storing the certification properly, Chen Fan was about to get Wang Bing to send him to the office when the doorbell on the white metal gate rang. "Go get the door!" Chen Fan kicked Wang Bing in the butt. When Wang Bing opened the door, Chen Fan almost thought that there was something wrong with his eyes. The person pressing the doorbell was none other than Wu Ruoyu who said yesterday that she wanted to treat him to a meal. "Hi, Chen Fan. Can I borrow your computer?" Wu Ruoyu said with her voice which was as sweet as Haagen-Dazs. "My computer broke down, but I have something very important this afternoon which requires the use of a computer. Can I borrow yours?" "No problem!" Chen Fan stood up and tried to act gentlemanly. "My computer''s in the bedroom!" "Oh, thank you!" Wu Ruoyu''s face showed gratitude toward Chen Fan as she smiled sweetly, revealing two dimples. After bringing Wu Ruoyu into the master bedroom, Chen Fan pointed at the two 24-inch LCD quad-core processor home computers with 4GB memory. "They''re connected with fiber optics, just download whatever you need." "Umm, do you have the game ''Archlord'' on your computer? I''ve arranged with someone for a battle this afternoon," Wu Ruoyu turned and said to Chen Fan as she switched on the computer. "Archlord..." That was too much of a coincidence. These two computers were made specially for playing Archlord. "Haha, I like playing that game too. Both computers have it." Wu Ruoyu chirped, "Which district do you belong to?" "Telecom second new district!" "What a coincidence! Me too! I''m level 69 Trapper. What about you? Do you need my help to level up?" Wu Ruoyu was really confident of herself. The district had just started this month and the mainstream ranking was still hovering around fifteen. Its equipment was miserable, and many experts had to make do with low level equipment. Chen Fan waved his hand and said, "Heh heh, I''m level 46 Beast Warrior, I cheated!" "Haha, beast" Wu Ruoyu covered her mouth and laughed, and then keyed in a string of account numbers to get into the game screen. "Erm" Chen Fan scratched his head. "You play first, I''ll go make some tea!" After getting Wang Bing to make two cups of tea and then passing one to Wu Ruoyu, Chen Fan sat on the chair at the side and turned on the monitor. This computer had not been switched off for more than a week, paying to stay on the hook and helping him gain experience points. After switching off the cheat plug, Chen Fan added a few conditions to the orc before he wielded an axe and charged toward the Boss beside. "Hey, you''re well-equipped. You can take on level 48 Boss by yourself?" Wu Ruoyu turned to look at Chen Fan''s little orc. "Haha, these are all bought by money!" Chen Fan did not realize that Wu Ruoyu was the head of the union, though the members were not really up to standard. "Wanna join my gang? We''re starting the battle in ten minutes." Wu Ruoyu cast out some bait, hoping to get Chen Fan under her. "Umm, I''m called ''Xia Zhong Cang Jian'', just send me an invitation." Gaming was all about PK; Chen Fan naturally wouldn''t want to miss the upcoming PK war. "Your name''s really unique" Wu Ruoyu did not know whether to laugh or to cry as she set Chen Fan up as a member of the union. Opening the RMB toolbar, Chen Fan clicked on the Beach teleporter and the ferocious-looking little orc switched to the human territory. About a hundred members from both gangs all gathered in the main city of the Beach, waiting to fight when the system time came. "You''ll be in charge of attacking their wizard later!" Wu Ruoyun said as she controlled her ''cloud witch'' toward Chen Fan. "Okay!" Five, four, three Looking at the countdown at the top of the screen, Chen Fan''s adrenaline started pumping. As the number on the screen became zero, some human shouted "Charge!!", and the screen suddenly showed a colorful array of skills. The PK war in Archlord did not involve any technical skills at all. It was just a fight on RMB. Chen Fan, who was hiding at one side, took a few RMB pills before quickly slipping into the human crowd. "Hit the wizard, hit the wizard!" Wu Ruoyu said to Chen Fan anxiously. Thump! Before Wu Ruoyu could say anything else, Chen Fan''s little orc was vstruck by the opponent''s senior rider. Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh! Before the little orc regained his consciousness, the other party struck another three times. "Ah!" The little orc let out a scream before falling onto the ground. 78 Kathleen’s Love A battle that had been lost and won was much more exciting. After Chen Fan shouted ''hooray'' in his heart, he moved his cursor to the "RMB revive button". Three seconds of protection were given for instant revival, so Chen Fan equipped himself with a few skills and struck his enemy''s nest once again. However, when Chen Fan had just killed a low-level mage, the black-armored knight set his eyes on him once again. While Wu Ruoyu was reviving after being killed by the witch''s spell, she told Chen Fan, "Hide from him. His level is too high." "Okay!" he answered and then clicked on the ''RMB revive button'' once again. However, what drove him crazy was that this high-level knight only attacked the one who posed a bigger threat, and Chen Fan''s character which was a fully equipped orc was his best choice. The 20 level difference made Chen Fan unable to escape from the knight''s ''strong attack'' skill. This must have been the worst method of provocation ever. The most abhorrent situation in a game was to be hunted down and killed without the ability to fight back. "I''ll switch to another account." After being killed continuously by the knight four times, Chen Fan refrained from cursing, took two deep breaths, and clicked on the exit button. There were two characters in Chen Fan''s account. One was an orc wizard that was equipped with the highest ranking and the best battle skills that were bought by money, whereas the other was the 46-level beast soldier that had been killed repeatedly just now. When Chen Fan pointed the cursor at the wizard that was crouching in the corner of a wall... "What the... an 80-level ice elf suit?" Looking at that gorgeous, high-level wizard that was radiating with glory, Wu Rouyu''s beautiful eyes were filled with wonder and confusion. The success or failure of a game depended mainly on the gradual improvement of levels and equipment. The longer the process, the longer the gaming time. Chen Fan''s account was clearly something different, not to mention that it had reached the highest level. He even had a collection of the ice elf suits that were the most difficult to obtain. The ice elf suit was a special map of the game designed to appeal to people who spend a lot of money. The life of the monster could be enhanced only by buying special blood tonic. The normal potion could not be used. And the monster does not drop the equipment directly, but they have something called "monster backpack". When you hit the backpack, you have to buy a special key to open it. The success rate is also low and maddening, and the difficulty of obtaining a dedicated professional set is no less than the ten successive successes with blessing oil. "You pull the box!" Chen Fan said as he turned his head to Wu Ruoyu while controlling the orc wizard as it rode the red dragon on its way to the human city. A red dragon, shining with the sheen of the RMB, riding on a red dragon that only the ''king'' can afford to ride, would cause chaos in a crowd of people who hold axes and arrows. The magic light that had been flying around on the screen suddenly disappeared, and a series of exclamations danced up and down in the information bar. The 80-level Orc wizard, without adding any direct connection, jumped down from the dragon. "Heya!" He released the skills and waved his hand to strengthen the 20 ''great white bison law stick'' to the human nest. Suddenly, a huge black thundercloud appeared above the sky, and a black lightning bolt from the inside of the bucket and was fired into the human nest. The 66-level knight in the crowd, who had no time to run, was lying dead on the floor after a cry. "Oh my twelve thousand attack!" It took a long time for Wu Ruoyu to get out of the petrified state. The Orc wizard''s attack was five times as much as hers. "RMB player!" Chen Fan grinned and giggled twice. What is the spirit of being an RMB player? That is... not lack of money! One could see that Chen Fan was able to fight a dozen character''s attacks with, ''big dodge'', ''gem transparent mirror'', ''super attack speed potion'', ''mobility potion'', and ''big elvish potion''. These were all the most expensive ones. Block, block, block, minus one, block, block... Chen Fan was standing there allowing more and more players to attack. Not even using the potion, he was just relying on his own set of two five-level life runes revive. "You''re the king..." Wu Ruoyu gave him a big thumbs-up. Chen Fan responded with the ''tiger body earthquake'' action. Suddenly, a breath of fresh air with the ''king''s style'' filled the air. If the rival gang''s attack was a firecracker, then Chen Fan, whose almost bug-like character, was a super-nuclear bomb of ten million tons. The enemy, who had been known to be so strong, was less vulnerable than the zero-level whiteboard, under Chen Fan''s hysterical attack and no one was able to make it to the second round. ................................. At seven o''clock in the evening, the gate of "Kathleen''s love" was wide open. After playing "Overlord of the Continent'' for the whole afternoon, Wu Ruoyu invited Chen Fan desperately to dinner to express her gratitude for the previous matter. Actually, Chen Fan did not want her to treat him, but after rejecting politely for a few times, he could not resist her invitation, so he agreed reluctantly at the end. "You''re a really bad driver," Wu Ruoyu who sat on the passenger seat blurted out her thoughts without caring about Chen Fan''s feelings. Chen Fan pulled out the key. "Usually my driver drives me around, that''s why I''m not used to it!" "Tsk..tsk, I didn''t know that you are a wealthy young man! One who has a luxurious car, lives in a mansion and even has a personal driver. " Wu Ruoyu said with a smile on her face. "I''m sure you have lots of dates with girls!" "The car was bought with the two million RMB that I earned last time and my house is mortgaged property. I haven''t paid my bodyguard''s salary in two months! Do you really think that girls would want to go out on a date with me?" "Please, your joke isn''t funny at all!" While shrugging her shoulders, Wu Ruoyu pointed to the sign in front of her and said, "This is Kathleen''s First Love Western Restaurant whose head chef is specially hired from France. I came across a few delicious dishes while I was studying abroad in France, so I would like you to try them today." "What kind of good food could a small country like France have? Just by looking at how they boasted about their Foie Gras, you know how bad their taste in food is." Chen Fan was a typical Chinese food advocate who dislikes fancy, foreign food very much. "That''s not completely true. Although foreign food is generally not better than our local food, there are still a few delicious dishes." Wu Ruoyu smiled and walked out of the car. When the two of them entered the restaurant, Chen Fan suddenly regretted having dinner with her. This was because everyone from the suited guests to the waiters had become believers of the Sun god, and they exuded something called ''fanaticism'' since the two of them had been seen publicly. Their eyes were swallowing, their eyes were chewing, their eyes were absorbing... This young lady that is obviously of foreign origin seems to have a mysterious magnetic field that stimulates male hormones. "I feel so inferior walking next to you!" Shielding himself from other men''s intense glare that almost burned him, Chen Fan whispered to Wu Ruoyu. "Haha." Wu Ruoyu scratched her earlobe lightly as it felt ticklish and said, "Just look at the table on the left. There are a few beautiful girls looking at you." 79 Someone Beside the Car "I understood from their eyes what they''re trying to say." Chen Fan glanced at the three girls at the table. "They''re wondering why I am with you." "Just let them wonder!" Wu Ruoyu flung her long blonde hair and said, "What do you feel like having? There are many good dishes here." "You shall decide since you''re the one treating!" The most westernized thing that Chen Fan had ever tasted was birthday cake. His only knowledge of western food was that it requires the use of fork and knife. "Sure, I guarantee that you''ll leave with a satisfied stomach." Wu Ruoyu chose a seat by the glass window. "Miss, what would you like to order?" The waiter held a menu, staring straight. "Marseille bouillabaisse, foie gras, Paris lobster, red wine chicken, veal steak" Without looking at the menu, Wu Ruoyu said a string of dishes Chen Fan had never even heard of. "Oh, and a bottle of cherry brandy!" "Sure, please wait a moment." The waiter quickly noted down the orders and left after a bow. "The dishes I ordered are all the restaurant''s specialties, they taste really good!" "I''m fine with anything, as long as it can be eaten!" Chen Fan crossed his legs and started shaking them. "Hey, it''s important to be gracious while dining at a western restaurant. Don''t behave like you''re eating at a roadside stall." Wu Ruoyu rolled her eyes at Chen Fan. Western dining is all about ambiance. The marble fireplace, shining chandeliers, silver candle-holders, great wine, the beautiful sound of the piano, and elegant mannerisms of the diners. This itself is like a beautiful painting, but Chen Fan had to make an obvious blemish on this harmonious picture. "Okay, got it!" Although Chen Fan gave a positive reply, his body didn''t follow suit. "Forget it, I give up on you!" "By the way, did those people you bashed up that time take revenge on you?" Wu Ruoyu frowned and looked a little worried. "They didn''t look like good people, you better hide if you see them again." "Those little punks?" Chen Fan slowly straightened his body and said with exaggeration, "I''ve already thrown them into the sea to feed the sharks, how can they still take revenge on me?" "You look hilarious when you''re bragging!" Under the dim light, Wu Ruoyu put her hand under her jaw and her eyelashes fluttered like butterflies. "Forget it, if you don''t believe!" Chen Fan quietly swallowed his saliva. The scene in front of him made him recall something familiar. Not long ago, he watched a movie and the scene in it was very similar to this. It had the same timing, the same conversation. After that, the female lead was verbally harassed by someone. The male lead stepped forward bravely and was stabbed by a knife. The female lead took care of the male lead the entire night and then gave herself to the male lead the next morning. "Excuse me." An amicable voice interrupted Chen Fan''s fantasy. The waiter pushed a serving cart in front of them and said, "Your food is ready, may I serve it?" "Sure!" Chen Fan waved his hand, signaling him to hurry up. "Please enjoy." The waiter held the brandy with a napkin and poured half a glass for each of them, took a bow and then left with the serving cart. French cuisine is known for being exquisite. Inside the white porcelain plate with a silver trim, the beef steak in crimson liquid gave out a buttery smell, looking attractive and well-presented. "Tastes good!" Chen Fan took the whole piece of steak with his fork and put it into his mouth, looking very uncouth. "Western cuisine has to be eaten slowly to appreciate its taste." Wu Ruoyu cut a piece of the steak with a knife and sent it into her mouth. "But it also looks quite delicious with you eating it this way." "Why don''t you give it a try?" Chen Fan held the wine glass and drank some cherry brandy. Wu Ruoyu stuck out her soft tongue and said, "There are too many people here. I can''t bring myself to do it." "Young lady, you have to be bolder." Chen Fan sounded like a bad teacher. "Her gentle posture and composed face was delicate and modest while singing praises of her own beauty, reassuring herself of her graciousness" Wu Ruoyu did not continue with Chen Fan''s topic but recited some ancient poetry which Chen Fan did not really understand. "...Ermm" Chen Fan stared at Wu Ruoyu with a shocked and exaggerated expression while forgetting to chew on the steak in his mouth. "Why...why are you looking at me this way?" "If, I mean if!" Chen Fan softened his exaggerated expression and then gestured as he said, "If... I''m a blond-haired, blue-eyed foreigner who suddenly recited some poetry that even real Chinese have never heard before, how would you feel?" "You" Wu Ruoyu turned angry and held her fist. "I''m also a real Chinese, why can''t I recite poetry?" "But you feel like a foreigner to me." "Hmph, you''re old and dim-sighted!" Wu Ruoyu pouted, turning her head and stared outside, not wanting to look at Chen Fan. Chen Fan pointed at the blonde who was in a black gown and performing at the piano. "Then can you explain to me why your facial features are so much like the foreigner playing the piano?" "I''m not listening, I''m not listening." Wu Ruoyu covered her ears and shook her head. "Hey?" Suddenly, Wu Ruoyu stopped and pointed outside the window. "What''s that man outside doing? He''s already walked around your car twice." "Where?" Chen Fan shifted his gaze to the direction Wu Ruoyu was pointing at. Under the orange light, a man around 1.7 meters and wearing a black jacket was popping his head into Chen Fan''s car. "There''s really someone." Chen Fan leaned his body in and looked closely at the suspicious man. "Looks like a thief." Wu Ruoyu leaned her face forward. "Quick go take a look. The news always reports on car windows being smashed and the things inside getting stolen. There was even a Bentley that got smashed recently." "Ah, I''ll go take a look." Chen Fan''s heart sank to the bottom after hearing Wu Ruoyu''s words. However, just as Chen Fan stood up in his seat, the man probably could not see if there were any valuables inside and decided to smash the window first. He took out a hammer and hit it right on the car window. The hammer not only smashed the car window, but also broke Chen Fan''s heart into pieces. If it had been in an online game mode, one would see Chen Fan''s anger shoot up to one hundred points. "Ah!!" The veins on Chen Fan''s neck bulged as he kicked the chair at the side and stormed out. 80 Hurry! Let’s leave! Chen Fan who rushed to the door, directed his fury at the young man who was in his late teens who popped his head into the window like a pangolin searching for food. "Are you f**king tired of living?" Chen Fan shouted when he rushed up and punched the guy in his back. Thud! A sound of victory was heard as a bad person was defeated. The young man in the jacket didn''t even let out a sound. Instead, he fell to the ground and curled himself up and his mouth opened and closed at regular intervals like a carp on shore. Nearby, three gloomy looking men with curly hair who were leaned up against the wall in a corner were looking towards this direction. When they saw what Chen Fan did, they spat out their cigarettes immediately and ran towards Chen Fan while pointing at him. They shouted a bunch of unintelligible words. The three men who had muscular bodies each took out a Yengisar knife. A man who ran up to him was about to reach out and grab Chen Fan''s collar. All of a sudden, a shadow appeared and Chen Fan drew out the black Kun Wu dagger from his waist at the speed of lightning and pointed it at his opponent''s neck. The man muttered something strange and while he shifted his neck, he slashed towards Chen Fan''s chest with his knife in his hand. Chen Fan was startled because he really did not expect the man to be so daring as the man resisted when there was a dagger pointed at his neck. "Be careful!" Wu Ruoyu who ran up front screamed to alert Chen Fan. Chen Fan''s body moved slightly. Swish! The gleaming Kun Wu dagger was like a firefly that moved in a split-second. Clang! The well-made Yengisar knife broke in half due to the slash by Chen Fan using the Kun Wu dagger. However, the dagger''s attack continued and the tip of the blade sliced open the man''s goatskin, leaving a piece of the bloody broken blade that splashed on the Banyan tree next to them. No screams were heard except for the sound of blood splashing. The two aggressive men had a look on their faces as if they had suddenly seen a green fitted shirt with an ''S'' printed on it after they saw Chen Fan being grabbed by the collar. "Ah...Ka" Their courage just now had disappeared, not even enough to fill the tip of a needle. All of them stared straight at Chen Fan''s dagger as if they had Alzheimer''s disease. Actually, the Yengisar knife that was made from traditional craftsmanship used good quality steel that was carefully selected by the craftsman. As a result, its texture was sharp and great. Craftsmen inspected the standard of a qualified knife by using it to cut an iron bar. If the iron was sliced cleanly in half and the blade did not crack on the edges, then their reputation wouldn''t be ruined. The man who had a long gash on his chest stood up with a strong urge to live, like a cockroach. Then, he stumbled off with his hands clutching his chest. Chen Fan ran to catch up with him and gave a flying kick without any hesitation. The man was truly somebody who worked out at the gym. As he got up to his feet immediately after being kicked by Chen Fan, he disappeared in the blink of an eye into the shadows and was nowhere to be seen, leaving only a pool of blood on the ground and a few blotches of blood on Chen Fan''s clothes. The remaining two men clenched their teeth and exchanged glances and both of them felt as if their eyeballs were about to burst. Using teamwork to carry the man who lay motionless on the ground, they ran away with a ''woosh'' before Chen Fan turned back. "Were you hurt?" Wu Ruoyu trotted over to Chen Fan after she had calmed down from the extreme shock. "No!" Chen Fan put the dagger that had no traces of blood back into the scabbard and quickly opened the car door to brush off the shattered glass. "Get in quickly and let''s leave, or are you waiting for the police to come?" "Ah" Wu Ruoyu was startled by Chen Fan''s loud voice and got into the front seat hurriedly. "I never expected to meet a few lunatics today who would dare to break my car''s window in public." Chen Fan clenched his fist in anger. "How could my car window be smashed by a group of thugs? I''ve never even put a scratch on it before." "By the way, why do you have a dagger with you? Are you afraid that those guys from the breakfast shop will seek revenge?" Wu Ruoyu asked with curiosity while staring at Chen Fan''s back, "Weren''t you bragging that you threw them into the sea?" "What if they swam up to shore?" Chen Fan was too lazy to explain why he kept a dagger with him, so he simply answered Wu Ruoyu. .............................. Chen Fan was considered quite lucky as there was no sign of the police even after he reached Bolan Gardens. After sending off Wu Ruoyu, Chen Fan crouched in the garage and stared, heart-aching, at his car with a missing window. "Boss, why was your car window smashed?" Wang Bing walked out of the guest room, and said in a pitying tone, "It must be because you are driving without attending proper driving lessons." "Bullshit!" Chen Fan got up and pointed to the spots of blood on his body. "It was smashed by several daring robbers when I was having my meal. They even dared to stab me with a knife when I rushed out. Fortunately, I was quite skilled in fighting, so they were slashed by me instead." "So insane!" Wang Bing widened his eyes in disbelief. "Yup, if I wasn''t that insane, it would have been me who was being cut tonight." "How could you let him go then?" Wang Bing said with a grim expression. "You should have held him back and made him pay for the loss. You should have demanded 10 RMB from him every time he smashed a piece of glass. By the way, how did you cut that man down? Was the cut deep?" "It should be quite deep. I made such a long cut on his chest," Chen Fan replied while estimating the length of the cut with his hand. "If that''s the case, he''ll have to go to the hospital. Let''s wait at the hospital nearby tonight and give him two more extra cuts when we see him." "Don''t we have enough trouble on our hands already?" Chen Fan glanced at Wang Bing and said, "Drive it to the factory tomorrow and get the window replaced." Sigh... Wang Bing gently touched the ''injured'' BMW with a sad face as if the hammer did not hit the car, but his wife''s face. Back in the bedroom, Chen Fan was still filled with sorrow as he lay on his bed. If it was possible, he would even bear the hit of the hammer on his BMW. Ring At this moment, Chen Fan''s cell phone rang. 81 Southeast Asia "Who''s this?" Chen Fan was too lazy to even look at the number, pressing the answer key directly. "Bro Chen, you must have been very busy, you don''t even recognize my number?" A sinister voice came from the other side. "Oh, Boss Chen, what can I do for you?" "Are you free? Let''s chat over tea." "I''m okay, you need my help to transport tiger bones again?" "No, no!" Chen Shuguang gave a cunning laugh before saying, "It''s another big matter. Do you have time to meet?" "Now" Chen Fan looked at the time and said, "Alright, you name a place." -------- Half an hour later, after arriving in a cab at a tea house called ''Paradise Tea Garden''... The guy seemed to have a hobby of going to tea houses. He asked to meet Chen Fan at a tea house every time they conspired. "Bro Chen, it''s been just a few days but you look a little haggard." Chen Shuguang looked at Chen Fan with bantering eyes. "You didn''t take the tiger bone wine I gave you?" "It''s not about that. It''s been a bad day for me." Chen Fan waved his hand and poured himself a cup of tea. "So, why are you looking for me?" "It''s a huge deal, do you think you can stomach it?" "Huge deal? Don''t tell me you wanna get rid of all the tigers in Vietnam and then retire after that?" "Mine is small-scale compared to those powerful bosses. It''s not about medicinal drugs this time." "What is it then?" Chen Fan used his poor imagination. "Don''t tell me you are trafficking women over and selling them to others as wives?" "...Ermm...just listen to me" Chen Shuguang lowered his voice. "Previously when I went to Myanmar from Vietnam to buy tiger bones, through referral, I spent half a month to heal a very powerful man of his rheumatoid arthritis using my secret prescription. During this half a month, I got to know him better. After I expanded my business, I started to do marine transport from Vietnam, but I still visit him occasionally in Myanmar and get some jadeite from him at low prices to sell to the jewelers who went to Myanmar to receive goods" "Can you go straight to the point? It''s not a good habit keeping someone in suspense." "Haha." Chen Shuguang turned the jadeite ring on his finger and said, "This ring was given to me by him as a reward. I was a fool and wanted to be paid in cash, but I was afraid that he would be embarrassed, so I forced myself to accept it and pretended to be happy. Guess what happened after that?" "I can''t guess what happened, but I can tell you very seriously that if you continue to leave me hanging like this, I''ll get very angry!" This guy left Chen Fan hanging as high as the Himalayas but still continued to speak slowly. "After that, not long after I was on the streets and I bumped into a jeweler from Guangdong" Chen Shuguang recalled. "He immediately offered 2 million RMB for my ring, only then did I realize that this ring''s a treasure, so I quickly rejected him. This man didn''t give up and increased the price to 2.6 million RMB. He saw that I was still unrelenting and finally left bitterly. And this was the price six years ago. It''s gone up more than a fold now." "So what huge business does he have that you need to be so secretive about?" Chen Fan was full of doubts. "Don''t tell me it''s smuggling jadeite?" "Wrong!" Chen Shuguang enjoyed the feeling of teasing others very much, looking very pleased. "Jadeite is only rare in our eyes. To them, it is as worthless as mackerel is to us. But they have the good habit of using worthless items to pay for things. When we sell these ''worthless'' items to the local jewelers, we can get prices higher than abalone." "Last week when I brought two bottles of tiger bone wine to visit him, he asked me what method I used recently for delivering goods from Vietnam. I gave it a thought and told him that I contacted a resourceful local smuggler." Chen Shuguang teased Chen Fan before sipping some tea. "Then guess what happened?" "I guess you''re gonna be bashed up by me." Chen Fan pounded the table and stared hard. "Then he asked me if that powerful smuggler was reliable." Chen Shuguang acted mysterious on purpose. "He said that he recently had some goods detained at sea, and it was likely to be tipped off by a local. So, he asked if I could contact you. He wants an unfamiliar face from a far place to help him transport his goods." "I''m not familiar with that place, I''m not gonna take the risk!" Chen Fan pressed his hands together tightly. Chen Shuguang raised his hand and waved, signaling to Chen Fan not to come to a conclusion so soon. "He''s a very powerful man over there, but his boss is even more powerful. He''s the type who just needs to stamp his feet and the entire Myanmar and the surrounding countries will shake. So, as long as you get connected with him, wealth and riches are guaranteed to come your way in the future." "Then why didn''t he get his boss to help when his ship got seized?" "He" Chen Shuguang rubbed his hands and his face was filled with embarrassment. "His boss is the type who always sets himself against the government, so it''s not surprising that such a thing happened." Chen Fan''s legs turned jelly, and he almost fell to the ground. "Don''t tell me it''s anti-government armed forces?" "Yes! The items seized by the government were firearms, and they were transported from Russia." Chen Shuguang leaned closer to Chen Fan and mumbled. "I''m not sure of the exact details, I only wanna ask if you have any way to load goods from Russia." "Why not? It''s Russia, not hell." Chen Fan frowned. "But...seriously I''m not keen on having anything to do with them no matter how powerful they are. I''m not confident dealing with foreigners." "Don''t turn me down yet, I have a good personal relationship with that man. I''m good at assessing people and he''s definitely not one who will go back on his word." "It''s not about having a good personal relationship or not." Chen Fan frowned deeply. "If it''s just transporting jadeite and stuff from Myanmar, I can guarantee that nothing will go wrong. But it''s different for Russia. The country ranks high up in terms of both land and power. I''m worried that my ship will be seized by the customs there." "Bro Chen, your worry is unfounded." Chen Shuguang laughed cunningly. "What''s in abundance over there in Russia? There are lots of firearm dealers, and they''re all powerful and resourceful people. I''m not exaggerating, but if they do not have at least a few private ports under them, they wouldn''t dare to call themselves firearm dealers." "Once your ship enters Russia, I guarantee that you''ll be treated like royalty. Not only will there not be any problem at the customs, you can even get them to escort you out of the country if you request for it." "Well" Chen Fan rubbed his forehead and went into deep thought. Actually, Chen Fan was worried that if the loading of goods was done at the other party''s territory, they might find his movements strange. After all, he couldn''t possibly come up with a ship out of nowhere. He only had a super huge electric eel hiding underwater. But then, they would never believe that there was a super eel avatar controlled by human thought in the world. They would just be puzzled as to how the goods were loaded onto the ship at most. "Does that man know the people in Russia well? If possible, I hope to throw the goods into the sea and my men will go get them. If it''s not possible, I''m afraid I can''t take up this deal." "I suppose so. He sounded like he''s on good terms with them." Chen Shuguang scanned the place before saying, "I don''t know the exact details, but it''s better that you make a trip with me to Myanmar, and we can discuss it with that man. After all, this is a rare opportunity. Once we get connected with those people, money will come rolling in. And when we build deeper relationships with them in the future, I guarantee that you''ll make it big in the whole of Southeast Asia." 82 A Fake Nuclear Submarine "Across Southeast Asia? My house is in the Zhongyun city," Chen Fan said. "I couldn''t possibly move to Burma." "What if you are wanted by the public?" Chen Shuguang said, "The risk of doing this doesn''t need my explanation. If you can''t stay here, you can go to Southeast Asia. Don''t mention the police since it''s useless even if the Interpol goes there." "Well, let me give you a simple briefing on my background!" Chen Fan looked up. "I can run anywhere in this business, but my ship can''t be exposed because it has a lot of problems. I''m afraid the government will do everything possible to take my life if it gets out." "That serious?" "Yes, that''s why I try to hide my ship''s whereabouts." Chen Shuguang was puzzled at first, then paused for two seconds, and began to breathe rapidly. "Bro, tell me the truth. Did you use a submarine to smuggle it? I heard that over the last two years, this method was very popular, especially in the United States. The drug dealers specialized in manufacturing miniature submarine carriers, only revealing its tip while sailing at sea. They would immediately submerge in the water once they encountered the anti-smuggling Customs or Navy." In a change of tone, Chen Shuguang said, "The last time you asked me to throw the cargo into the sea, I was wondering, why were you acting so mysterious instead of just going to the dock and loading up the goods?" "This..." Chen Fan rubbed his forehead hard, ruminating, did not answer Chen Shuguang. Chen Shuguang''s words, like an enlightenment, pushed open a brand-new door that led him to a new world. First of all, it was extremely unrealistic to pretend that the black electric eel was a submarine even at night. The body and steel texture were completely different, and which country''s submarine would sail in an s-type swing like the eel while sailing? What really inspired Chen Fan was... The process of making a mini-submarine was not complicated, and it could be said that any larger shipyard could make one. Chen Fan had once read in the news that said: The Guangdong province had seized a high performance, completely sealed, bulletproof submersible ship that definitely would leave the customs in the dust. The ship was not only welded to a turtle shell shape with a high hardness plate but the ship''s bow was also fitted with two specially designed collision angles, which were particularly used to strike the Coast Guard vessel. That fact that was even more shocking was that the ship could sink to the bottom of the sea to avoid being traced, and its power system was a turbocharged engine with a total of 1,200 horsepower. You could definitely get rid of 99 percent of the Coast Guard vessels with a speed as high as 50 knots. The submarines made by the drug dealers were even more advanced, usually only showing the tip of the boat on the surface of the water. Once they entered the American territorial waters, they would submerge under the water and come out of the water when they landed on the shore to unload their goods. The extent of its insidious nature could make the crew of the Coast Guard vessel go mad to the point of vomiting blood. Although the submarine was unable to avoid the detection and attack of a warship, courage and luck were needed to be in this field. The sea was vast but do you think warships were really like fish, and that they would be everywhere? Even the United States, the world''s most adept country at detecting smugglers who use submarines, claimed emphatically that the tiny submarines were simply too impossible to guard against. It could be seen that smuggling using a submarine was indeed a transporter that had the highest security in this field. Why not make a submarine model to cover the electric eel''s whereabouts? As long as he could find a processing factory that could make things using the panel to weld a large submarine model, that would be good. As for the waterproof submarines, power, pressure, distance and security problem, all of these need not be considered, because the electric eel was the one that would pull the submarine, and not the submarine pulling the electric eel. Thinking about this made Chen Fan excited. It would not only be more glamorous when the electric eel dragged a fake submarine, but even the problem of the electric eel being exposed, which Chen Fan was most worried about, would be solved. Even the person who has high jump thinking skills wouldn''t be able to guess that the submarine was a completely empty shell. The real, whole dynamic system was actually a sea monster of over fifty meters long. "... Hmm... " Chen Fan was deep in thought for a long time, and finally lifted his head, and acted mysteriously as he approached Chen Shuguang''s ear and said, "To tell you the truth, I do use the submarine to smuggle. The performance of the submarine is absolutely not what the civilian version could compare with. It''s not even an exaggeration to say that, with the weapon system removed, the submarine, which could carry 20 tons of cargo, was as good as a military submarine." "So you have a large submarine?" Chen Shuguang asked in a worried tone. "It should be no problem for it to go to Burma, considering the useless navy ships in Burma. Your submarine will not be found out even if you sail right under them. But unlike Russia, you would have no trouble sailing a merchant ship there, however, they are sensitive towards the submarines, and if the navy ships find it, the arms dealers will not be able to speak for you." ''"You can rest assure, since I''m in this field I have the confidence to do this, as long as they don''t disclose my submarine," Chen Fan said. "They are fine as long as they have money to make, they would not care whether you swim there or use a submarine to load." Chen Shuguang shrugged his shoulders. "When could you go to Myanmar with me?" "In three days!" Chen Fan took a sip of the tea from his cup and then stood up. "I have something to deal with these few days." "Then bro, go with me to the travel agency to get a visa tomorrow, then we will go in the name of traveling." Chen Fan looked at the time and said, "You call me in the afternoon and let me know!" .............................. After bidding farewell to Chen Shuguang, Chen Fan laid on the bed as soon as he was back home, carefully constructing, what type of submarine he should create. The next morning, after Chen Fan sent Wang Bing to reinstall the car window. He drove his car alone to the small shipyards by the sea. The shipyard in Zhongyun city was as much as cow''s hair. To order a submarine model was a piece of cake. After a few turns, Chen Fan chose a relatively cool looking shipyard. "Boss, are you here to order a cruise ship?" As soon as Chen Fan got out of the car, he was warmly welcomed by a dark, skinny, middle-aged man in his thirties. "No! How long will it take for you to weld a submarine model which is 30 meters long, six meters wide and three meters high?" Chen Fan asked. "Such a big submarine model... "The middle-aged man tugged his ear." There are no orders now. If it is only a model, it would take about five days. What type of submarine would you like to imitate?" Chen Fan felt that the Sea Wolf level submarine which he had seen last time was not bad, and took it as a model. "Just imitate the American SeaWolf-class nuclear submarine!" Chen Fan broke off a branch from the tree by his side and drew something on the sand, "Using a 12 mm steel welding plate, change the propeller at the tail of the submarine into a sealed valve door, on both sides make a long line-shaped water storage tank, so it can keep the state of the submarine semi-submersible in the sea. There is no need to solder the observation deck above the submarine and weld four one-meter-long u-shaped clips on each corner." "This is simple. Do you want to install it as an automatic drain?" "No, you just leave ten holes in a row as the draining hole. Three days, I need to see the submarine done in three days, and the price would not be less," Chen Fan said while handing the man 20, 000 RMB from his chest pocket. The middle-aged man took the money, patted his chest and said. "It''s just a model so I could hire a couple of workers temporarily to make it in two and a half days." "Yes, and paint the whole boat with black paint and then paint the word ''SeaWolf-Class Nuclear Submarine'' in English in white paint." 83 Silver Necklace After leaving the shipyard, Chen Fan took out his phone to call Chen Shuguang, to ask him where he was so that they could go prepare the travel documents. Chen Shuguang was indeed a veteran. After the two of them arrived at the travel agency and took three two-inch colored photos with white a background, they only needed to fill out an exit application form, and they could go back and collect their visas two days later. -------- After waiting for two days, Chen Fan received a call from the shipyard informing him that the submarine model was ready and could officially be put into use. "How is it? Are you satisfied with how it looks?" The middle-aged man pointed at the submarine model behind him. "I''ve made the tail thruster valve almost like the real one. If we make it according to the dimensions, it will definitely scare our Zhongyun Navy to death!" "Your ''Seawolf Class'' seems to be spelled wrong." Chen Fan pointed at the alphabets on the submarine body. "I remember seeing on the internet, I think it''s ''Soawllf Class''." "Well." The man looked a little confused. "I also searched for it on the internet and it should be correct!" The fact was the man had indeed gotten it wrong, but Chen Fan wasn''t right either! "Forget it, I''m also not too sure." Chen Fan went into the submarine to have a look before nodding. "The overall feel is not bad. Push it into the sea and get a tugboat to tow it further away. I''ll make a call to get a ship to pull it away." "Alright!" The owner shouted to a few strong men to come over, poured oil onto the axis, and then removed the skid underneath the submarine model, causing it to slide into the water with the slope''s inertia. Thump! With a thunderous sound, the entire submarine fell into the water, producing enormous waves. Once it got into the water, huge water bubbles appeared on both sides of the submarine. After thirty seconds when the water storage tanks at the two sides had been filled with water, the submarine started going slowly into the water, showing only its black tower at the top. After getting people to pull the submarine model to the designated location, Chen Fan drove to the beach. While there was no one around, he wrapped the Kunwu dagger and the Luger pistol with a few layers of plastic bag before taping them onto the front claw of the electric eel. He was getting them ready for use in Myanmar. After the taping was done, Chen Fan huddled back into the car to control the eel. He got the eel to grab the tail of the submarine and use its claws to turn the valve, filling the hold with some water so that the submarine could sink to the bottom of the sea on its own. "Fully manual silent submarine..." Chen Fan exclaimed as he drove toward Zhongyun City''s airport. -------- After leaving his car in the car park, Chen Fan dialed Chen Shuguang''s number to ask him where he was. "I''m here!" Just as he stepped into the main building, Chen Shuguang came forward wearing a yellow cap. He thrust a plastic bag at Chen Fan before pointing to his own attire. "Quickly go to the toilet and get changed. We signed up for a tour group, so our attire has to be uniform." "This is real ugly" Chen Fan pulled out a yellow cap printed with the words "Fiyata Travel Agency" on it. "Why does it look like an orange?" Chen Shuguang gave him a ''count yourself lucky'' expression. "The travel agency I signed up with the previous time gave a green cap!" After getting changed and following the tour group into the plane, Chen Fan pretended to rest with his eyes closed while he focused his thoughts on the electric eel. The electric eel grabbed the thirty-meter long, six meter wide submarine with its claws as if it had caught a bighead carp. With the meteor hammer on the submarine, the eel held onto the four U-shaped clamps, moving its tail and swimming toward Myanmar. The flight time from Zhongyun to Myanmar was around seven hours, but the electric eel needed almost three days with its current speed. Just when Chen Fan was focused on the electric eel, Chen Shuguang who was seated near the aisle gave Chen Fan''s shoulder a pat. "What is it?" Chen Fan shifted his thoughts back and opened his eyes. "We''re arriving at Yangon airport in another half an hour. Let me explain to you the culture and taboos there." Before Chen Fan could reply, Chen Shuguang started rattling. "Ninety-five out of a hundred people there believe in Buddhism. Although you''re not a believer, you have to put your palms together when you see a statue of a Buddha in front of others. Don''t ever use your left hand when someone passes you something, not even when shaking hands" "What the hell, so many taboos!" Chen Fan could not help but respond with vulgarities. "You can''t go out today, can''t borrow money tomorrow, can''t give gifts the day after...then what''s the point of living?" "Just get used to it, get used to it!" Chen Shuguang gestured him to calm down. "Dear passengers, flight 10315 bound for Yangon, Myanmar is ready for descent. Please fasten your seat belts Dear passengers" Just as Chen Fan was grumbling, the sweet voice of the flight attendant came from the announcement system. "Fasten your seat belt, it feels horrible during the descent!" Chen Shuguang fastened his seat belt while reminding Chen Fan. After getting off the plane, Chen Shuguang went to the tour guide and mumbled something before thrusting a stack of notes to him and left the tour group with Chen Fan. "Where are we going now?" Under the dim yellow lighting, Chen Fan looked at the unfamiliar buildings in the surroundings and his thoughts seemed to travel back to the nineties all of a sudden. "Let''s find a place to stay for the night. We''ll take a five to six hour train ride to Rakhine State early tomorrow morning!" Chen Shuguang hailed a white cab. "The surroundings may look old and tattered, but the number of high spending areas in Yangon is no less than in Zhongyun." The level of spending in Yangon is much less than in Zhongyun, and the businessmen here all looked like devout Buddhists, not knowing even the basics of ripping someone off. While lying on his hotel bed at night, Chen Fan shifted his thoughts onto the electric eel again. After Chan Fan spent almost seven hours on the plane, the eel had only reached Fujian Province. It still had to go around the Taiwan Strait and then toward Myanmar. Early next morning, Chen Fan, while still feeling drowsy, got pulled to the train station by Chen Shuguang. After getting two tickets to Rakhine, Chen Fan had wanted to continue with his sleep on the train, but his drowsiness completely disappeared the moment he got on the train. After leaving the still passable city of Yangon, the scenery on the train journey made Chen Fan feel that this country was only just a little bit better off than North Korea. Nonetheless, it was still a backward place that even a rat wouldn''t want to stay at. This was not the main cause of Chen Fan''s worry. He was in fact worried that the train he was on might go off the track any time. Other than being as slow as an ill, old cow, the old green train first shook to the left until it got oriented on the track before it started shaking in the other direction, repeating this as it went forward. The level of danger was definitely enough to make a timid person shed tears. "Just get used to it!" Chen Shuguang consoled with a smiling face. "Although the probability of the train going off track in Myanmar is much higher than in other countries, I always buy the tickets for the seats at the back. The unlucky ones will be those seated in front, it won''t be us." Rakhine State is an unincorporated state in Myanmar, and Chen Fan and company''s destination was the capital of Rakhine State, Sittwe. The train shook all the way there until noon. Chen Fan finally put his heart at ease when he placed one foot on the concrete floor. Chen Shuguang and Chen Fan finally reached their destination. after a half hour cab ride. It was a domed building gilded with gold. The surrounding long white walls and unmatched height of the building were evidence of the owner''s status. Chen Shuguang seemed to frequent this place. After greeting the two guards with a smile, the guards opened the scarlet main gate and gestured them inside. After walking through a dense bamboo grove, Chen Shuguang pointed at a religious looking building. "This is the mansion of that powerful man. Its grand, isn''t it?" Chen Fan curled his lips, "It''s passable." There was a man and a woman in the white themed main hall. The man was in his forties, wearing thumb-size Buddha prayer beads around his neck and a white knee-length robe. His sallow face was covered with wrinkles. Sitting opposite him was a curvy young woman in a cream-colored dress, with a pair of sunglasses on her fair face. Together with her chestnut-brown chopped hair, she looked liked like a movie star on a poster. "The mistress is really hot!" Chen Fan smacked his lips and mumbled. But he immediately realized that he was wrong. "Mr Wu, I''ll make a move first. Let''s catch up again soon!" The woman stood up graciously after seeing that there were guests. She put her palms together which looked like praying in Buddhism before walking in between the two men in her white leather boots with a Chanel logo and left. "Smells so good." After the woman walked out of the main door, Chen Shuguang whispered to Chen Fan as he became intoxicated with the scent. "Hey bro, what''s wrong with you?" Chen Shuguang patted Chen Fan''s shoulder. "Don''t tell me you''re mesmerized by this woman...love at first sight?" "Hey, Bro Chen, can you stop behaving like an obsessed freak?" "Hey" Chen Fan was still like a wax figure, not moving at all. A nuclear explosion had taken place in his mind. Needless to say, he wasn''t being an obsessed freak, and neither was it because the curvy woman looked like his first love. It was because... On the woman''s fair neck was a thin silver necklace, and below it was a small black dagger with wisteria flower carvings on it. 84 Huge Background "Why does the dagger on her neck look exactly like Kun Wu?" Chen Fan''s facial expression was caught in a geometric diversity at that split moment and even Hua Luogeng wouldn''t have been able to solve the complex problem. The shape and the pattern of the four-centimeter dagger pendant hanging on the woman''s neck was similar to the Kun Wu dagger. Chen Fan swore that this unique design of the elegant dagger was absolutely the only one in the world and there was no possibility of mass production available. ...... "Bro, bro, wake up!" Chen Shuguang beat Chen Fan''s arm, rudely interrupting his structured, programmed thought. "Ah...ow..." Chen Fan was confused as he looked around, and only saw Chen Shuguang and the man with the Buddha bead. The expressions on their faces were saying "you are a lost cause" while they stared at him. The master patted Chen Fan''s shoulder and said with all earnestness. "Son, she is a rose with a thorn. You can''t touch her." Chen Shuguang slapped Chen Fan''s arm, then turned his head and said, "The rest of my bro''s character is not bad. The only problem is that he is lubricious! Bro, who is that woman? Does she have a huge background?" "Daughter of Fu Chenghui of Hong Kong...today he came to talk about the jade business. He wants to take a batch of stocks from me. This woman is no ordinary little girl. Even I have to respect her." "Fu Chenghui?" Chen Shuguang ruminated for a while, then shook his head and said, "I have never heard of such a person!" "I wouldn''t expect you to know him. Let''s not talk about this for now!" The white robed man waved his hand, smiled at Chen Fan and said, "Son, Chen Shuguang has already told me on the telephone about your situation. I want to ask you, how long it would take for your submarine to go back and forth? We''ve been waiting for the goods to start a war." "Well..." Chen Fan summed it up for a while. The electric eel could come here tonight, and then take the gun and the dagger, and go to Russia... "Ten days...the fastest is ten days to run a round trip." "Ten days." The man in the white robe touched his wrinkled nose. "Ten days is not considered slow, according to the dealers in Russia, you can rest assured. I had already informed them, as long as I give them notice, they will send the goods into the sea, and then you can call your people to load them into the submarine." "But are you sure the submarine will not be detected by the Navy? A thirty-meter long submarine is not as undetectable as a 10-meter gadget made by the Mexican drug lords." "I am ninety-nine percent confident that the submarine will be hidden from the Navy ship''s detection!" Chen Fan''s confidence was like Bryant shooting a basketball from the three-point line. "Son, since you''re so confident, there must be a reason for your confidence!" The man in the white robe squinted his eyes and said, "Meanwhile, have a fun time in Sittwe. It''s my territory, and I can still get you out if you don''t stir up a big mess." Then the man in the white robe waved to the maid who was at a distance, and after a conversation in Burmese, he said to Chen Fan, "The train here is not as comfortable as the one in your country, and you must have been exhausted after traveling for a long time. I''ll let the servant take you to rest, and then I will hold a welcome dinner for you with wine at night. ............ "Hey, why are you like a pig, sleeping once you are on the bed?" Chen Shuguang pushed through the door and shook Chen Fan''s body. He had already taken many long Burmese trains and was used to it, so he did not feel tired. He was bored sitting in the living room, so he came in to chat with Chen Fan. "You''re the one like a pig," Chen Fan said with an annoyed tone. It was a bad thing to be dragged back from the electric eel, especially when the electric eel was eating. "Say, what''s the matter?" Chen Fan said in a non-friendly manner. "Why are you sleeping when you should be calling your submarine?" "I already informed them earlier. We are using satellite communication. The telephone is an outdated communication tool. How could we keep up with the times if we still used a phone?" Chen Fan pulled out a satellite phone with a long antenna. The phone charges 1.5 RMB per minute. I''m sure you haven''t used this before right?" "It''s only a local phone! Look at mine...authentic foreign brand!" Chen Shuguang took out a phone with Nokia printed on it and in an instant, it was performing like magic. "Get out!" Chen Fan pushed Chen Shuguang out of the door, and then with a "bang", he locked the door. "He''s more irritating than Wang Bing." With a murmur, Chen Fan continued to shift his mind to the electric eel. After working overtime these days, the electric eel was expected to arrive in the town of Sittwe about seven o''clock in the evening. After ripping up the remains of the shark, Chen Fan took control of the electric eel and swam towards the town. He had not yet figured out why he had agreed to come to Myanmar with Chen Shuguang without much deliberation. Chen Fan''s impression of Myanmar was a country of poverty, riots, drug lords and rebels. These things have always been what he wanted to escape from! "For money?" Chen Fan asked himself, but then immediately rejected that thought now that his fortune was somewhere near twenty million. Although he was not even one of the top five hundred richest people in Zhongyun City, nor a person who had graduated from university, but who always lived the life of a normal citizen, Chen Fan was really very satisfied. "Why on earth?" With a sigh, Chen Fan felt puzzled. "Is it because of... "Chen Fan thought of a sentence that was often read in novels. I don''t know why I''m here. It''s like I''m in the middle of something, and there''s this mysterious force that''s attracting me. "Was it the Hong Kong girl who sent out a mysterious magnetic field, and I received it, then I was magically attracted to Myanmar?" At the thought of the scene that happened just now, Chen Fan was puzzled. A woman with a necklace was not unusual, but one with a Kun Wu dagger pendant... "The daughter of Fu Chenghui of Hong Kong... I''ll use google.com to search when I go back, to check out their background." ......... In the evening, after tasting the wine prepared by the man in the white robe, Chen Fan asked permission to go out and enjoy the exotic atmosphere. Since it was before the day of loading, the white robed man was not afraid that Chen Fan would come up with some tricks, and he laughed and gave a few words of advice. "It''s not very safe outside, so don''t go too far. If you are lost, you can call Chen Shuguang." Outside, why would Chen Fan enjoy the scenery? He was too preoccupied to even take a glance at the girls in the colored sarong skirts on the road, but instead, strode off to the beach. Arriving at the beach, Chen Fan looked around, found there was no one, and quickly took off his clothes under which he wore boxer swimming trunks. He folded his clothes neatly, and placed his cell phone on them for weight and then went down slowly to the deep sea water. The electric eel, even without its claws was five meters tall. The beach here was not like the beach in Zhongyun City where the electric eel had dug out a dedicated channel to hide in, so in order to minimize the risk of the electric eel being exposed, Chen Fan had to swim into the water to reach it. Most of Myanmar is in the tropical zone, south of the tropic of cancer, with temperatures rarely below 30 degrees Celsius throughout the year, so Chen Fan was not afraid that he would freeze in the seawater. As the water reached his neck, Chen Fan took a deep breath and plunged into the water. With a dog style swim, he dove near the electric eel''s claws, opened the tape, attached a plastic bag with the pistol and the dagger to the eel, then kicked his foot on to the electric eel''s claw, and swam on to the surface of the water with the help of the counterforce of the kick. "Hu..." Catching his breath, Chen Fan went up the shore. "Sh*t! Where are my clothes and mobile phone?" Chen Fan ran to the shore and was so stunned that everything was lost in just five minutes. ================================================================ Four months... four months had passed... Ever since I got the electric eel, I have not been able to go to school, or even take a test, except to ask Professor Wang a few questions the next day after this happened. However, it is true that Zhongyun University is outrageous enough. After such a long time, the head teacher gave me a call to ask me if I want to go next semester? If I want to, I should go to the school and pay the tuition this semester. My family... It suddenly felt a little difficult to speak out...four months had passed...I had not dared to tell them that I am a multimillionaire now. Although I wouldn''t want to tell anyone about the secret of the electric eel, even my parents, my future wife, and children, I also don''t want to hide from my family about my wealth. But I just don''t know how to tell my family. How much I have, my parents know well. If I were to tell my parents that I was working to make money, they would be able to believe it. But to tell them that in just these four months, I have a company, live in a personal mansion, drive a BMW, and have nearly twenty million in the deposit of my passbook, I''m afraid they would take me to the hospital and immediately get my brain examined. If I take them to have a closer look in person of the mansion, and then place the passbook and car keys in the front of their eyes, I''m afraid they will lock me up immediately with a chain, then try to ask me where I got so much money from. I can predict easily, in the end, if I am not able to explain the monetary source, they will roll up all the property, then drag me,and we would flee to an unknown place, and our life would be always on tenterhook. Thus, without a logical explanation, I really don''t know what to do now.... 85 Let’s Make a Be "Who''s the wicked person who stole my clothes?" Chen Fan held onto the plastic bag, feeling helpless. Just the ID card and visa were enough to make Chen Fan vomit blood, not to mention the satellite phone and the over 100,000 Myanmar currency. With the help of the dim streetlight a distance away, Chen Fan observed the surrounding footprints carefully. Other than his own footprints, there was a pair that was obviously a few sizes smaller. "Between size 30 to 32...should be a child." Chen Fan came up with these numbers after measuring against his own footprints. However, Chen Fan soon fell into despair again. The footprints only extended to the road and there were no signs of them after that. "Heaven, you''re playing on me!" Chen Fan cried out, squatting by the side of the road. After struggling with his thoughts for a while, Chen Fan had no choice but to give up. He gritted his teeth and braced himself before walking toward the residence of the white-robed man. Chen Fan who only had his swimming trunks on brought a certain level of visual impact to the young Burmese ladies. His face, which was considered ordinary in Zhongyun, was not only more fair than the locals, but was seen as very handsome in Myanmar where men generally looked unattractive. It was definitely enough to turn the heads of the opposite sex. "Phew, this is a foreign country, nobody knows me. This is a foreign country, nobody knows me." Chen Fan braced himself against the gaze of those young ladies in colorful skirts. He kept reminding himself to be more thick-skinned. "Hey, little devil, why are you running about in your swimming trunks?" Just as Chen Fan was holding the plastic with one hand and covering his mouth with the other, he suddenly heard a crisp voice like that of a little lark. Turn into stone, completely turn into stone. So much for Medusa turning one into stone! The voice belonged to none other than the "rose" he encountered at the white-robed man''s house this afternoon. "Well" Chen Fan took five seconds to get himself out of the stonified state. "Little devil, how can you dress so casually when you''re out? And what''s with the plastic bag you''re holding?" The "rose" who was wearing a pair of sunglasses pointed at Chen Fan''s chest with her fair, slender hand. "Can you stop calling me little devil? I don''t think you are much older than me." Chen Fan carried the plastic bag behind him and said in a righteous tone. Chen Fan had specially wrapped a few thick plastic bags around the items previously. With the help of nighttime, Chen Fan was certain that she couldn''t see what was inside. "Hmm, you''ve got quite a temper, little devil. Just a few remarks and you''re unhappy?" Under the dim lighting, the "rose" dressed in a cream-colored dress with the black dagger hanging on her neck looked like a night elf in a fantasy world, giving off an air of "deadly seduction". "No," Chen Fan covered the middle of his chest with both hands. "I''m just curious. The sky is so dark and you''re wearing a pair of dark sunglasses, yet you could recognize me?" "Burmese men are not as daring as you, and few are as fair as you, so I couldn''t help but glance a few more times." The "rose" suppressed her laughter. "You know what it is to be shy? Then why did you come out in swimming trunks?" "The weather''s too hot. I took a bath in the sea after dinner, but my clothes got stolen. So I had no choice but to turn back." "Then why are you holding a ''Times Supermarket'' shopping bag? As far as I know, the Times Supermarket company is not powerful enough to open an outlet in Myanmar." The "rose" gave a faint smile. "Did you swim into the sea to salvage it? There''s actually a gun hidden inside and are you thinking of assassinating Mr Wu?" "With your associative ability, it''ll be a waste of your talent if you''re not an author for mystery novels." Although Chen Fan''s heart was thumping fast, he still sounded conceited. "Don''t you think it''s very dangerous for a woman like you to be walking around outside? Especially in Myanmar, especially in Myanmar at night. I think you should go back quickly and not stand here talking nonsense with me." "Hahaha...hahaha" The "rose" covered her mouth and laughed nonstop. It was only after Chen Fan started having chills and wanted to run away that she stopped. Don''t tell me she''s a lunatic? Chen Fan started making wild guesses. "Am I a tiger? You want so much to chase me away?" The "rose" was a little puzzled. "Weren''t you spaced out when you saw me this afternoon? Why do you look like you''re hiding from me now?" "Alright, you stay. I''ll leave!" After turning his back and taking a few steps, Chen Fan stopped. This was because the "rose" said something which he couldn''t pretend not to hear. "Do you wanna get your things back?" "Although I admit that your associative ability is very ''logical'', I do not believe that you can find my things!" "How about we make a bet?" The "rose" snapped her fingers gracefully. "What if I can find your things?" "Unless they''re stolen by you!" Chen Fan said impudently, "Otherwise, I don''t think you have any way to find my lost items." "Bet, or no bet?" The "rose" showed her pearly white teeth as she said each word with emphasis. "Bet, why not? I shall see how you''re gonna find my things." Chen Fan casually placed the plastic bag at the side of the road and sat on the ground. "What''s the bet? First let me get this straight. I''m only left with myself and this pair of swimming trunks. I don''t have any other valuable things to bet on." "How about that plastic bag beside you?" The "rose" pointed at Chen Fan''s side. "If I win, the plastic bag will be mine. If I lose, you can state a condition, but it can''t be something too unreasonable." "Hmm" Chen Fan rubbed his face hard. He was certain that she did not know what was in the plastic bag; she was just being cheeky. But looking at her full of confidence, Chen Fan was a little unsure. What if she saw the person who took his clothes by chance? After some thought, Chen Fan felt that the possibility was low. After all, they did not know each other. She did not have to go one big round to make fun of him. "Alright. If you lose, you''ll help me settle my air ticket back!" Chen Fan had no intention of abiding by the conditions of this bet. She was just a delicate woman who looked as if she would fall over with just a light push. If she really managed to find his lost items, Chen Fan was prepared to snatch the things and then run away. Chen Fan was not at all concerned about her background or how influential she was. Only a person who had nothing better to do would come after him over a silly bet. However, Chen Fan soon realized that he was wrong. The "rose" really was someone who had nothing better to do. "Little devil, don''t you try any tricks if you lose. Otherwise I''ll find trouble for you!" The "rose" shook her slender finger in front of Chen Fan. With Chen Fan''s astonished eyes looking at her, she took out an eight centimeter long jadeite flute out of nowhere. Although Chen Fan knew nothing about jadeite, he was certain that the flute was much prettier than the few million RMB ring on Chen Shuguang''s finger. The "rose" placed the flute on her lips and performed a beautiful tune for Chen Fan. After that, she squatted down following Chen Fan''s posture, and then stared at him with a smile that said "you''re gonna lose". "What are you doing?" Chen Fan was totally confused. What has finding the lost items got to do with a blowing flute? If lost items could be found by blowing the flute, there wouldn''t be any thieves in this world! "You''re gonna find out soon!" The "rose" said smilingly. "No cheating! You have to understand that most women are not magnanimous. I''ll be very angry if you cheat!" "Haha." What Chen Fan wanted to say was, "What can you do if I cheat? Don''t tell me you''re gonna get that Mr Wu to kill me?" It was funny seeing a delicate lady trying to act tough in front of a man. "Start thinking of a way to get me my plane ticket back!" Chen Fan hugged his knees as he leisurely rolled his tongue and imitated the sound of her flute. After less than five seconds, Chen Fan''s whistling suddenly stopped as his eyes almost popped out! He heard a loud chirp and saw a snow-white eagle with its wings spreaded out, flapping them before landing on the road beside the "rose". "White eagle?" Chen Fan almost fell to the ground. "This...this" It was difficult to describe how beautiful this eagle was. Other than its two round, shiny black eyes, even its beak and claws were pure white without any blemish. "This is the most sacred gift heaven bestowed to us Manchurians. It''s a gyrfalcon, not some albino vulture like you said!" "Dancing elegantly, like the bird called gyrfalcon" The "rose" rolled her eyes angrily at the country bumpkin before gently carrying the beautiful, white gyrfalcon and touching its head as she said, "There have been countless numbers of people mesmerized by it since ancient times but unable to get hold of it. But a country bumpkin like you didn''t even recognize it." White gyrfalcon? Manchurian rose? Chen Fan almost bit off his own tongue. He had never been more shocked in his entire life! This dainty and delicate looking little beauty actually had a big eagle which looked more ferocious than the electric eel. "Alright, I admit that my knowledge is limited!" Chen Fan stood up and said with a serious expression. "Although your eagle looked as pretty as you and its eyes looked many times stronger than ours, I still do not believe that its brain cells are comparable to the detectives in the police station!" "Little devil, I''m gonna show you what ''God''s incarnation'' is today!" At that moment, the "rose" looked as if she had been possessed by the Priestess of the Moon who had just attained level 6 Starfall, looking extremely awesome! 86 After Five Days When both of them arrived at the place on the beach where the things were lost, the ''rose'' unexpectedly held the white eagle, and let it smell him like a dog. Then, she raised her hands, and the white eagle screeched, flapped its wings and left. Chen Fan squatted on the ground and said with worry in his voice. "Are you sure you don''t have a dog as a pet, instead of a gyrfalcon?" The ''rose'' ceaselessly played the jade flute, and said in a confident tone like an indestructible iron hammer, "The vultures can smell the despair of dead animals a few kilometers away, and my gyrfalcon, which is like an emperor, has no reason to be weaker than a vulture!" Sigh... Chen Fan sighed softly. Even if he was to rack his brain, he just couldn''t imagine that an eagle could play the role of the police dog. A minute later, the white eagle came back and hovered over their heads. The ''rose'' asked Chen Fan to follow her. "It has found the things!" The white eagle, which was more like a guide dog, slowly took the two of them towards the direction more than five hundred meters to the east, and then stopped at a civilian house with red roof tiles. "The things you lost are here, but I hope they didn''t throw your personal documents away!" The ''rose'' looked around at the low building and then walked to the side of the house door made out of bamboo. Duh! Duh! The light yellow bamboo door was beaten by the ''rose'' as a melodious stridulating sound from the night insects was heard in the air. Creak... A little boy with dark skin about the age of twelve or thirteen popped his head out and looked at the two people outside suspiciously. When he saw a naked man... just like Little Red Riding Hood saw a big gray wolf, with a "bang" he closed the bamboo door. If the ''rose'' did not dodge quickly, she may have had to go to the hospital for nose surgery. "Get out of the way and watch what I do." Chen Fan walked to the door clutching the plastic bag. "Sure!" The ''rose'' smiled and moved to one side. Pushing hard with his hand, Chen Fan found out that the bamboo door seemed to be blocked from inside. "Have a good time in Sittwe, this is my territory, and I can still help you out if you don''t get into huge trouble..." What the white robed man said in the afternoon, came across Chen Fan''s mind again! Creak Bang! The bamboo door first made a creaking sound, and then was kicked open by Chen Fan with just one blow. Just as soon as his left foot stepped in, Chen Fan was immediately stunned. "Erm... " The smile on the ''rose''s'' face was also frozen until her expression immediately turned to disgust. In only a few dozen square meters of space, there were six, skinny young men with eyes sparkling in lust and staring stupidly, drooling with their mouths open. It was not Chen Fan who had created this situation, but, it was the ''rose'' who was standing behind Chen Fan, revealing a large part of her body. It was not an exaggeration to say that the lovely, tiny face of the ''rose'', could bring out the lust of even a monk who had done mind meditation for many years, much less that of a few young Burmese men who had only seen coarse, black-skinned female faces their whole life. "Hehe, this is a good scene to watch!" Chen Fan smiled slyly inside, then made an expression of fear and hid behind the ''rose''. Some of the young men had already aimed their lust toward the ''rose''. As he knew the ''rose'' so far, Chen Fan believed that she would not be able to be generous and hold back her anger from being sexually harassed by the looks of those men. Let''s see if you can stand it? Chen Fan''s head was filled with the malicious thought of wanting to see how this beautiful rose flower would deal with it after the encounter of this disgusting incident. The way the ''rose'' handled it was simple... The ''rose'' turned her body, with a twist of hands, her flowing hair whirled in the air gracefully Suddenly, Chen Fan unexpectedly stumbled two steps and was pushed into the house by the ''rose''. Although those young men were a not very attractive bunch, this didn''t mean that they were stupid. Comparing the passport and the photo of the identity card to Chen Fan, even a fool would know that it was the owner who came knocking on the door. "Sh*t Made the wrong move... " Chen Fan glared at the ''rose'', then pointed at the people crouching on the ground, indicating them to quickly pass the things over to him. Was there any reason for them to return what they got? On one side was a stack of new thousand RMB in cash, and a new cell phone that obviously looked like a premium standard hand phone, and on the other side was a "toy boy", with a beautiful lady more beautiful than jade. To think of another perspective, even if it was Chen Fan who had found a stack of money worth ten thousand, he wouldn''t want to give it back to its owner, let alone to the group of men who had a greedy look in their eyes. It was silence, a complete silence, and there was no one who replied to Chen Fan, except for the few sounds of suppressed breathing. "This..." Chen Fan simply walked to the front and grabbed his clothes with his right hand. All of a sudden... Chen Fan''s right hand swerved, and gripped his hand in a fist and punched the face of the man who dared to stop him. Unbelievable, seriously unbelievable... How dare the person stop the owner from taking back his own things? "Oh..." The dark face man''s head was immediately thrown back, blood flowed out from his two nostrils like tap water. Knocking over one, Chen Fan without saying anything, and before anyone had time to reflect... Swish! He grabbed the clothes on the floor, with another swift move, cast his feet and ran out of the door. Within the twinkling of an eye Chen Fan was out of sight. Not even his shadow was to be seen, leaving the ''rose'' stunned and shocked standing where she was. "Amazed, confused, complicated... " A series of emotions gathered on the faces of the several young men in the room, and even the little boy who stole the clothes had dropped his jaw in shock. How could a man, especially a man accompanied by a pretty girl, do such a thing? As bad as these men were, if they were in Chen Fan''s position, even if they had to fight six tigers, the opponent would have to tread on their dead bodies because they would not retreat. "Muahaha! " The whole room of men stared at the ''rose'' with an ''I want to ravage you'' look. Even the dark-faced man with the nosebleed could not suppress himself and gave out a lustful, maniacal laughter. With the red blood on his face, he looked like a visitor from hell. "Little beauty, your lover has run away!" The man with a bloody nose struggled to get up from the ground. His eyes were shining with lust and his words with a Vietnamese accent that were not clear, said, "But don''t be afraid, there are seven lovers here for you." ........................ "Would it be too shameless to do so... "Lying in bed, Chen Fan asked himself. But he was not worried about the danger of the ''rose'', because he had been training with Wang Bing, the super-master for a long time, and he definitely had some judgment. Just by the way the ''rose'' pushed him into the house, Chen Fan realized that she was as capable as him and had no problem protecting herself. "Who cares, let it be shameless, without any pressure!" The corners of his mouth twitched. Chen Fan moved his mind to the electric eel and then controlled it to swim towards the direction of Russia. The white robed man said the place of loading was a small town in eastern Russia called Dhaka, which would take about five days by sea between the two points. These days were calm and the ''rose'' had not come to seek Chen Fan and cause trouble. The electric eel was swimming in the sea and had not encountered any obstacles, especially submarine nets. Five days later... North latitude forty-seven, east longitude one hundred and thirty-six degrees, local time at eight o ''clock... 87 Tiny Black Dot a Distance Away "How is it? Have the codes been placed properly?" At the pier of Dhaka Lira, the big bearded, Balkiv tossed a cigarette to his companion before lighting one for himself. He said with a smile, "I heard from the boss that a submarine is coming to transport the goods this time. This bunch of Burmese are really something to be able to come up with a submarine for smuggling." "I think they''re just bragging." The companion lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply. "Our boss had wanted to get a submarine that had its weapon system removed. He had already offered up to 10 million USD, but those people from the military still refused to budge." "That depends on what type of submarine it is. If you just need it to float up after sinking, you can get a plastic pail, drill some holes in it and then install a motor and a compressor. That''s also a submarine. Those that use nuclear power and can launch strategic missiles are also called submarines." Balkiv spit out the cigarette butt, put it out with his foot, and then looked at the mechanical watch on his hand. "The Burmese submarine should be here soon. Quickly inform our men to pull the wooden rafts into the water." "Alright!" The companion replied and ran toward the pier. "Sh*t!" Balkiv cursed. "These Burmese, I mean bast*rds, bought more than a thousand anti-personnel mines. Don''t tell me they wanna perform a scaled-down version of World War II?" Five minutes later, the companion ran away and pointed at the dark seawater. "I wonder how it will be if everyone uses a submarine for smuggling? We won''t even need to waste energy sucking up to those coastal patrol guards. We just need to place the goods onto the wooden rafts and push them out to the sea and that''s it." "What are we waiting for? We''ve already gotten the money, who cares if those firearms are eaten by sharks or stolen by humans?" Balkiv stroked his big beard and shouted out to the front. "Come on everyone, I''ll treat everyone to vodka at Kastian Pub!" The men controlling the cranes and the ships bawled and quickly turned off the machines before slipping into the car. -------- On the dark, ocean water, seven or eight wooden rafts full of rectangular cargo boxes were drifting quietly. It was not difficult to guess from the remaining branches and poor joining techniques that these were substandard products done in a hurry. "Argh...these bunch of lunatics!" Chen Fan gasped. He was hiding in the water, not far away, and had observed the whole time through the eyes of the electric eel. There were eight wooden rafts, and each had a three by two by one meter orange plastic box tied on top of it. Just how many firearms and ammunition did they contain? Nevertheless, Chen Fan could only exclaim. He would never give up this transportation method because of the astonishing amount it could handle. After pulling the submarine around and making sure that there were no other ships around, Chen Fan controlled the eel to point the head of the submarine up and then used its back claws to twist open the hatch which had been disguised as a propeller. With its head pointing up, seawater would not be able to enter the hull due to pressure. He turned the eel the other way round and tried his best to imitate the way submarines emerge in movies, slowly sending the submarine out of the water surface. After floating to the water surface in a parallel position, water started entering the opened hatch at the tail of the fake submarine. Seeing this, Chen Fan quickly controlled the eel to raise the submarine up until it remained at the same height as the sea level and the water inside flowed out. It had to be mentioned that other than having an intersecting surface at its tail, this huge black metal tank looked exactly like a submarine. However, its model was a little peculiar and it was difficult to make out which country the submarine was from. With its belly facing up and using its four claws to push the submarine, the electric eel looked like a leviathan, as it slowly swallowed the wooden rafts one by one, before finally raising its tail and then it swam head first into the water. After closing the rear and shutting the valve underwater, the electric eel, with a black meteor hammer around its neck and a gorgeous human brain navigation system on its front claw, moved its black tail and swam toward the location of Chen Fan. This round trip spanned a huge distance. Based on the frequency of encountering danger during the previous few trips, there should be at least two or three encounters this time. However, nothing happened throughout the journey. Even the meteor hammer which had been brought purposely for underwater attacks did not come in handy. Chen Fan felt that it was a little strange. Five and a half days later, the extremely exhausted electric eel finally reached the shore of Sittwe. At midnight, after getting the eight wooden rafts out from the submarine and informing the white-robed man to go collect the goods, Chen Fan collapsed on the bamboo bed and started drooling in less than five minutes. Due to serious lack of sleep for more than ten days, Chen Fan woke up at noon the next day. In the spacious grand living hall"Young man, you''ve been a great help this time. I have to show you my greatest appreciation!" On the couch, the white-robed man''s face wrinkled up as he smiled happily. "I''ve already gotten a jade dealer from Yunnan to transfer 20 million RMB to your company''s account. You can call to check now." After Chen Fan made a call to the bank''s customer service, the white-robed man continued. "That''s not all. I have another gift for you later." "What gift?" Chen Fan got curious. They had already agreed on the price to be around 20 million RMB. If it was a gift from the white-robed man, it had to be something good. The white-robed man said mysteriously, "Let me treat you to a good meal first before giving it to you! Quoting from your country, ''Strangers at first meeting, friends at the second''. After this deal, we are now friends! If you encounter any trouble in the future, just give me a call and I guarantee that you will have professional soldiers at your command within three days!" "Um!" Chen Fan nodded smilingly. "Mr Wu, if you need to transport any goods by sea in the future, feel free to call me too!" "Hahaha" The white-robed man let out a hearty laugh before standing up from the couch. "Young man, let''s go enjoy a great farewell meal!" The man was indeed an influential person. He was able to come up with exquisite food of high end restaurant quality in poverty-stricken Sittwe. At the dining table, Chen Shuguang entertained the other two men to the best of his abilities, pouring them wine, helping them light cigarettes, and chatting about everything under the sun. This three man dinner was livelier than a wedding banquet. "Young man, this is my gift to you!" After having enough food and wine, the white-robed man took out a wooden box from under the table and gave it to Chen Fan. Touching the small square box, Chen Fan was about to open it when the white-robed man pressed his hand on it and said mysteriously, "Don''t be so anxious, young man. Open it when you get back!" "Sure, sure." Chen Fan smiled as he held the box into his arms. Open it when I get back? You must be kidding, I''m gonna see what''s hidden inside once I get out! "Young man, I''ve got someone to take you to Yangon!" The white-robed man sounded sad and reluctant for him to leave. "Do come visit whenever you''re free. I''ll make sure you won''t want to go back after that." "I will, I will!" Chen Fan stood up politely. After stepping out of the living hall and walking in the courtyard, Chen Shuguang whispered to Chen Fan when the white-robed man was walking in front. "What do you think he gave you?" "How would I know when I''ve not opened it?" Chen Fan rolled his eyes. "I''ll look at it later in the car!" At that instant, Chen Shuguang suddenly stared with his eyes wide open and pointed to a tiny black dot mixed with white smoke in the distant sky. "What''s that?" "Where?" Chen Fan raised his head with curiosity and looked at the direction Chen Shuguang was pointing. 88 Bazooka Rumble ... The little black spot at a distance in the sky turned into a "stick" shape object with long white smoke trailing at the end. It approached the courtyard at a speed of 300 meters per second. Chen Fan was at first stunned, but when he heard the rumble in the air, and, after he saw that long white smoke, he absolutely understood that what was approaching definitely was not beneficial to human health, and would not promote social stability and prosperity. "Rockets ... " Chen Fan was not even able to understand why he had to encounter this situation. He immediately became alert and jumped into the pond beside him with a bouncing ability that was even better than Jordan, the Flying man. Quicker than words were told, both of them that were with Chen Fan on the road noticed the crisis from the air. Their physical strength was pushed to the limit because of the threat of death. The white-robed man who walked in front of him, threw himself into the bamboo forest, while Chen Shuguang, was zero point two seconds slower and splashed into the pool nearby like Chen Fan. Just as Chen Fan leaped into the pool beside the cobblestones, the rocket, which had been flying in a straight line, as though being hit by a thunderbolt, smashed into the position where they had stood just a moment ago. Boom! At the instant when the bazooka exploded, the ground quivered as though it had been attacked by a seizure. Chen Fan who was not able to fully dive into the pond was unable to move due to the strong force that collided with his upper body after the muffled thundering sound. The smoke had cleared, leaving only a hole with black smoke on the shady trail. The bamboo trees around the area were pulled out from the ground due to the great impact. As for the man hiding in the bamboo bushes, his white robe had been stained red with blood, and he was lying motionless on the ground, not knowing whether he was alive or dead. How could this feeling be described? It was as if a child who had a very severe fever for three days and the only thing that came into his mind would be an endless pain. Any other thought would be temporarily forgotten. Floating like a dead fish in the pool, Chen Fan couldn''t hear any sound. He could only feel his skin, which was surrounded by water that was constantly sending out an irregular frequency of a trembling ripple. Ten seconds later... After he finally regained control of his body, Chen Fan strenuously turned around his body and kept wheezing. The shock that Chen Fan''s heart experienced was indescribable. He was leisurely strolling in the quiet, shady trail, and at a split-second, he felt as though he experienced space transformation, and was transferred to the central zone of the second world war. Immediately after the explosion, the seven to eight guards who were stationed in the room rushed out, with an AK-47 each, and they fired at the direction of the white mark in the sky that had not been cleared. Dadada dadada dadada... The bullet from the barrel of the gun produced a hissing sound that could make the eardrum feel like thunder blasted it. It hit a white building that was five hundred meters away at a speed of more than seven hundred meters per second. The tower, which was as white as jade before the rocket hit, was now, all of a sudden covered with dust like the beach sand being hit by the falling rain. One of the guards with a blue turban probably felt that these were not enough, so he took out a bazooka with RPGC7 painted on its corners. Two seconds later, a meteor dragging a long white trail of smoke at its back, collided into the building with the speed of lightning. Chen Fan only felt the air around him shudder a little, and his eardrum tickled. A hole three meters in diameter was ripped out of the white building. The shock wave bands from the blast spread out into the circular blackened walls and there were some splashes of blood on it. Chen Fan, who thought the war was over, was stunned as though he saw an alien. Not far away, a heavy-duty bulldozer made by the German Maschinen Company came out from the courtyard causing the ground to tremble as though it was going to split in half. Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Several guards immediately turned the gun and charged the metal monster with rains of ammunition. However, the bulldozer, with its adze in front, and with the sparks produced by the collision of the bullet, kept heading forward. One of the guards wanted to run in to get the rocket launcher, but he felt weakness in the knees and fell onto the muddy ground. A stream of blood was flowing out of the man''s chest, and his clothes and the ground were dyed red. Bam... Blood spurted out from another guard''s chest, and he fell to the ground on his head. Chen Fan could see from where he was standing that behind the bulldozer were several men with handguns who were attacking in the dark. What a feeling it is! Even if you watch American gun battles in movies, you can''t help but be terrified. But these sub-machine gun and rocket fire battles were real! Looking at more and more of the gunners coming in from the damaged corner, Chen Fan was nervous. This group of people who dared to use rockets in broad daylight, absolutely would not let Chen Fan leave just because he was a little fairer than them. His ears were still buzzing as though there were hundreds of bees next to his ear, but his physical qualities allowed him to recover faster than the average man from the attack of the blast. With his tongue stuck out of his mouth pretending to be dead, Chen Fan''s hands moved slightly to the back, pulling out the Luger automatic pistol on his belt. Under the water, Chen Fan''s eyes were still, and he was thinking about strategies in his mind. Needless to say, Chen Fan could have guessed that it was a deadly attack on the white-robed man, and he and Chen Shuguang were just poor sheep in passing. The reason for this was probably related to the large amount of weapons he bought. The door was locked and there was only one outlet for the moment, which was the hole in the wall that had been hit by the bulldozer, but it was not so much an outlet, it was much more like the path to death. The fence? The wall was about two meters high, probably for the sake of beauty, and there was no such thing as a nail glass. Two meters ... Chen Fan had estimated the current state of his body, speeding up was not a problem, but the key was to run faster than the bullets fired by the gunners... Bang! The last guard that tried to flee into the house was killed, the infamous compound got no fewer than a dozen armed men. Everyone looked cold-blooded and it was obvious that killing was not something new for them. "Saddleanol... "A man with a sub-machine gun said a bunch of unintelligible words to the man next to him... Chen Fan did not understand what they were saying, but it did not prevent Chen Fan from understanding what they meant. The man had expressed his thought with his action. He walked to the white robed man covered in blood and didn''t even look at him. He slowly pulled out his pistol and shot the man in the chest. After the extermination, the man went back to the pool without stopping. Cold sweat, dry throat, cold body, thumping heart... A series of feelings attacked Chen Fan''s stem cells like a series of waves. Chen Fan quietly clenched the Luger automatic pistol that was already loaded with bullets and bit down with trembling teeth as he prepared to have his last fight. With more than a dozen heavily armed people nearby, Chen Fan did not think he had any hope of escape. Da! Da! Da! He saw that man with the gun was getting closer and closer! Chen Fan felt like a convict that was about to be shot to death, and the supervisor on the side was counting, five, four, three... It was thrilling. "Mother Mary, I am about to live forever in the sea as an electric eel... " A man walked around the hole made by the bazooka, came to the pool, and looked into it... Chen Fan instantly captured the movement as his right hand that was hidden in the muddy water started to charge his gun. He was ready to pull a few backdrops before he died. ... The clock of time seemed to be twisted by an invisible hand, and the action of the man''s hand was slowed down ten times in the eyes of Chen Fan. One of them had charged the pistol for a long time, and the other was approaching in slow motion. However ... In zero point zero one second, Chen Fan''s eyes were about to pop out like a ping-pong ball, and his expression was interesting as though hundreds of flies were forcefully fed into his mouth. At that moment... Chen Shuguang who was also faking death in the pool, suddenly got out of the water as though he had been possessed by Ultraman, and with a sudden burst he grabbed a handful of mud and threw it at the gunman''s head. He then jumped out of the water while the armed man wiped away the mud. He ran so fast that he left a trail of dust behind. He was faster than the champions and ran to the fence that was ten meters away on the left. The terrifying speed of movement made Chen Fan feel a sense that this guy was not human at all, both visually and psychologically! Chen Fan was completely stunned, this guy had reached the foot of the wall within half a second, Chen Fan thought he was just about to try to climb up the wall, but he suddenly tilted his body, abruptly made a jarring tumbling action, and went into the bamboo forest. Ta-da! Da... The moment Chen Shuguang got into the bamboo forest, less than a second later, the corner of the wall he had just gone by was bombed down. Chen Fan suddenly realized the reason why this guy didn''t go straight to the wall... Because the wall was two meters high and no one was able to cross it in less than a second. And that means that when you were on the wall, someone else might shoot you down with a gun. Dada Da ... Several people who had quick reactions quickly raised their arms and ran to the thick bamboo forest. Thud! The sound of the bullet penetrating the body filled the air ... 89 Seaside Pier "Argh" The man with the pistol first looked dumbfounded at Chen Fan before looking down at his own chest. Two seconds later, his legs jellied, and he fell right onto the ground. It was a rare opportunity not to be missed. Chen Fan would have lived in vain for over twenty years if he didn''t grab it. Amidst the gunshots, Chen Fan quickly used the Luger pistol to kill the man closest to him before jumping up as though he was possessed by Ultraman. His speed was fast enough to cause distress to a sniper aiming at him. Other than the man who was shot in the chest, everyone else in the courtyard had their attention on Chen Shuguang and did not notice Chen Fan''s action. Chen Shuguang was already in the bamboo grove. Chen Fan did not want to go in and risk being shot by machine guns. Gritting his teeth, Chen Fan exploded with a speed he had never had before. He did a two-step run-up before jumping to a height that even NBA players couldn''t reach. With both hands supporting, he jumped over the wall in one and a half seconds, leaving behind the ten gunmen in the courtyard, shocked. Bang! Bang! Before he landed, Chen Fan already heard the sound of bullets hitting the foot of the wall behind him. After landing on both legs and stabilizing himself, Chen Fan was ready to see which direction he should run to. However, just as Chen Fan raised his head, he saw something disturbing. A white jeep was right beside him, and four men holding AK''s could be seen from the opened window. They all had their mouths open and were staring hard at Chen Fan. Bang! Chen Shuguang jumped down from the wall a few meters away. Pressing onto his shoulder covered in blood, he looked at Chen Fan and then the jeep, and gave a ''you take care'' expression before running off. The men in the car bawled and quickly took out their AK''s, pointed them at Chen Fan who was the nearest, and then pulled the trigger. But how could they be faster than Chen Fan? Not only was the car small and some effort was needed to turn the AK over, but their reaction time alone was much slower than Chen Fan. Faced with this horrifying situation, Chen Fan raised his pistol and shot right at the chest of the man in the backseat. Thereafter, Chen Fan squatted down to avoid the bullet that came at him from the direction of the passenger seat before aiming at the tire and pulled the trigger. Bang! The white jeep suddenly leaned to one side and visible compressed air gushed out from the tire. Hitting the tire was to prevent them from chasing him with the car. After all, his legs couldn''t possibly be faster than a car. At that moment, the man in the passenger seat popped his head out, holding an AK and shot madly at Chen Fan who retreated behind the car. Dah dah dah! Just as Chen Fan reached the back of the car, metal bullets, 7.63 millimeter in diameter sprung out from the barrel, making marks on the concrete floor and then flew off with the huge momentum. "Get rid of him, get out of the car and get rid of him now!" The man in the back seat roared as he pounded on the inside of the car. What was Chen Fan''s immediate reaction when he was about to be killed by three madmen with AK''s? Run! If you''re being chased by someone with a rapid-fire weapon and you''re not confident enough to fight back, you have to remember not to turn back when you''re running away. Also, don''t ever run in a straight line. Otherwise, the enemy will be able to aim at you easily. Gunmen who have not been through rigorous training will take around two to two and a half seconds to aim at a fast moving object, pull the trigger, and hit the target with the bullet. This amount of time is enough for you to perform one or two evasive tactics. So, you only have to keep this in mind when running toward your shelter...jump left, jump left, roll right, jump left, roll left. These golden rules of evasion can definitely sustain you for more than ten seconds. Of course, if the other party has superb marksmanship, you can only pray for good luck! While sprinting toward the houses ahead, Chen Fan recalled the evasive tactics Wang Bing taught him as he cursed the people of Sittwe for land wastage. The distance between each building was very far. Nonetheless, the three men who were chasing Chen Fan were so shocked that their eyes almost popped out. The man who was moving at high speed ahead was like a kite flying madly without a string. He rolled a few meters on the ground before quickly jumping up. After a few disorderly leaps and bounds, he threw himself forward again in the shape of a ball. The evasion tactics without any trajectory of motion made their optical and motor nerves lose their ability to lock the target. They could only passively use the bullets to follow his moving footsteps. The screeching sound of the bullets tearing the air was like a sharp knife cutting Chen Fan''s nerves one after another. The feeling of dancing with the god of death was beyond words. Chen Fan could almost hear the cells in his entire body shouting madly. "You''re dying! You''re dying!" Bang! After more than ten seconds of sprinting, Chen Fan''s back finally came into contact with the corner of the wall. Chen Fan panted heavily, as if he were on the thin-aired Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. After catching his breath, Chen Fan quickly laid down on his stomach, popped his head out like a woodpecker to observe the surroundings before leaning his gun-held right hand on the wall and pulled the trigger at the running men. Bang bang! He fired three continuous shots, but it was a pity that no one screamed. What now? Chen Fan was worried. Those men would reach him in another seven or eight seconds. He was a stranger to this place and did not know where he could hide. After giving the surrounding a quick scan, Chen Fan saw a pier not far away and decided to run toward the direction of the pier. The pier looked very ordinary. It was a small pier about thirty meters long used by fishing boats for loading and unloading. Although there were countless numbers of piers in coastal areas, Chen Fan felt like giving heaven a hug and a kiss, because this pier looked simply magnificent to him! Feeling the hurried footsteps becoming closer, Chen Fan braced himself, with his right-hand leaning onto the wall and not using his eyes to observe, he fired all the bullets at one go using the remaining image in his brain to estimate. It seemed like heaven treated Chen Fan better this time around. Just as he finished firing the ten bullets, Chen Fan heard an awful scream from one of the gunmen. Although he did not know which area the gun hit, Chen Fan could tell from the dreadful scream that it was definitely not an insignificant area such as the arm or the thigh. This also meant that his level of danger had decreased by one-third accordingly! Dah dah dah! One of the remaining two gunmen shot continuously at Chen Fan''s arm right after it stuck out from the corner of the wall. After changing into a cartridge which could hold thirty bullets, the other gunman fired madly at the corner of the wall with bloodshot eyes. The hard cement wall was like tofu, having more than ten fist-size holes made in it easily. Fifty meters. He was fifty meters from the gunmen, but more than one hundred and fifty meters from the seaside pier. Although there were a few temporary shelters in between, he would still need twenty-five seconds to reach the pier with a series of evasion tactics. This was not just testing Chen Fan''s physical fitness and the quality of his training, but more of his luck. During the ten or more seconds of sprinting just now, Chen Fan had a few bullets almost hit his body. Although he had shot one man, Chen Fan did not think that he had a very good chance of getting to the pier. Feeling the faint trembling coming from the wall, Chen Fan grit his teeth and jumped out, turning and rolling toward the direction of the pier. Due to the line of sight at the corner of the wall, Chen Fan ran with all his might for more than thirty meters before two men, fifty meters away from behind the corner, discovered him. The precision of the AK-47 was extremely poor in the first place, especially when firing from a distance away. If the trigger was being pulled non-stop, the huge elevation force at the muzzle might even send the bullet into the sky before dropping down and killing them. The two gunmen stood where they were, aiming and firing their AK''s at Chen Fan. However, the frustrating thing was that Chen Fan was really too fast and too flexible. They were unable to coordinate their retinal nerves and brain activities to capture his motion trail. They could only keep shifting their muzzles following Chen Fan''s rhythm, but how could a gunman who had lost his own tempo and following the footsteps of another person hit his opponent? Needless to say, this was also because they had not trained well. If it had been Wang Bing, he would be able to hit Chen Fan in one-eighth of a second even if he grew wings and flew up the sky, let alone just jumping and running. Seeing Chen Fan running further away, one of the gunmen shouted out with bloodshot eyes before pulling his trigger non-stop. The remaining twenty or more bullets in the cartridge were fired by him in one go. Regretfully, his barrel almost pointed at his own forehead after he finished firing! Ten meters, ten more meters! After running wildly for more than twenty seconds, Chen Fan could finally see the blue seawater at the side of the pier and also the two fishing boats moored on the water. "Ah!" A woman in her forties on the fishing boat popped her head out and screamed hysterically as she looked at Chen Fan who was covered in dirt, and at the two men shooting madly with their AK''s a distance away. Bang! A bullet smashed onto the hatch, cutting off her scream. Thump! Just as she retracted her head, she saw the man jump into the water like a cannonball from the two-meter tall pier. Once Chen Fan got into the water, he quickly went from underneath the boat to the other side, popped out his head and breathed heavily. There was still around thirty seconds before the other party could reach the pier. This fishing boat was around twenty meters long and did not have a springboard set up toward the pier. If the other party wanted to find a shooting point, they had to run up fifty meters either to the left or to the right. With this thought, Chen Fan immediately shifted his thoughts onto the electric eel which was more than 1,000 meters away. Together with the submarine, it rushed toward the pier, swimming at its maximum speed. If someone had been around looking out at the sea, he would definitely witness something eye-popping! A long ripple suddenly appeared in the originally calm seawater, extending outward at thirty meters per second. 90 A New Force Suddenly Rises More than a thousand meters with the speed of the electric eel now... it would take more than 40 seconds if the maximum ability is used. More than 40 seconds for them to arrive... It would take them more than 50 seconds to find the exact spot to shoot. Like an underwater dragon, the electric eel was clinging to the seabed, stirring up the sand as it rushed toward the pier. Generally, the docking point of the wharf should have been dug deeper to prevent the ship from grounding during the ebbing tide. After the electric eel rushed to the front, Chen Fan took a deep breath, then pushed the boat, and with the help of the force it went down to the bottom of the sea. The pier was about 15 meters deep. Chen Fan touched the bottom of the sea in one go. After his hands touched the mud, he quickly transferred his mind to the electric eel, and quietly swam forward more than 10 meters, gently grabbed his human self with its claws, and again pursued his escape operation. Dadadada At that moment the two gunmen on the shore had arrived at the shooting point and strafed that area. Water resistance was eight hundred and seventy-six times that of air resistance. The penetration of a bullet from a pistol through water was only one meter whereas a rifle bullet, though much better, still could not penetrate more than ten meters in water. To Chen Fan, the bullets that hit the electric eel''s body felt like a few bugs were stinging it. In the water, there was barely any effect at all. Struggling to hold his breath, Chen Fan controlled the electric eel and swam to the submarine''s position. He stepped on the electric eel and rushed out of the water. Wheezing. The strenuous exercise and holding his breath for nearly a minute had almost tortured Chen Fan to death. "Oh, come and chase me! I''ll let you be the son-in-law of the dragon king!" After resting for five minutes, Chen Fan could not help but vent his anger as he looked at the dock that had shrunk to the size of a grain of rice in his view. If it wasn''t bad enough that he foolishly came to Myanmar, it became worse when he got involved in a firearms war. The white-robed brother was killed and that wretch, Chen Shuguang, had run off, leaving him helpless and alone hiding in the sea. Chen Fan had no idea how to get back. The phone was wet and he could not contact anyone. He had Burmese currency, but he could not speak or read Burmese and it was difficult to get to Yangon to board the plane. Floating on the surface of the water for a long time, Chen Fan decided to try using the electric eel as transport. ............... He ended up at a location north latitude 20, Tokyo 92 degrees. At 7:00 pm, Chen Fan entered a shop with a name that he wasn''t familiar with. Two sales clerks in red dresses talked incessantly about the foreign "customer". "Although he is quite handsome, his clothes are wet and torn. He might not have money to pay for anything!" "No! I have heard that foreigners are very rich, and everyone has a house and drives a car. This man''s clothes are shabby, but they are not old. He must have been fighting with someone." The foreign customer that they were gossiping about was definitely Chen Fan. He had been at sea from day until night on the back of the electric eel, quietly sailing for more than twenty miles. He was looking for the bright light of a town on the shore to buy some food and drink to get him ready for the "smuggling" journey. Many of Myanmar''s goods were imported from China. Although the name of the products were changed, the products were the same. After picking up some luncheon meat, mineral water, and bread, Chen Fan went to the counter with his pile of things. He did not speak a word as he pulled out a pile of 100,000 of Burmese currency that was still dripping wet. He pushed it forward and made a ''you take it yourself '' gesture. The clerk on the left drew eight thousand yuan notes from inside, and then swiftly helped Chen Fan pack the goods and then smiled and nodded. Dragging the bags, he left the store, went to the beach and squatted on the ground. He opened a bottle of mineral water and gulped it. Then he swallowed down two packs of luncheon meat, some bread, burped in satisfaction, and went to the sea. After swimming 100 meters on the back of the electric eel, Chen Fan was like a mythical dragon knight, holding a plastic bag and riding on the electric eel in the northwest direction. It was certainly impossible to ride the electric eel to the Zhongyun city. What if he was seen by a warship or what if some fishermen on fishing boats saw him and took out their mobile phones and took a few pictures. It could definitely endanger Chen Fan. After swimming a dozen miles and landing on an uninhabited island, Chen Fan climbed to the shore, controlled the electric eel, turned the direction of the submarine, then opened the hatch and carried a pack of food into it. He controlled the electric eel to close the door of where an underwater living cabin had existed. People need about ten cubic meters of air per day, and the 30-meter-long, six-meter-wide, three-meter-high submarine provided enough air for Chen Fan to live in it for several days without having any breathing problems. Chen Fan controlled the electric eel to drag the submarine down into the water, then wriggled its tail and swam toward the Zhongyun city. A night passed... Early the next morning, on an uninhabited island in the south of the Paracel Islands... After eating, Chen Fan was lying happily on the beach in preparation for a good rest so he could continue on with his journey in the evening. The sun in the sky was harsh, and Chen Fan turned around and faced the sea. But after a little nap, Chen Fan felt that something was on his back. He got up and looked. The beach was flat. There were no rocks or shells. The gun and the phone had been thrown away because they didn''t work anyway. The dagger was not in the pack. Confused, he touched his pocket. Chen Fan took out a small, square sandalwood box. "Eh?" Isn''t this the little gift that the white-robed man gave me when I was leaving? He told me that I must go back before I could open it." Yesterday he was preoccupied with a gun battle and escape. Chen Fan had forgotten this thing and it took him a long time to recall. Even if the man hadn''t died, Chen Fan had decided not to abide by the promise of opening it after he went back. Anyway, why would he bother abiding by the man''s wishes when he was dead? After finding the gap, Chen Fan opened the small box without saying anything. In the palm-sized wooden box, there lay a small, tennis ball-sized white amber crystal object, which gave off the scent of the soul. "What is this? Chen Fan put it up to his nose and sniffed it. He should not have smelled it because smelling it was a bad move. After smelling the fragrance, Chen Fan suddenly felt a strong desire in his mind. He wanted to swallow the fragrant translucent object. Of course, this intense desire to swallow it did not come from the body of Chen Fan, but from the electric eel that had already started to move. "What the hell is this?" Chen Fan was puzzled. He took a deep breath and tried to suppress the electric eel''s agitation. Hard, crystal clear, and fragrant. He thought for a long time and was still confused. In his mind, he felt a strong desire to eat the object. The desire was similar to the excitement of Chen Fan when he saw a naked, beautiful lady. "Whatever! Since the electric eel wants to eat, then give it to him to eat!" Chen Fan was not a woman, and therefore had no interest in beautiful, fragrant things. He took off his clothes and swam into the sea to give the object to the electric eel to satisfy its food craving. He swam a few hundred meters with the object in his hand and threw it into the water to let it sink to the bottom where the electric eel would be able to devour it. But what surprised Chen Fan was that the object floated on the surface of the water in a weird way, and had no intention of sinking at all. Scratching his head, Chen Fan lifted his head and floated to the surface of the water, then transferred his mind to the electric eel. As the thought was transferred to the electric eel, Chen Fan immediately felt the eel''s stomach lurch violently while its saliva flowed like a river. "Psst ha..." Licking his lips, Chen Fan took control of the electric eel that was on the seabed and swam to the surface of the water. But at this point, a new force suddenly rose... A three meter long sea snake appeared from nowhere, grabbed the glittering, translucent object in lightning speed, and then with a series of dazzling swings, it swam into the distant deep water. "Damn you!" With a cry, Chen Fan quickly controlled the electric eel to track the heinous sea snake. 91 The Brazen Electric Eel Logically, the electric eel could easily electrocute a three-meter-long spotted sea snake to death. However, Chen Fan did not dare to release any current, simply because his own body was sunbathing on the water above! If Chen Fan accidentally electrocuted his own body while killing the snake, he would probably be so angry that he would end up killing all the snakes in the ocean. Since the aggressive method of releasing discharge couldn''t be used, the electric eel could only go after the sea snake like an elephant chasing a mouse. The sea snake which was holding the white crystal in its mouth had probably discovered that there was an ancestor-like sea creature chasing it from behind. The speed at which its body was moving was sure to make marine biologists take out their magnifying glasses to review this species again to see if it was evolving to be like a rattlesnake. Otherwise, how could it move at such a high rate of speed? Although the sea snake was fast, the electric eel was even faster. Now that it had grown to 60 meters long, the electric eel could definitely defeat 99 percent of the swimming champions in the ocean and trample them. Chen Fan''s eyes were about to pop out when he saw the sea snake move its body toward a huge reef structure lying quietly underwater. The snake slipped right into it. Two meters the electric eel was just two meters short of biting that obnoxious fellow in half. It was too late. The sea snake wormed its way into a bucket-size hole before disappearing. "Ah!" Chen Fan almost exploded. It was hard to describe how Chen Fan felt at that moment. It was like a lion who had already gotten onto the back of a lioness but an idiot suddenly appeared and bit off his dick. What an extremely complex feeling! The electric eel took in two deep breaths to calm itself down. A mouse is still a mouse no matter how cunning it is. Faced with absolute force and high wisdom, it would never be able to play any tricks no matter how hard it tried. After the eel went around the reef twice without being able to see any other exit, it opened its mouth at the hole and released a weak discharge to find its way and also to force the sea snake out. To Chen Fan''s dismay, the hole inside the truck-size reef extended to more than two meters down. The spotted sea snake was curled up inside, coiled on the crystal and gnawing it with its fine teeth. However, no marks were being made on the orange-size crystal. It might be because the sea snake''s teeth were not sharp enough, or it did not use much strength. After some thought, Chen Fan decided to take his own body back to the beach first. After all, there were too many dangerous situations on the water. What if he got bitten by a shark? After shifting his thoughts back onto his own body, Chen Fan swam to the beach and laid on it before diverting his thoughts again. However, Chen Fan discovered something very strange when his thoughts went to the electric eel. All the surrounding fish, big and small, be it sharks, sea snakes or squids, came close to the electric eel and tried hard to get into the hole, totally ignoring the huge electric eel. What''s going on? Chen Fan was puzzled. Don''t tell me the white crystal is some elixir left behind by the East Sea Dragons and that eating it will turn you into a dragon? Chen Fan shook his head and did away with this unrealistic thought. Although he did not believe in science, he was also not a believer of myths. It was not uncommon for fish to gather and fight over an object. As the olfactory nerve of fish is very powerful and able to smell food from a distance away, many fishing enthusiasts like to use scented baits to gather fish. Even though Chen Fan couldn''t guess what that piece of object was, it was probably the smell of it that attracted the fish. The electric eel moved its body a few times to remind the fish that the treasure had been seized by it. Thereafter, Chen Fan slowly increased the discharge released by the eel to force the sea snake to come out. First it was 500 volts of discharge and 20 amperes of electric current, but the sea snake seemed to understand that it was heading for death if it went out, refusing to move even after being numbed by electricity. You sh*thead! Chen Fan cursed in his head and increased the discharge to 800 volts, to see how stubborn this sea snake was. Ten seconds later, tragedy happened. The sea snake shook wildly all over and then showed no signs of life after that. Oh my Holy Mary! Chen Fan almost cried out in tears when he saw the image in the eel''s brain. How was an electric eel, four meters wide in diameter, able to go into the bucket-size hole? With the death of the sea snake, the surrounding fish were also scattered off by the strong voltage. After looking at the reef and thinking for 10 seconds, Chen Fan controlled the eel to the front of the submarine and grabbed the three-ton meteor hammer, and got ready to do some "violent demolition work"! After swimming to the side of the reef, Chen Fan sized it up before swinging the meteor hammer. Then he hit it onto the huge rock with the inertia produced from the electric eel''s turning. Thump! The entire seabed shook. Just how strong was a 60-meter long electric eel? The answer was revealed by looking at the rock. After the dust in the water had settled, an opening bigger than a water tank appeared on the huge rock. Chen Fan controlled the eel to the other side of the rock and hit it about 15 times. The huge rock was smashed into pieces, but the poor quality meteor hammer had lost its shape. The sharp edges on the surface were all gone, and only a bald uneven steel ball remained. After putting down the meteor hammer, the electric eel dug with its four claws and finally cleaned up the rock, leaving only the black, bucket-size hole. However, Chen Fan was troubled over the next step. He had not prepared by bringing a shovel or digging tool for the electric eel. After thinking for five seconds, Chen Fan had no choice but to let the electric eel stand in as a "claw-excavator"! How big were the claws of the electric eel now? Each claw was around one meter in diameter. Other than having some gaps in between, it was as good as a small-size excavator. Using all four claws together, and in less than two hours, Chen Fan dug two meters deep into the rock, and the surrounding area turned into a "construction zone" with a radius of 10 meters. After using electromagnetic induction to sense the location of the white crystal, Chen Fan swung the meteor hammer onto the rock again. Repeating this for more than ten times, the huge rock dug out by the electric eel was also smashed into pieces like the one above it. After waiting for a few minutes for the surrounding turbid water to settle, the eel quickly threw away the deformed meteor hammer and swept the broken rocks to the sides before finding the white crystal below the mashed sea snake. At that moment, the countless fishes which were hovering around charged toward the claw of the electric eel as if they were on steroids, disregarding their own safety. Chen Fan did not dare to get the eel to release electric current to kill the fish as he was worried that it might damage the crystal. The electric eel gave a sinister smile before swallowing the white crystal. After that, it stared straight at the fish and gave them a "what can you do to me" brazen attitude! 92 The Electric Eel Was Strengthened Once the tennis ball-sized, white crystal went into its stomach, the electric eel immediately reacted as though it was a drug addict lying on a bed inhaling opium. It''s whole body felt light and relieved. The electric eel was already addicted to it, but the fish were furious when the crystal was swallowed by the eel, and they acted annoyed and desperate. Chen Fan looked at the restless group of fish, and since the electric eel had swallowed the crystal, there was no reason to hesitate on letting out the electricity now. The electric eel''s ancestor''s had been able to release electricity since the beginning of their existence. If the eel released electricity, and it shot the crystal in its stomach, it would be an embarrassment to its kind. After the electric eel bestowed a human-like smile, a voltage as high as seven thousand volts50 amperes of currentswept through the hundred-meter area like shock waves. Two secondsonly after two secondsall the fish were as if they were under a spell of petrified magic. Their bellies floated upwards with their heads down in the water. After settling the fish, Chen Fan controlled the electric eel to slowly move to the seabed. Then, he immersed the electromagnetic induction into the crystal that had already been swallowed into the stomach to observe what it was made of, and why so many fish went crazy for it. The white crystals had been soaked in green gastric juice, and the crystals, which were very hard, had shrunk a little under the corrosion of the gastric juice. With the tracing of electromagnetic induction, these melted, white, crystal elements slowly entered the intestines and then were absorbed by the capillaries that surrounded the intestinal tract that they were attached to, and finally into the blood circulation. What Chen Fan found next was strange. When the crystal elements diffused into the blood circulation, the body of the electric eel felt warm and it became lethargic and slow moving as though it was in a sauna room. Was this a precious treasure or what? Chen Fan was a little confused, and the feeling was very similar to that described in a novel he had once read, except the part where the feeling of being burned by the flame was skipped. It''s not that precious treasures of nature do not exist, because they do, as Chen Fan had seen once on the news. He saw that an old woman inadvertently found a very old, wild, gigantic ginseng in the mountains. Coincidently, this old woman happened to be an expert. She knew that this ginseng was precious. It took a man several days to dig all the roots out. When she came home, she shook off the soil from the ginseng to make tea and drank it. She had not slept for three days and three nights and was full of energy the whole time. The news was a bit exaggerated, but it was reported by almost every major newspaper and television news channel, and it had to be believed that it was true. Another example was the Ganoderma Lucidum. The Compendium of Materia Medica quoted this thing as, "The food, if consumed for a long period of time, will cause the body to feel light, prevent aging, and lengthen a lifespan." In ancient times, many emperors sought it for a long time and sent men to look for it. For thousands of years, (ginseng, Ganoderma, Ganoderma lucidum, etc.) these things were categorized as precious treasures from nature. But because of the different efficacy, they were divided into many grades. However, according to Chen Fan''s knowledge, there were no such precious treasures like this tennis-ball sized, white crystal. Now, the white-robed man who gifted him this treasure was dead, and he could not even find someone to ask about it. Chen Fan was a little depressed because he could not even invest a vast amount of money to buy it for the electric eel as a snack. Just ignore it! Chen Fan quietly induced the electric eel''s body. He wanted to see if the magic of the treasure could make it feel energetic enough to not need sleep for three days. After about an hour or two, when the crystal had shrunk to the size of the egg, Chen Fan still felt no noticeable change in the electric eel. After waiting for more than an hour, Chen Fan became so tired that he couldn''t bear it. He laid down on the beach and decided to observe when he woke up. However, when he lay on the beach and slept till the evening, one thing that surprised Chen Fan was that the crystal in the electric eel''s stomach had completely disappeared. The feeling of indolence was gone. Alternatively, the electric eel obtained an inexhaustible supply of power. This feeling was like an athlete taking a stimulant and finding a noticeable improvement in their physical stamina. NoChen Fan believed that the electric eel was more powerful and it was long-lasting compared to consuming a drug. "Is it really some precious treasure?" Chen Fan was trembling with excitement. To test the magic of the crystal, Chen Fan controlled the electric eel to swim to the deep water. How fast was the speed of the electric eel now that it had consumed the "stimulant"? If it was the swordfish that swam the fastest in the ocean before, now it would be the electric eel. With a speed of up to 70 knots per hour, it was absolutely possible to out-swim all the big fishing boats and fish in the world. The electric eel''s fastest speed was about sixty-five knots before, and after eating the crystal, it bumped it up to seventy-eight knots. After controlling the electric eel for about 30 minutes without resting, he did not feel tired at all. Before, it was considered pretty good if he could control the electric eel to swim at full speed for 20 minutes. After speeding for a while, Chen Fan took two deep breaths and then jerked the electric eel''s belly to try to check if the essential skill of the electric eel had been improved. Boom! What shocked Chen Fan was that the electric eel was surrounded by white light from the visible voltage waves which desperately extruded from the electric eel. Then, it spread around for a hundred meters, and slowly disappeared. The effect could compete with a nuclear explosion! It reached ten thousand volts! The electric eel''s voltage was more than two thousand volts higher than before it had eaten the crystal. What was the concept of two thousand volts? The eel used voltage to attack, but to Chen Fan''s dismay, the eel did not stimulate growth like other cellsthe current was released by itself. No matter how much voltage Chen Fan tried to stimulate them, they still did not react, and he only could increase the voltage by expanding the size of the electric eel. "What a precious treasure! No wonder so many fish would not hesitate to have it?" Chen Fan''s eyes lit up with excitement. The electric eel was the most crucial thing he could rely on and without the electric eel, Chen Fan would only be regarded as an ordinary college student. However, with the electric eel, he was absolutely sure that he would make his own empire in the future. So, the more powerful the electric eel was, the more powerful he would be. But after endless joy, it was endless melancholy. Chen Fan had not yet figured out what the treasure was, or where it was sold. If he knew where to get it, he could buy a few catty of it for the electric eel and it would be something like a superman if it was fed with this. It''s easy to have a lover, but difficult to get an unknown treasure. With a sigh, Chen Fan had to pack up and get into the submarine. Changing his perspective to the electric eel, Chen Fan abandoned the meteor hammer that had been bent out of shape and decided to make a mightier weapon when he had time. The submarine felt lighter than before to the electric eel. Along the way, Chen Fan controlled the electric eel with a bumpy and uneasy feeling. The feeling that came from the electric eel''s body reassured him that this was unquestionably not a temporary power increase, but a serious permanent reinforcement. But Chen Fan still could not believe that all of this was real. The happiness came so suddenly; Chen Fan was unprepared. ... At nine o''clock in the morning, Chen Fan''s heart grew happier. Because of the electric eel''s enhanced cells, there was still much energy left in him, and there were no such feelings of exhaustion after the excitement. So, Chen Fan was finally certain that it was a permanent reinforcement, an absolutely permanent reinforcement! As the electric eel got closer to Zhongyun Cty, Chen Fan didn''t dare to find an island to rest. Instead, he lay in the dark submarine, ready to take a nap first, and then depart to Zhongyun City in the evening. Eating a white crystal would increase the eel''s voltage to 2,500 volts, which would enable it to travel about eight knots. It would give it almost double the endurance and one and a half times more power. Before he went to bed, Chen Fan could not help but mutter, "Wait till I get back and check what it is and earn a lot of money to buy a few truckloads of these for the electric eel. I hope this thing is not like the hundred-year-old wild ginseng. I hope that one is worth millions!" After a whisper, Chen Fan went to sleep. ... It was seven o''clock in the evening. He woke up from his dream. After a day and a night of consumption, the air in the submarine was filthy and dry. Fortunately, it was only a few miles from Zhongyun City, so there were no worries about it. Waiting for the sky to get dark, he quietly swam out of the sea and went to the sealed dock he bought a few days ago. He took out a key to open the door and let the electric eel push the submarine inside. Then, he locked the door, walked to the roadside, and took a cab back to Bolan Garden. This ten-day stay in Myanmar was a terrible experience for Chen Fan and the first thing he did after entering his house was to bathe. After taking a bath and eating something to fill his stomach, Chen Fan turned on the computer and got ready to search for the tennis ball-sized, white crystal. Nowadays, internet information was so developed that you could search for information by just putting in a word such as "alien", and not have to say that the search was for a precious treasure from nature. After entering the search bar with the memory of the white crystal in his mind, Chen Fan glanced at the screen to see if he could obtain any useful information. 93 Liangchen Town Chen Fan started searching the internet with keywords like ''round-shape'', ''pure white'', ''scent-emitting'' etc. Unfortunately, none of the search results were related to the crystal. Chen Fan refused to give up and changed to a few search websites, but the information he got was all irrelevant stuff. "Oh heaven, please don''t do this to me... I still need to go strengthen the electric eel." After staring at the screen for more than two hours, Chen Fan finally ended up sighing heavily with his head in his hands. Chen Fan decided to take a shot at it as he opened the last search website and typed in a few keywords. "White, round, transparent...glass" "30 RMB amethyst scent bag, postage included" "White tulip" "Oh my god, what''s all this?" Chen Fan finally gave up after flipping through more than ten pages. Switching off the computer angrily, Chen Fan laid on the bed feeling despondent. "What was that damned white-robed man up to? Why couldn''t he just tell me the origins and use of this thing on the dining table before he died, instead of acting mysterious and leaving me hanging. Look what happened, he''s now in hell playing games with the little ghosts.?" After lying on his bed and grumbling, Chen Fan thought through the sequence of events and started to understand why he stupidly went to Myanmar. He had initially thought that it was the mysterious identity of the "rose" and the Kunwu dagger pendant on her neck that attracted him. However, now it seemed that the possibility of the white-robed man''s sandalwood box guiding his footsteps was seventy percent! The mysterious pendant...the amazing translucent white crystal It was as if they had magical powers, filling Chen Fan''s entire mind! After a few hours of trying to sleep while thinking this through, Chen Fan was still unable to figure out things out. -------- The next morning, Chen Fan woke up with bloodshot eyes. After washing up, he leaned on the couch and took out his phone, intending to give the company a call to check if there was any big business. Chen Fan was very picky now. When people inquired about trivial stuff, he would get Yu Lin to turn them down straight away. However, when Chen Fan was scrolling through the contacts in his phone and saw a number below from ''Ocean Storm'', he suddenly felt breathless, as if something was stuck in his throat and even the surrounding air seemed to stand still. His heart pounding and taking in two deep breaths, Chen Fan stared at the word ''Dad'' on the phone screen with wet eyes. It had been more than four months. Other than making not more than five phone calls, he had not gone home once. He even lied to his family during the summer holidays that he was working at a nearby internet cafe and earning 1,200 RMB a month. "Just take care of yourself. Your mom and I will help you earn enough money to get yourself a wife!" The last conversation came up in Chen Fan''s mind. It was a simple yet heartwarming statement. After remaining silent for thirty seconds, Chen Fan gently scrolled to ''Dad'' and then pressed hard on the dial key. "Hello, it''s not even end of the month and you''re calling, you''ve used up all the money for your living expenses?" "Dad, I''ve something to tell you, but don''t be too agitated!" Chen Fan sat on the couch and tried to calm his tone before talking. "What is it? Tell me quick!" The tone on the other side of the phone sounded anxious and did not seem to have any hopes on Chen Fan saying anything comforting. "Well" Chen Fan habitually tugged at his ear before lying. "I bought a lottery ticket with 20 RMB a few days ago and I won" "Lottery?" Excitement came from the other end. "Tell me quick, how much did you win?" "Um...I accidentally won the first prize, 20 million RMB." "20 million RMB?" The other end went silent for five seconds before saying, "Son, let me tell you something too. You have to stay calm too after listening!" "Um!" "Do you remember you used to play with this porcelain jar and fill it with sand when you were little? Your uncle told me that it''s an antique, so I got him to sell it. It turned out that the jar was a great treasure, and your uncle actually sold it to a rich Guangdong businessman for 25 million!" "25 million?" Chen Fan''s jaw almost dropped from shock. It didn''t make sense. That jar didn''t look like a high grade item and Chen Fan also knew about it when it was being sold. Wasn''t it sold for only a few hundred RMB? How did it become 25 million?" "Yes, 25 million!" "Where''s the money then? Why haven''t I seen you take it out before?" "Isn''t it being used for your living expenses? It was sold for 25 million Vietnamese Dong!" (1 RMB = 2,816 Vietnamese Dong) "Dad, I''m serious. I really won 20 million RMB, and I''ve already collected it!" "Oh, I believe, I believe!" Although he said he believed, even a fool could tell what he really meant from his tone. "Never mind, I''ll show you the evidence when I come back this afternoon. Oh, I''ve even bought a BMW!" "Err...son, are you alright? I''ll ask your mom to take you to the hospital when you''re back later!" Chen Fan was speechless and simply hung up the phone. Rubbing his forehead, Chen Fan took out his phone again and dialed the number of Yuanxiang Handicraft Processing Factory where he had the giant wrist band and antique certification done. "Hello Boss Chen, how are you? What can I do for you today?" "Are you able to do up a certification of a lottery prize collection? The type with the amount written as 20 million RMB. I need to use it!" "That stuff? As long as there''s a sample, we can print it out and engrave an official stamp on it with a machine!" "Um, help me find one. Just make one up if you really can''t find any sample. It''s fine as long as the seal is correct, I need it urgently!" "No problem, that''s easy!" After hanging up, Chen Fan took out two bank cards and looked at them. One was the 20 million RMB that the white-robed man remitted, and the other one was the 19 million from the silver and transportation fees from Zhang Xueyang. "4 million RMB for taxes, 1.45 million RMB for the BMW" After doing the sums, Chen Fan drove to the bank and transferred the 5.45 million RMB from the 20 million RMB card to the other. After some thought, he transferred in another few thousand RMB before getting the bank to provide him with a proof of deposit. -------- It was 2PM in the afternoon, in Liangchen Town, 20 miles away from Zhongyun City. Liangchen Town was Chen Fan''s hometown. As it was near a huge natural lake. Many locals in this town not far away from Zhongyun City were in the aquaculture business. A black BMW was driven to the side of a 20-acre pond by a lousy driver. After getting out of the car, Chen Fan held the newly-produced certificate of prize collection in his hand as he looked with mixed feelings at the single-story house with a large yard. The house was specially built by Chen Fan''s parent''s to raise crabs. Chen Fan would come back and stay with his parents every year during the summer and winter holidays. However, ever since he had gotten the electric eel avatar, Chen Fan had not seen his parents for more than four months. After taking in two deep breaths, Chen Fan walked forward and pushed the door before entering. The 50 square meter yard was filled with various types of crab feed and a mixer. Beside the mixer were a couple in their forties busy working. The man who was pouring the feed into the mixer was wearing an old brown casual jacket. Years of hard work had left faint creases at the corner of his eyes. The woman beside him was wearing a blue and white overall. Her hair shown outside the rim of her hat was grayish, but her face showed the matured charms of women her age. These two people were none other than Chen Fan''s parents. "Dad, Mom!" Chen Fan shouted with a lump in his throat. "Son, you''re really back?" Chen Fan''s father quickly patted the dust off his hands. "Son, your dad said that you''re ill, what happened?" Chen Fan''s mother went forward with worry and touched Chen Fan''s forehead with the back of her hand. "Hmm, feels normal!" "He said he won 20 million RMB in a lottery!" Chen Fan''s father also went forward. "Where''s the 20 million? Show it to me." "There!" Chen Fan passed him the document in his hand, pointed at the BMW a distance away and shook the car key in his hand. What was the impact of a black-and-white document with a bright red seal? If this was not enough, there was still a bank proof and a BMW car key. Words cannot describe how the couple felt at the moment. They had worked hard their entire life, and Chen Fan told them he had easily won 20 million RMB when they were totally unprepared. It was 20 million RMB, not 2 million, not 200 thousand. "This...this" Chen Fan''s father stared at the big "20 million" words on the document proof before quickly rushing to close the door and dragged Chen Fan into the house. "Son, were you wearing a hat and a mask when you collected the prize?" Chen Fan''s father said firmly. "If you did not, we''ll move immediately and go somewhere far away." "I did, I even wore gloves!" Chen Fan calmed his father down. "Don''t worry, only the three of us know this!" "This is wonderful, my son is so smart now!" Chen Fan''s father patted Chen Fan''s shoulder earnestly. "S-son, is this real?" Chen Fan''s mother''s voice couldn''t stop trembling. "20 million is enough to last us a few lifetimes" "How can it be fake when the certificate is right here in black-and white and that BMW is right in front of you?" Chen Fan sat down and pointed at the document on the table. "I''m not gonna rear crabs anymore, I wanna go traveling, I wanna go to Hong Kong!" Chen Fan''s mother held tightly onto the bank card. "Hubby, let''s get rid of the crabs and go traveling to Hong Kong." "I quit!" Chen Fan''s father pounded the table. "I''ll contact the crab collector this afternoon. Holy sh*t, these eight-legged bastards had me working my ass off. After we''re done with Hong Kong, we''ll go Jiuzhaigou. After Jiuzhaigou we''ll go Hainan!" Chen Fan''s mother hugged Chen Fan and shook him non-stop. "Son, I''ll keep this card for you, for getting your future wife. We don''t need your money for our travel. We''ll have around 230,000 RMB in savings after selling the yard and crabs. It''ll be enough for your dad and I to go traveling!" "Um!" Chen Fan nodded and then told his mother the password. He had no intention of taking the card back after showing it. "I''ll go contact the crab collector. You two go pack up. Let''s go stay in the city today!" Chen Fan''s father took a long while before he calmed himself down. After Chen Fan''s father left in a hurry, Chen Fan got pulled into the room by his mother to help tidy up the stuff. "Son, why did you suddenly think of buying a lottery ticket? I''ve never seen you buy into the lottery before!" Chen Fan''s mother said emotionally as she stuffed the suitcase with clothes. It was impossible to describe her level of happiness at that moment. It would probably take five or six sleepless nights to calm her feelings down. "I saw my classmate winning 500 RMB from buying a lottery ticket, so I also went to buy a few." Chen Fan took out two pieces of clothing from the drawer. "Oh, mom, just bring a few pieces for changing. We''re now multi-millionaires and you can buy all the expensive clothes that you want." "Right, we''ll never be able to use that much money in this lifetime!" Chen Fan''s mother nodded vigorously. "Mom, why are you still keeping my childhood toys!" When Chen Fan opened another drawer, and he saw that it was filled with toys such as the Calabash Brothers and Ultraman. These were all things Chen Fan played with when he was still a young kid, and they had been kept by Chen Fan''s parents. "I felt that it was a little wasteful to throw them away, so I kept them in the drawer." "Oh!" Chen Fan went through the things casually, wanting to see how many of them could bring back his childhood memories. Suddenly, Chen Fan got startled and the expression on his face was more agitated and stunned than when his parents saw the 20 million RMB. "This...this" A round object around the size of three apples in the drawer hit Chen Fan''s heart like in a nuclear explosion. Although the color of the object was a little dull and the scent it gave out was not as pure as the white crystal and even had the smell of rotten apple mixed with it, Chen Fan was certain that it was the same as the crystal swallowed up by the electric eel the day before. "Mom...mom" Chen Fan trembled all over as he held the taupe crystal. "This...where...where did this thing come from?" "This?" Chen Fan''s mother turned her head while trying to remember. After thinking for a few seconds, she said, "You''ve forgotten? You picked this up from the sea when you were young." 94 Treasure From The Sea "What? Did I find it when I was a kid?" Chen Fan''s eyes stared big and wide. "Where did I pick this up? Take me there quickly, and I''ll pick up a few more." "Who knows where you found it," his mother replied without turning back while arranging the clothes. "You were in elementary school at that time. You went to the beach and played around, and somehow brought it back. Your dad wanted to throw it away because he couldn''t stand its smell, but you simply would not allow it and then you preserved it." In elementary school on the beach Chen Fan held the crystal and laid on his bed. After his mother pointed it out to him, he was able to recall some of it. He saw this crystal, which was 20 centimeters in diameter when he was playing on the beach as a young boy. He was very inquisitive at that time, so he picked it up and cherished it. But he forgot about this thing after some time and never expected that it could be so valuable. He put it in front of his nose and sniffed, but the strange thing was that even though the electric eel''s desire to devour it came up in his mind, it was not as strong as when it actually encountered the white crystal. It could be thought of this way: if the beige crystals were an afternoon dessert for the electric eel, it wouldn''t matter if it eats it or not, because the white crystal was the main course and would be the first meal after starving for a month. Collected it up from the sea... After analyzing the situation, Chen Fan believed that the two crystals were from the same area of the sea. After all, the sea is the most mysterious place in the world, according to reliable sources, and human understanding of the sea is only five percent. It was normal for the sea to produce weird stuff. "Damn it, I''ll go back and post it on the Internet. I don''t believe that there is no one who can recognize it!" ............... Chen Fan''s parents were busy selling crabs in the afternoon and later on, his father contacted the fish trader. Then the three of them rode in the BMW car and carried a full trunk of goods and drove to Zhongyun city. "Son, when did you get your driver''s license?" In the back seat, Chen Fan''s mother was worried. "Your driving skills make me feel panic!" "Just completed the exam... won''t obtain a license until next week!" Chen Fan said, "it''s not dangerous if I drive slowly." He followed his parents and went back to his old neighborhood. Chen Fan was ready to go into the bedroom after he had brought the things in. "Son, come here, let''s talk about whether to make a boat trip to Hong Kong or to fly to Hong Kong!" Chen Fan''s mother sat on the sofa, laughing. "By plane!" said Chen Fan as he popped his head out. Then...bang. He shut the door. After he had locked the door, he rubbed his hands together, then took out the brown crystal from the plastic bag and took some pictures with his cell phone and uploaded it to the computer. After uploading the photo, Chen Fan copied the photo onto the U-disk, and then he went to a nearby Internet cafe to operate a computer. He uploaded the photos to the House of Seas Forum, then carefully described the shape and smell of the crystal. Back from the Internet Cafe, Chen Fan kept refreshing the page. After lingering for a few hours, Chen Fan had enough of all the useless posts that he read through, and finally, he came to a post that was useful. To the (owner) of the post; you have made a fortune. You must have been very lucky to pick up such a valuable thing! This is Ambergris. This is an extraordinary thing used in the ancient imperial palace. It was made from the belly of the sperm whale, but it is a hundred times more valuable than the bovine dog. Obtaining it in the newly killed sperm whale is worthless, but if it was soaked in the water for decades, the more the impurities removed, the more fragrant it would become and the more valuable it would be. Looking at the Ambergris in your photo. It should be something that has been soaked in seawater for more than 20 years. It is not exaggerating to say that it could be sold at the price of one to two million. But when soaked in seawater over one hundred years, all the impurities inside were cleaned up, it would turn into as white as jade and a very fragrant Ambergris, many perfume companies would fight to get it. "Pure white, fragrant, and floats on the water..." Sitting in front of the computer, no matter how Chen Fan thought about it, he could only relate it to the crystal that the white-robed man gave him according to the characteristics described in the post. He tried to control his trembling hands as he searched google.com''s encyclopedia for information on the Ambergris. Chen Fan was deathly excited when he found the information in the data because he found that his crystal''s description was very close to it. "God, I embrace you!" Chen Fan grabbed the edge of the display and kissed it and then rolled on the floor in excitement. "Ambergris is expensive. It''s equivalent to gold when it''s been in the sea for decades," Chen Fan said to himself. "No worries, I have the electric eel''s avatar. I could make money from it to support buying this, it would be no problem to consume a few per day!" An aggressive knock on the door interrupted Chen Fan''s daydreams! "Come out for dinner, son!" Chen Fan''s mother''s voice came from outside of the door. "Coming" Chen Fan got up from the ground. ............ "Son, why don''t you go to school and ask for a leave of absence, and then we can travel and take a long family vacation?" At the dinner table, Chen Fan''s father took a satisfactory sip of the Maotai that he had bought for 200 RMB. Before, he was only able to buy wine worth a maximum of 20 RMB, even to entertain guests. Since their assets now suddenly soared to more than ten to twenty million, he could buy a bottle of Maotai easily. "I don''t think I would go, I am about to graduate this semester and when I get the graduation certificate, I''ll have all the time to have fun!" Chen Fan''s expression was like a good boy who has gotten many awards for more than ten years. "There is no meaning in studying at that sh*t university?" His father refilled his glass of wine. "When your mother and I came out of that school, we worked for more than ten years, and lastly, we ended selling crabs instead. We are rich now, and we should put our vision further. Graduation certificate is just a piece of rubbish!" "Son, don''t listen to your father, wait until you graduate then we would decide what we could do!" Chen Fan''s mother stared at his father and said, "Our son wants to go to the school! Then let him go... why do you have to worry so much?" "By the way, my son, your father and I are going to register for traveling in the travel agency tomorrow. We would bring back some good food and clothes for you!" "Okay! Okay!" Chen Fan nodded his head like a rattle. After the meal, Chen Fan went to the Internet Cafe again to log into the personal center and delete the post he had just sent. He would have Yiteng Yun and the others pretend to be a bunch of commenters who would post to the Internet; the news of purchasing of high-quality ''Ambergris'' In just a few minutes, several people left a message and had asserted that this was Ambergris. Some people even personal messaged him, that they would pay any price to buy this Ambergris. As he was preparing to delete the post, the news in the forum began to notify again. "Hello do you have that thing with you? If you want to sell it, please don''t sell it to others. I will pay more than twice the market price! My phone number is 13... "Chen Fan stared at the screen and read the information slowly. "More than double the market price?" Chen Fan''s first reaction was to believe that this thing was fishy. He surfed the internet and knew that although the ambergris was worth something, it was not considered a rare treasure in the world, and the one that he had now been not the rare, pure white Ambergris. There was no reason why he should come out with double the price to purchase it. Taking out his phone to enter the number, Chen Fan changed into a new SIM card that had not been registered and prepared to make a call to test the guy''s intention. "Hey, I''m the guy who posted the photo of ambergris on the Internet. Are you really going to pay twice the price?" "Right Right" At the end of the phone was an urgent hurried voice. "I need that thing urgently!" "Urgent need? There is no need to come out with such a price even if you need it urgently, I just checked the information, and found out that there are a few big drugstores selling this!" Chen Fan did not have any intention of selling it at all and didn''t care whether the guy on the line knew it or not. The other end of the phone was silent for a few dozen seconds when Chen Fan thought the line was cut off, the person on the phone finally replied! "The thing you have with you is not Ambergris!" 95 Deep Sea Treasure "If it''s not ambergris, then what is it?" Chen Fan was both surprised and doubtful. "It looks exactly like the description of ambergris to me!" "It was in a fish stomach when you picked it up, and many fishes were fighting over it?" The man at the other end of the phone asked instead. "There were indeed many fishes fighting over it" Chen Fan finally realized that it was not mentioned that fishes eat ambergris. Otherwise, it would be eaten up by the fishes no matter how much there was in the ocean. "This is it. The thing you have looks very much like ambergris. Laymen won''t be able to tell the difference." "Then what is it exactly?" The man was silent for a few seconds before saying, "Where are you from? Can we meet up for a proper discussion?" "Zhongyun, you?" "I''m not a Zhongyun local, but I''m currently working in Zhongyun. How about we meet at Yuanshan Teahouse at Yugan Street?" "Sure, I''ll be there in an hour!" Chen Fan decided to meet this mysterious man as he very much wished for the electric eel to be as strong as possible. "Um, can you bring the item along" "I can bring it, but you have to tell me about its origins!" Chen Fan said after thinking for two seconds. "Alright!" After hanging up, Chen Fan called Wang Bing on his mobile. Since he went to Myanmar, he had given this guy more than ten days of leave. "Boss, what is it?" "Come to the old house in twenty minutes. I''ll wait for you at the district entrance!" "Alright!" Wang Bing replied before hanging up. After coming home from the internet cafe, Chen Fan wrapped the crystal in a black plastic bag before driving to the district entrance. Twenty minutes later, Wang Bing arrived in a hurry. "Boss, why did you get me here in such a rush? Are we going for a fight?" Wang Bing said as he ate the pancake in his left hand. "You take the wheel. I''ve got something valuable and I''m getting someone''s appraisal of it, but I do not know that person well and I''m afraid that he might play tricks." "Um, um." Wang Bing rubbed both hands on his clothes before slipping into the driver''s seat. They took half an hour before arriving at Yuanshan Teahouse. After observing the surrounding, Chen Fan called the man on his mobile to ask for the exact location before getting Wang Bing to go upstairs. Chen Fan walked to private room number three and knocked gently at the door. The man who opened the door was in his thirties, dressed neatly in a suit, wore golden-rimmed glasses and had a pineapple head hairstyle. He looked refined and well-mannered, definitely way better than Chen Shuguang. "Hello, how are you?" The man stretched out his right hand and shook hands with Chen Fan. "Let me introduce myself. I''m Wang Xingyu, IT manager of Hong Kong''s Bada Biotechnology Group''s Zhongyun Branch." "I''m Chen Fan." Chen Fan also stretched out his hand and did a short self-introduction. After getting Wang Bing to guard the door, the two went in and Chen Fan started the conversation. "Can you tell me the origin of this thing?" Chen Fan opened the plastic bag and pointed at the taupe crystal. Wang Xingyu did not speak, but touched the crystal emotionally with his hands. Not only that, the guy even placed his nose close to it and sniffed as if he was smoking opium. After a while, looking as if his "drug addiction" had been satisfied, he said, "The source of this thing is actually similar to ambergris. They''re both from inside the body of some big creature in the ocean. The only way to differentiate them from their shape is to see if it''s round. The shape of ambergris is irregular, but this thing is as round as a ball." "Is it also from a type of whale?" Chen Fan pointed at the crystal. "Since it is so much like ambergris, I guess it also belongs to a whale." "Wrong!" Wang Xingyu shook his head from side to side before saying with an unfathomable expression, "This thing has nothing to do with whales. It''s from inside the body of a type of giant deep sea jellyfish called ''ghost hair jellyfish''!" "Ghost hair jellyfish? What''s that?" Chen Fan was stunned. He had never heard that there was this type of giant jellyfish in the ocean whose name alone was enough to send a chill down one''s spine. "The name of the ghost hair jellyfish came from its tentacles. This type of jellyfish normally lives around two thousand meters underwater, and its umbrella-shaped body can reach over ten meters in diameter. Under its body are numerous hair-like tentacles, making it look like a huge head of long white hair, hence the name ghost hair jellyfish." Wang Xingyu paused for a while before asking Chen Fan, "Have you heard of the Australian box jellyfish?" "Yes, it''s supposedly the world''s most venomous jellyfish. Once a person gets pricked by the poisonous needle on its tentacles, he could die within three minutes." Chen Fan trembled at the thought of this. The electric eel always used high discharge to electrocute any type of jellyfish it met underwater to prevent itself from harm. "The box jellyfish is indeed very poisonous, but the ghost hair jellyfish''s toxicity is not any less as compared to it. Also, the size of the ghost hair jellyfish is many times bigger than it. Someone once discovered a dead jellyfish of this type on the shore, the diameter of its umbrella-shaped body was only five meters but its tentacles were already more than forty meters long." "Can you go straight to the point, like the origin of this crystal or something?" Chen Fan swallowed his saliva. "My concern is the origin of this crystal." "Sure!" Wang Xingyu dipped his finger with some tea and drew a big round ball on the table before pointing at the center of the ball. "If this is the brain of the ghost hair jellyfish, this is where the crystal is from. A normal jellyfish can live for over thirty days, some up to around a year, but the lifespan of the ghost hair jellyfish is around two years. " "After it''s dead, other parts inside its body will decay rapidly, but only the poison sac doesn''t. The poison sac, around fifty centimeters in diameter, first floats to the water surface and the poison inside the sac becomes lesser over time, before finally condensing into a ball-shaped crystal." "What? This thing is actually poison?" Chen Fan pointed at the crystal. "But no, something''s not right. This thing is not poisonous at all!" "The toxicity of this thing is like venom, reducing slowly when exposed to air and finally become non-poisonous. The piece you have is probably from a two-year-old ghost hair jellyfish. The longer the ghost hair jellyfish lived, the more transparent and fragrant the crystal it produces, but the size also gets smaller." Wang Xingyu rubbed his hands together, "The stuff produced by sperm whales is called ambergris, and the stuff produced by ghost hair jellyfish also has a name, just that not many people know about it. It''s called ghost moon incense!" "Ghost moon incense? What kinda name is that?" Chen Fan stared with his eyes wide. "What''s this thing mainly for?" Actually Chen Fan already knew the answer. The electric eel already had a taste of the effect of this thing, and it was simply miraculous! "This thing is a great nourishment!" Wang Xingyu smacked his lips. "Three years ago, our company got a piece similar to yours by chance. After testing, we discovered that there was a large amount of unknown elements in it. We did experiments on different animals; land animals were still fine, but fishes were crazy over this thing. We threw a small bit of it into the water, and they fought over it and turned the whole fish tank red in just a short while. But the strange thing is, this thing has no effect on human beings after being consumed." Wang Xingyu stood up and walked to the door. "As for why it is called ghost moon incense" Wang Xingyu switched off the light in the room. The shocking thing was, in the dark, this twenty centimeter crystal slowly turned into a luminous pearl, emitting soft, lustrous rays from its surface, making one feel as if he was bathing under the moonlight. "It has such a feature?" Chen Fan quickly sat up from the chair. 96 Say! Or die! Chen Fan was completely lost in his memory. He did not know that this thing could shine, otherwise, he would have treasured it. He could not be blamed though because how would he have been able to distinguish whether it was good or bad as a child. The most he would do was play with it and dump it when he got bored. Who would have expected this thing to glow in the dark! "That''s why it''s called ''ghost moon incense''!" Wang Xingyu pushed the spectacles on his nose bridge. "We tested it with instruments and found that it contained 226Ra, 232Th, etc. The isotopic element can emit light depending on its own excitation energy." "But, although it can be found at night in the sea, people know very little about it. The straightforward reason is that when the toxin inside is slowly neutralized, it will cause numerous fish to devour it. The one we obtained last time, was from the jellyfish that slowly dried out after it was washed up on the beach. "So you want to buy it on behalf of the company?" Chen Fan was sitting in a chair with his legs crossed. "Well!" Wang Xingyu turned on the light again. "We have been trying to figure out what ingredients are in it, but unfortunately the ghost moon incense has been used up by us, and we have run out of it. When I was wandering around in the House of Seas Forum, I coincidentally found your post, so I contacted you immediately to see if you could sell it to us." "This" Chen Fan scratched his head and apologized. "I was prepared to sell it to you, but when I knew it would shine, I suddenly changed my mind. Because I like things that shine...and I am quite rich...so I don''t want to sell it and was planning to cherish it for myself." "With the current technology, though the pure pearl of the night could not be produced. No one could differentiate it unless they were experts." Wang Xingyu looked at the ghost on the table. "Besides, the color is not attractive." "Color is not a problem, as long as the thing will shine, I won''t sell it." "Then how about I ask the technician of the company to use fluorescent powder to help you to cast a night pearl the same size as it?" Wang Xingyu was so full of regret that he felt like chopping off his own hand. Why on earth did he boast of his expertise just now? Chen Fan waved his hand. "No, no, no, I''m not selling. Where is the ghost hair jellyfish''s usual habitat?" "Why? Are you going to catch a few more?" Wang Xingyu shrugged. This thing is usually more than below 1500 meters deep in water and because of its physical structure, it has adapted to deep-water pressure. Its body is already used to the pressure. If it floats to the surface, it would burst and die due to the non-equilibrium inner and outer pressure. Of course, it would be an exception if it were already dead. So forget about getting it! The average depth is two thousand kilometers, so unless a deep-water bomb or torpedo made from an alloy shell is used to catch it blindly or you utilize the latest technology, it would be impossible to capture it." Chen Fan was a little impatient. "Just say which part of the sea. Why do you have to talk nonsense?" "It''s not intolerable, but you must sell this ghost moon incense to us, of course, we would not pay less." "How many times do you want me to repeat? I would not sell it," said Chen Fan, banging the table. "Tell me quickly ...the origin of the jellyfish!" "Why is this gentleman so obstinate? Seriously, you need it for nothing!" "Damn!" Chen Fan secretly cursed, then he stared at Wang Xingyu. "Are yougoing to say or not?" "Why are you so rude?" Wang Xingyu again pushed the spectacles on the bridge of his nose and acted like he was a gentleman. "It would be useless even if I tell you the place, you won''t be able to catch any." "Youyouyou are not going to tell me!" Chen Fan''s anger was like the awakening of the Yellowstone Volcano, erupting immediately! Kaqiang! Chen Fan quickly stood up and took something dangerous and deadly from his back waist and placed it across Wang Xingyu''s neck. "I will ask you for the last time. You must think carefully!" Chen Fan held the Kun Wu dagger and said word by word, "The origin of the ghost hair jellyfish...are you going to say or not?" Wang Xingyu tried to get up, but the cold touch that came from his neck stopped him from doing so. "I won''t say, if you dare, then stab me!" Wang Xingyu was also a determined guy to deal with, and he would not surrender easily. His eyes looked up directly at ChenFan''s. "I was shifted to Zhongyun in the name of a senior technician of Bada Biotechnology Group in Hong Kong so if anything happens to me, it would be listed in the province major case immediately, and I''m sure they would find out it was you who did it." "Damn you!" Chen Fan felt a fire burning in his heart. He really did not understand how this guy could be so idiotic and go against him even though there was a knife on his neck. Swish! Chen fan removed Kun Wu from Wang Xingyu''s neck and swung it to the pure wooden jujube yellow tea table. He swiftly sliced off the edge of the four-centimeter thick tea table as easy as cutting bean curd. "See, if you are not going to say, you would end up like this table." Wang Xingyu''s face was filled with cold sweat, his eyelashes flickered but his eyes were still showing a ''you won''t dare to hurt me'' expression. "Good!" Chen Fan gave a thumbs-up sign in front of Wang Xingyu and called, "Wang Bing, Wang Bing!" Wang Bing, who was guarding outside pushed open the door swiftly and entered. "Boss, what is it?" Put this guy on the ground, and I''ll torture and question him." Chen Fan put "Kun Wu" back in his waist, and then rolled up his sleeves. "Ok!" Once Wang Bing''s voice fell, Wang Xingyu felt as though the entire world had turned upside down. Wang Bing held Wang Xingyu like a bag and pressed him to the ground. He had one hand pressing his head down and the other hand was like a tiger''s claw holding on to both of the guy''s thumbs. "Boss, done, I got hold of him!" "Very good!" Chen Fan gave a glance of admiration to Wang Bing, then went to Wang Xingyu with a sinister smile on his lips and tickled him. 97 Coincidental Meeting At The Airpor "Let go of him!" Chen Fan stood up and said to Wang Bing. "You should''ve just said so earlier. Why do you have to go through this?" Chen Fan shook his head, took the plastic bag and opened the door. "Wang Bing, let''s go!" After the two left, Wang Xingyu laid on the floor with saliva at the corner of his mouth and stared blankly at the ceiling. "Boss, why haven''t I heard of the ghost hair jellyfish that he said? What did you ask him about that for?" Wang Bing asked out of curiosity in the car. "It''s a type of huge jellyfish that lives in the ocean and it''s been said that its poisonous sac can cure illnesses." "Oh!" Wang Bing was not really interested in it and continued driving the car. "Tonga Trench" Chen Fan looked up and mumbled to himself. He had heard of this name before. It seemed like the average depth was more than 6,000 meters, and the deepest point was more than 10,000 meters. After eating that white piece of ghost moon incense, the electric eel could now dive to 1,200 meters, which was three hundred meters more than its previous depth. Although this piece of brown ghost moon incense didn''t look appealing, luckily the electric eel seemed to have the desire to swallow it, so it shouldn''t have been a problem increasing the tolerated depth by another 100 meters. The eel could still manage to dive another 100 meters deeper with no hardship, but it was still short by a bit. I guess I have to put the eel through some tough training on deep sea diving! Chen Fan said to himself as he pressed down the car window and looked blankly at the pedestrians. The electric eel was the security of Chen Fan''s future. Chen Fan would be nothing without it, hence he had no choice but to force Wang Xingyu to answer his questions just now. The guy was just too stubborn for his own good. After getting back to the district entrance, Chen Fan got Wang Bing to leave before he drove himself home. Once he reached home, Chen Fan switched on the computer to search for information on "ghost hair jellyfish" and "ghost moon incense". Unfortunately, he did not manage to get any useful information. Keying in "Bada Biotechnology Group", he got loads of related information this time! "Not bad, even distributed shares" Chen Fan pursed his lips. "Chairman Fu Lulong is coming to Zhongyun to inspect the investment environment for building a large-scale processing base" After closing the website, Chen Fan laid on the bed and shifted his thoughts to the electric eel. The ghost moon incense did not seem to have any effect physically. A few days had passed and the electric eel did not change much other than turning darker and shinier all over. The eel was currently settled in the center of a reef, ten nautical miles away from the shore of Zhongyun. It was around two hundred meters deep and surrounded by rocks, whereas only the center was on even seabed. The eel did not have to worry about being caught by a fisherman''s net and other such dangers. The electric eel with its current length of sixty meters would cause a commotion if it were to undergo physical training, hence Chen Fan chose a more obscure training method, such as digging holes. The 200 square meter empty space in the center of the reef had been dug into a big hole, twenty meters in diameter and fifteen meters deep, by the electric eel. Digging this hole not only trained the eel''s body, but also satisfied Chen Fan''s guilty pleasure of finding a big treasure hideout. The four shiny claws, each one meter in diameter, were like high-speed excavators on maximum power, digging downward at a speed of two meters per hour. After working at top speed for two hours, the electric eel was totally exhausted. Chen Fan controlled the eel to swim to a distance away and start swallowing fishes to fill its stomach. Early next morning, Chen Fan''s parents went to the travel agency to apply for a travel permit so that they could go to Hong Kong and Macau for some serious shopping. After getting up, Chen Fan drove to Ocean Storm Marine Company. It had been almost twenty days since he last stepped into the office. Everyone in the company looked bored and Chen Fan''s lack of responsibility and motivation was the cause of this. "Oh, hello boss!" Zhang Lele quickly stood up from the chair and looked at Chen Fan in shock. "Um!" Chen Fan nodded and sat on his special chair. "Ahem, let''s have a short meeting." Yu Lin clapped and was all ears. "The agenda of the meeting is very simple. Yiteng Yun, Yu Lin, Zhang Lele, from now on, the three of you shall publish on the internet the purchase of this thing called ghost moon incense. State the company''s contact number and Zhang Lele you shall be in charge of answering the calls. If the other party sends people over, Yu Lin you will be in charge of receiving them." "Boss, what''s ghost moon incense?" Zhang Lele asked as she played with her hair. "Good stuff!" Chen Fan took out a thumb drive from his pocket and plugged it into the computer before sending the pictures and introduction of ghost moon incense to each of their computers using the local area network. "Look carefully. This thing is round and easily recognizable. Take note that this thing also has different grades. The whiter and clearer, the more valuable it is. Inform me immediately if you see this type." "Yes, boss!" Yiteng Yun and the rest nodded. "You guys read the information yourselves, I shall save my breath. Whoever helps me get a piece of it will receive a reward of 5,000 RMB from me." "So much!" Zhang Lele squinted her pretty eyes. "Don''t worry boss, I''ll work overtime to help you settle this." "One more thing. The three of you go to the major marine forums and bulletin boards to search for this thing called ''ghost hair jellyfish''. You''ll also be rewarded if you''re able to find detailed information." "Um!" The three nodded unanimously. -------- When Chen Fan got home in the afternoon, his parents had already packed their luggage and were just waiting for the permit to be approved before they took the plane to Hong Kong and Macau for holidays. Time flies and two days had gone by in the wink of an eye. Chen Fan had called the office a few times to check on the situation, but the three all said that they had yet to find any related information on ''ghost hair jellyfish'', as well as "ghost moon incense''. It was 7:00 AM and Chen Fan got out of bed very early for the first time. This was because his parents were taking the 9AM flight to Hong Kong, and he had to send them off. "Son, your dad and I are going off soon. Remember to eat your meals regularly and not to get gastric acid like last time!" Chen Fan''s mother reminded Chen Fan after checking the luggage one last time. "Yes, I know." Chen Fan said as he walked toward the door with two suitcases in his hands. Gastric acid was a thing of the past. Ever since his body had been strengthened by the electric eel using electric current, his body had been in such excellent condition that he had not even gotten a cold anymore. It was already 8:20 AM when he drove the BMW slowly to Zhongyun airport. "Son, I''ve deposited 500,000 RMB onto this card for your daily expenses and filling up the car. I''ll help you keep the rest for getting a wife." Chen Fan''s mother shoved a bank card into Chen Fan''s hand and patted his shoulder. "Just go to the hotel outside the residential area for your meals and choose the expensive dishes." "Alright, your prodigal son will spend any amount you give him. You don''t have to worry at all!" Chen Fan''s father cut off his mother''s nagging. "Let''s quickly go get our boarding pass!" After his parents went through the security and entered the departure hall, Chen Fan sat on the chair so that he could see his parents off from there. Within a few minutes, Chen Fan heard the announcement from the departure hall. "Dear passengers, flight 1037 to Hong Kong is now ready for boarding, please bring your" As he was staring blankly at the plane parked at a distance away, Chen Fan heard a series of dah dah dah sounds. Of course, this wasn''t an audacious criminal shooting away with an AK, but the sound of a group of people stepping on the marble floor in their leather shoes. "Ah!" One of the men tripped over Chen Fan''s outstretched leg unintentionally. "I''m sorry!" Chen Fan quickly turned his head and apologized. However, "Are you kidding..." Chen Fan covered his face in agony. It was a group of successful looking men whose faces wore a look of self-confidence. Each of their heads had hair wax applied and looked shinier than leather shoes. Dressed neatly in black from top to toe, Chen Fan could not help but envy their character. However, envy and agony were two different matters. The thing that made Chen Fan fully understand what "extreme coincidence" meant was that, this man who Chen Fan accidentally tripped was the same guy who was threatened with a knife, pressed onto the floor and tickled by Chen Fan in the tea house a few days ago; the man called Wang Xingyu. "You?" Wang Xingyu covered his mouth with his left hand and pointed at Chen Fan, expressing disbelief at the coincidence. The previous incident was a great insult to him. He had wanted to discuss purchasing the "ghost moon incense" but ended up being threatened by a knife. The more infuriating thing was, the other party even tickled him after his threat failed! Although the thought of the knife sent a chill down Wang Xingyu''s spine, if that sharp knife had landed on a person''s body, he would be cut in half. "Wang, you know this man?" a luxuriously-dressed young man who was walking right in front asked. His 1.8 meter height and angular features made him look very manly. His capable disposition and the humble gaze from the surrounding men signaled that he was a top leader. "Yes, I was discussing the purchase of ''ghost moon incense'' with this fellow three days ago, but he threatened me with a knife and forced me to tell him the place of origin of the ''ghost hair jellyfish''." Wang Xingyu sounded very pleased with himself, as if he had just reported a major treason case to the Ministry of State Security. "This gentleman is really bold to threaten my man with a knife!" The luxuriously-dressed young man did not have any expression on his face. "Yes, boss!" Wang Xingyu added in more detail. "If I had not told him the place of origin of the ''ghost hair jellyfish'' in the end, he would have stabbed me to death!" "Sir, please come with me." The luxuriously-dressed young man spoke as though he was high above the rest. His commanding tone sounded like he had the privilege of manipulating life and death. 98 Dump You Into the Huangpu River "Why? Why are there three large incidents happening in a single day?" Goro Ota flared and shouted. "Could it be that the geological layer over there had some problems that we had not previously discovered?" In the face of such shots, the staff member was scared out of his wits. His face turned pale, then he asked, "Oil well number three could be considered as a sudden incident, but what about numbers one and five? With the same machinery accidents happening in one day, there is definitely some sort of connection between the events." "Check it. Immediately request for our national exploration vessel to explore the sea bed in that area again." "Sigh!" "Why are you sighing? Faster! Get to it!" Once the staff member hurried off, Goro Ota pulled the necktie around his neck aggressively. He was prepared to phone that sucker to see if it was possible to delay for a few days. Since this first business transaction had so many flaws, even before it had begun, it would not be considered rude to talk badly about it. However, the phone call was not connected yet, so Garo Ota could only send an email to the opposite party. At that time, that person wrote in Mandarin. So, after giving it more thought, Garo Ota yelled at a translator to come translate it for him. Dear Mr. Kate Buzan, Kate! I deeply apologize for the fact that our oil well had, at the local time of between 12 to 2, consecutively experienced a malfunction with our three drilling platforms. We are already trying our best to fix it. It is estimated that it will take one week until we are able to continue excavating. Do you think that we could postpone our date of agreement by a few days? If this is possible, only for this transaction, I will give you a price reduction of 15 Yen per barrel! After delivering this email, Garo Ota''s face turned red. He admitted to himself that, if he was in the other party''s shoes, he would have never agreed to such terms. Businessmen are naturally profit seekers. As such, who in the world would be kind enough to offer to give away any of their gains? "I hope this youngster is an exceptionally rare idiot, who agrees with my terms at first glance." At this point in time, Garo Ota could only silently pray for the best, Otherwise, full compensation would be the only alternative left. Alas, what he was afraid of had happened. Garo Ota''s concern quickly turned into a reality, seen in the email reply.. I would like to express my sympathy and condolences to the issue that has broken out in your company. We are very concerned about this incident. Did it cause any casualties? However, we do hope that your company can understand our circumstances, too. We just signed an agreement with the party in Myanmar, which clearly stated that there would be a large penalty compensated for late deliveries! ... "Kiddo, I bet you are stunned right now!" After sending out the email reply, Chen Fan laughed cunningly. The destruction of three oil wells would be enough to keep them busy for quite a long period of time. Thus, he could safely withdraw his electric eel. When the electric eel returned to Zhongyun, there were still seven days remaining until the scheduled date of goods delivery. At the same time, Garo Ota had sent a few emails to notify him of their difficulties and request for a further postponement of a few days. Even if God came, Chen Fan would never agree to such terms! In fact, he had already thought to himself that, if time were to be delayed for too long and the Ohno Group still failed to deliver their promises, he would control the electric eel to destroy one of the well''s oil control valves. This would cause them to receive an enormous fine from Libya''s government! Just the thought of the black oil gushing out from the pipes after destroying their oil well left him with a feeling of pure satisfaction. At ten in the morning, Chen Fan changed out of the black windbreaker, which he had worn for a week, into a brown Armani casual jacket. Today, he was prepared to make a trip to the Swiss International Bank in Tian Hai City. A few days earlier, Wang Bing had already sent him a message, telling him that the police that were stationed in front of his house had already left. Ma Rongtao also told him that the police had determined that it was an accidental assault on the police, meaning that it had nothing to do with the illegal possession of a gun. The bank account, which was frozen before, had been unfrozen, and it was not a matter of an armed assault towards the police, either, as he had initially thought it was. As such, it was a situation dealing two separate crimes, with a huge difference in between them. As for how many years he would end up in prison, following the court''s verdict, one would only know the answer to that question, should he be captured and sent to court for trial. However, Ma Rongtao said that his case would not be tried for yet another few more years. Plus, at the time of any sentencing, there would also be the option of bailing him out, thus further suspending date of sentencing. Theoretically, even if Chen Fan were to surrender now, he would not be locked up for too long, before he could again be released. Even with these facts, he still did not want to be locked up for even a day! Since he was not a wanted criminal, the police would not even recognize him, should he be walking on the street. Thus, the chances of his getting caught were still minimal! Moreover, even if he were to get caught, he would just have to admit that he was dogged by misfortune. He would surely then be released, after getting locked up for only a little while. Holding on to this devil-may-care attitude, Chen Fan boarded his luxurious submarine, once the morning sun was shining brightly. He then started his journey, heading south to the globalized city, which was 150 nautical miles away from Zhongyun. This distance of 150 nautical miles was just a matter of traveling for 30 to 40 minutes for the electric eel. Thus, the only hassle of this jaunt was to search for a hidden landing spot. Tian Hai City''s Swiss International Bank was located on Nanjing West Road in the Jing''an District. This place was known as the Swiss Bank Representative Office, where they only served high-profile customers. As such, unless you were not saving more than 50 million Renminbi, then do not even bother searching for it! Evidently, Chen Fan was the VIP here! He wore a small cow-leather hat, as he walked into the large building. He then proceeded to take the lift up to the reception office. When the young female staff member saw the black self-set pictured card in his hand, she was so shocked, she started stuttering! "I would like to exchange 50 million Renminbi!" said Chen Fan, as he sat in the luxuriously furnished room. "Would you like to withdraw cash or transfer it to your account?" asked the senior manager, who rushed in upon hearing the news of his arrival. He was displaying his most impeccable professional etiquettes, obviously! "Transfer it to this card of mine, please!" Chen Fan took out a normal Swiss banking card from his pocket. It was a card that he had left over from the previous transfer, which still contained a few thousand American Dollars on it. "Alright, please wait for a moment!" The senior manager, who was dressed in a suit, received the card courteously. He waved his hand to ask the female staff to leave, as he personally desired to operate the computer for this special transaction. Chen Fan was preparing the 50 million Renminbi for his parents. Although his own bank account was frozen, he decided to not do anything to it temporarily, but instead withdraw the money from the Swiss Bank. Two days ago, he had a discussion with his parents, where he had suggested that they move to a different place to live. Otherwise, as time went by, once the neighbors knew about him being a wanted person on the run, they would surely scorn them. Nowadays, if you had enough money, you could even move to outer space. After discussing this subject his parents for about half a day, they decided to buy a house in the city district. To buy a house there, five million was more than enough. Yet, Chen Fan withdrew 50 million, so that his parents could move, as well as open up a supermarket, restaurant, or something else. He was not too worried about taking out so a large sum, specifically because it would be in his parents'' names. As such, since they did not have any connection to the case, even if they had 100 million deposited to them, without knowing where it is from, the justice department would not confiscate their wealth, because they would not have evidence to prove that their wealth was illegally gained. Thus, the matter of exchanging the Renminbi was handled quickly. When the senior manager saw that Chen Fan had the intention of leaving, he quickly came over to fawn all over him. "Dear sir, here we have a personal financial consulting group that is unrivalled. If you are willing to let us manage your wealth, then we promise to generate a return of no less than five percent a year for you..." Chen Fan interrupted his endless speech, saying, "Why does the Swiss Bank love to promote their financial consulting services to customers, just like other banks?" "Hehe," This senior manager smiled brazenly, then said, "We must grab our chances to serve any high-profile customer, like you!" "Let''s talk about this in the future. Recently, my capital has been frequently moved around, so I can''t bring out any extra cash for investments at the moment." Chen Fan also laughed a little, after responding. At least this guy was pretty honest! Taking the escalator back to the entrance of the large building, Chen Fan casually walked into a restaurant nearby. Since he had not yet had his breakfast, he figured that he might as well grab an early lunch. He had only managed to take a few steps toward the restaurant, when a fiery red Ferrari recklessly rushed past. The noise blasted from the engine by the exhaust pipe roared into the ears of the people nearby. Then, this fiery red Ferrari turned in a way that went against the principle of mechanics, pulling over in front of the gate of the large building with a squeak. "Showy rich kid!" If this scene had happened a year ago, Chen Fan would have definitely stopped to stare and admire the car. However, as he had already become so wealthy that luxurious cars, which were worth millions, were nothing to him, this brat would definitely not garner his attention today! After the car stopped, a tall girl with light yellow curly hair, who wore a white windbreaker, exited the car. The people around all had a gleam in their eyes. They did not expect that the owner of this fancy car would be a girl whose beauty could rival the most exotic of flowers! This beautiful lady looked like a female idol from the movies. She even wore a cool pair of sunglasses. After getting out of the car, she elegantly adjusted her clothes, then walked into the large building, without even looking back. "Shanghai really has so many pretty ladies!" A youngster with a foreign accent stared at the back of the beautiful lady, as if his soul were being extracted from his body. "Ah!" Chen Fan opened his mouth widely, as though a long pike had pierced into his lungs. "Crazy weirdo!" The youngster beside Chen Fan looked at him in a weird manner. The lady was no doubt prettier than most of the Hollywood idols, but this guy''s expression was a little exaggerated, right? "Look who''s talking, little jerk!" Once the youngster had left, Chen Fan walked around the large building once, his eyes now bloodshot. He was furious. That lady was none other than Nakagawa Emi! She was the woman who wanted him to go to jail, and who had caused him to not be able to return to his own house! After recognizing her and allowing his temper to get the better of him, Chen Fan felt that his bloodstreams were being filled with a storm of raging emotions. He did not even want to eat anymore, nor was he feeling at all hungry. He felt oddly energized, in fact. He ran a few steps to the front of the fiery red Ferrari, then pulled the door handle, but it was locked. Since this method had not worked out, Chen Fan ran a few steps to the nearby newspaper stand, where he purchased a newspaper, a bottle of Wahaha mineral water, and a piece of bread. He acted as if he was simply a starry-eyed youngster, who had just left his hometown to look for a job. Sitting on the curb beside the Ferrari, he slowly bit into the bread, drank some mineral water, and kept shifting his gaze between his newspaper and the exit of the large building. This is such a coincidence! This dang lady is probably going to the Swiss Bank to settle some financial matters. Once she comes out, I am going to capture and interrogate her properly! When Chen Fan felt like half a century had gone by, although it had really only been about 40 minutes, the pretty lady with the nice figure appeared on the platform of the large building. Realizing that she was still on her own, Chen Fan positioned the Kun Wu Dagger behind his back, trembling as he did so. He then used the newspaper to camouflage it, looking just as if he was still reading the newspaper. "Clack!" The crisp sound of her dainty leather boots was getting closer. Chen Fan''s bloodstream was also flowing faster! When he was able to see the long fine legs of that lady beneath the tight black skirt from the bottom of the newspaper, he suppressed his emotions, then growled, "Miss, could you tell me how to get to the Maoming Building? I want to go there to interview for a sales position." "I don''t know!" Nakagawa Emi gave a very simple answer. She cautiously looked at this man, who had half of his body covered by the newspaper. She then took out her key to unlock the car door, getting ready to enter the car. "Don''t move!" Chen Fan swiftly leapt to her back, then poked her chest with his right hand. While the newspaper was still in his grip, he wrapped his left arm around her thin waist from the back. Under normal conditions, since Chen Fan had already grabbed her arms with one hand, while holding a knife in front of her with the other, she should have obeyed his orders immediately, no matter how rough Chen Fan was being. In fact, from Chen Fan''s perspective, he should not have needed to expend much effort to apprehend her, as Nakagawa Emi''s body was thin and weak. However, when he placed the knife in front of Nakagawa Emi, he understood how stupid his initial thought was. He had failed to factor in a secret weapon...This pretty lady''s stiletto heels! Thus, when Nakagawa Emi raised her legs up and stomped on Chen Fan''s coffee-coloured casual leather shoes, he felt like he had been kicked by a Transformer! It was so painful, even his face crumpled. Poor Chen Fan did not want to admit it, but he had to concede that women were not as weak as he had thought they were! Nakagawa Emi''s high heel stomp had yet to finish its execution, when she suddenly utilized her right shoulder to knock him backwards. Her light yellow curly hair swept across the air, while the knife that was on her neck did not stop her at all! She mystically twisted around, landing into a stance that allowed her to collide into Chen Fan with her chest. This self-defense move was pretty dangerous. Yet, she made it look effortless! If her head had made a slight deviation, or her waist did not have good flexibility, the sharp Kun Wu dagger would have cut across her neck for sure! By then, even if a priest were to be called to perform a healing technique on her, she would not have been able to survive such a wound! Suddenly, her defensive stance had now transformed into an offensive attack! Nakagawa Emi twisted her wrist in a flash, prepared to grab onto Chen Fan''s hand that held the knife. She choked his neck with her right hand, while she utilized the strength from her waist to execute a deadly flip. However, when both of her hands were released from Chen Fan''s control, she realized how ridiculous her initial thought was. Without a doubt, Nakagawa Emi owned the renowned title of Kendo master, and she also excelled in all sorts of self-defense techniques, which allowed her to easily take down three or five men at a time. However, Chen Fan, who had finally come back to his senses, suddenly realized that he did not need to execute any excellent martial arts to combat her successfully at all! In fact, he did not know any moves at all, as he had only learned specific tactics from Wang Bing. However, he could not execute those at that time, or else he might kill Nakagawa Emi! Thus, he simply applied strength to his left arm to restrain her waist and both of her arms. Nakagawa Emi suddenly felt a constriction at her chest, which was followed by a horrifying and continuous force on her body. Her fair face then suddenly turned red, as she coughed vigorously. How is this a human''s arm strength?! "You witch! You are in for some trouble! How dare you step on me?" Chen Fan''s torso was right on top of her back now. Due to the intense pain that was still coming from his leg, he was breathing heavily as he spoke. "You What do you want?" In that exact moment, Nakagawa Emi recognized who this barbaric man was. Thus, she answered him faintly. "I want your life!" Chen Fan smiled coldly, his expression fierce. Although he was using a knife and even threatening to take away her life, the passersby should have reported this scene to the police. However, the outcome was totally the opposite! This was because Chen Fan had been careful to cover his knife with a newspaper. So, when bystanders saw Nakagawa Emi breathing heavily, as well as her bright red face, which was actually caused by her near suffocation, they only thought of the pair as being a shameless couple, being overly amorous on the streets. There were even one or two perverts, who were secretly commenting about the man with the Ferrari, who was shamelessly using the newspaper to block his actions, not allowing them to enjoy the interesting view! "Get in the car!" After opening the Ferrari''s car door, Chen Fan crammed the girl into the driver''s seat, before slamming the door. All race cars have one thing in common. As long as the car window was not down, outsiders could never see what was going on inside the car. Blocking any gazes from strangers, Chen Fan could finally do what he wanted to do boldly. He first scanned around the car, looking for something that could be used to tie her up. Yet, he failed to find anything. As such, he could only tighten his left grip again to prevent Nakagawa Emi from causing more trouble. He then quickly undid his belt to use it to tie up her arms. After freeing both of his hands, Chen Fan used the knife to cut away the safety belt, which he then used to tie up both of her slender legs. "You will pay heavily for your actions!" Nakagawa Emi said, resisting. Although her legs looked thin, they still packed some punch! Due to the cramped space in the car, as well as the fact that she was sitting on top of his lap, his arms could not fully utilize their strength, so his few attempts were futile. "Can you just cooperate and let me tie you up?" Chen Fan took his Kun Wu knife and flicked it near her face. This made her hair stand on end. She did not have the courage to move at all anymore. The following matter would be much easier to handle now. Chen Fan wrapped the safety belt around her a few times. Looking at his work, he felt that this woman was a tough one to handle, so he had to put in more effort! For safety purposes, he cut the main driver''s seat belt, then used it to wrap her up. "Alright, now let me bring you to somewhere fun, a place that you will not forget for the rest of your life!" Chen Fan smiled and tapped her on the shoulder. After getting the keys and phone out, he struggled to move across to the main driver''s seat from the seat beside it. After inserting the key and turning on the lights, Chen Fan figured out how to use the car, familiarizing himself with the control panels. He then stepped on the accelerator and drove the Ferrari away with a blast. "Where are you taking me?" Nakagawa Emi glared at him furiously, her gaze vicious. She looked as if she could spew fire. "I am warning you. If I disappear for more than 24 hours, my men will start looking me. Then, it would not be hard to find out what happened here!" "You are as stubborn as ever, even when you are in trouble!" Chen Fan drove, while he freed one of his hands to take out his phone. "Tell me the number of your men. I will call them now." The two then went into a deep, stony silence. Nakagawa Emi bit her lips, then opened her mouth a few times, but still did not say a word. "Stay still. If you continue to spit rubbish from that mouth of yours, I am going to throw you into the Huangpu River to feed the fishes there!" After making the statement, Chen Fan put the phone back into his pocket, so that he could pay maximum attention to driving. Tian Hai City''s traffic was really horrible! After driving for about half an hour in the heavy traffic, he took a turn at Blade Road, then continued for another 40 minutes. He then arrived at his destination. It was the sea, just to the north of Yang Village. "You Why did you bring me to the beach?" Looking at the vast sea that was just outside the window, Nakagawa Emi continued to stare at him, her gaze still quite vicious. "Of course, I am going to wait until tonight, before I tie a rock to you and dump you into the sea!" Chen Fan said, as if it was nothing! 99 On An Emerald Green Field Chen Fan was speechless. There were no such coincidences in the world. The recent chairman, Fu Lulong, is coming to China to explore the investment environment and prepare to build a new large-scale processing base. Chen Fan recalled the news that he had seen on the Internet two days ago, then looked at the chairman, who was already there. And this was definitely Wang Xingyu''s... He must have come to pick them up from the airport. Iniquity! Iniquity! Chen Fan murmured in his heart with a heartfelt sigh, then raised his head and looked at Fu Lulong and said, "I''m sorry about what happened two days ago, but I won''t go with you." "Do you think, sir, that you will be safe and sound after touching my man? If you bully a dog, you will also have to see who their owner is, especially in front of many people. Even a soft-headed boss would have to stand up for his employee." At the request of Fu Lulong, the two men on the side who looked very tough, were rubbing their hands and came forward. They used their fit bodies to sandwich Chen Fan and block him from escaping! Chen Fan had regret in his heart. Shit, I did not let Wang Bing follow along! But who was to blame? Why did he have to be in a rage and threaten the guy with his knife? Even if Wang Xingyu did not know the origin of the ''ghost jellyfish'', and the deal was not done, Chen Fan may have been more benevolent toward him from the beginning if he had been nice to him. Maybe if he encountered him at the airport today, and they could have chatted, they wouldn''t have battled. But now, there was no sense in ''crying over spilled milk''. He would just have to bear the consequences. Eighty percent chances! Chen Fan stood up slowly from the chair. Although he knew he was the one to blame for this, it shouldn''t mean that Chen Fan deserved to get beaten up by these people. He neither wanted to be beaten nor be seen as a coward, so he had to forcefully say some boastful words. "I guess you don''t know who I am?" Fu Lulong was angry. "Doesn''t this young man know how to write the word ''dead''? He could be so insolent even though he is surrounded by two fit bodyguards." Even if the young man was that bold not to care about the two bodyguards, did he really think that these well-dressed workers were just for display? If things got nasty, and they took off their suits, they definitely could beat Chen Fan up! "Can we talk outside?" Mr. Fu tried to breathe in to calm his voice and make his posture look elegant. It was an airport, and there were no less than ten armed guards. No matter how much anger and resentment there was, he could not solve it there. "Of course!" Chen Fan answered without hesitation. Fu Luolong looked at Chen Fan who was calm. He had a bad feeling, but he had the absolute advantage, so he need not worry about Chen Fan coming out with any tricks. ......... How does it feel to be surrounded by eight people with a hostile look on their face? If that''s not mad enough... As they walked out of the lobby of the airport, the drivers, who had been standing in front of three black Mercedes, bowed and made their greeting. "Boss!" Oh my, how could these be drivers? Besieged in the middle, Chen Fan felt as though his scalp was being poked by pins and needles. Three of the men in the black suits had waists thicker than a Rome pole. If they were ever out of a job, they could definitely find one as a fitness coach in a gym. "Well," said Fu Luong, after snorting through his nose, he turned to Chen Fan and said, "Gentleman, shall we go somewhere nearby and deal with this matter?" Chen Fan pointed to the opening across the road. "Let''s go to the vacant land in front!" The airport in Zhongyun city, like other places, was built on the outskirts of the city, surrounded by empty buildings. After all, people do not like to listen to the noises of the planes departing. "First of all, the three of you, follow me to the clearing in front to settle my feud with this gentleman!" Standing at the top of the steps, Fu Lulong, who was protected from the front and back had the style of a king. The three men immediately showed enthusiasm when they heard that there would be a fight. They came forward to the steps and surrounded Chen Fan with an eager look in their eyes as though they were going to devour meat. Including the drivers, a total of twelve uniformly strong men surrounded Chen Fan and came to the clearing. All of them stared at Chen Fan with an expression as if to say "you''ll die very miserably." "President Fu, you must take revenge for me. I almost could not see you again." Seeing that his own boss had helped him to get revenge, Wang Xingyu was excited. This guy made him miserable. The tickling was much worse than stabbing him with a knife. Up to now, as soon as he saw someone smile it ''creeped'' him out. It could be said that the tickling experience caused him to be traumatized! "Huh!" Fu Lulong laughed coldly. Because they were on a flight, he did not bring a gun, but with so many men, Chen Fan would definitely be beaten to death. Both sides were had their own plan. Most of them thought that Chen Fan would be unlucky. Chen Fan, however, thought there was a chance to survive after enduring for a long time at the heavily guarded airport. Crackle! The sound of the men in black cracking their hand knuckles, as they waited for the boss to execute the order to put this guy down, was like the sound of firecrackers! "Gentleman, how do you feel right now?" Fu Lulong enjoyed this feeling of being on the side with the advantage, like a cat playing with a rat. Hitting a man requires exquisite technique. The longer the time was dragged out, the greater psychological pressure would be exerted on the opponent. If the herd rushed up and walloped him right away, he would lose the feeling of the cat playing with the rat. "You won''t like what I would say, so forget about it!" Chen Fan shrugged his shoulders and showed no sign of fear. The attitude of Chen Fan made Fu Lulong even madder! The mouse dared to talk back to the cat. However, the unexpected had still not happened. Just as Mr. Fu was about to command his men to teach Chen Fan a lesson, Chen Fan made an action that stunned everyone. Chen Fan, who was surrounded, in just half a second, his right leg was bent, and arms were lifted, then the left leg swiped, and was prepared to knock down the men. "Ha!" The two men that were about to be bumped smiled with satisfaction. At the same time they saw Chen Fan coming towards them, they tensed their muscles and were ready to let this guy who overestimated his own ability know what an ''iron wall'' was. Bang! A dull thud was heard. Both of them were knocked off balance. The two fit men were in disbelief when they found themselves in mid-air, their squinting tiny eyes suddenly opened to the limit! No one had thought that the young man was able to defeat two fit men with just two kicks. The two strong men felt like they experienced a car accident as they were knocked over by a sweep from Chen Fan and flew to the ground like a broken kite. After he beat down the two men, Chen Fan escaped. It seemed like he had an engine running under his feet as he ran at the speed of lightning. "Chase him!" Fu Lulong roared in exasperation. It was unexpected that the rat could have even escaped from a group of 12 cats surrounding it. "Ah," came from a brood of people, who were like frogs bouncing up and down in the direction where Chen Fan fled off. Chen Fan rushed out of that place but didn''t run into the parking lot. If he had tried to run to the car, that would have given the group of men time to surround him. In the suburbs, there was a lot of vacant space. Chen Fan simply marched in a straight line and did not think that the men could run past him. Since the electric eel had been strengthened, Chen Fan''s combat skills still had not improved, but the physical quality and impact force had definitely improved tremendously. .................. If anyone had witnessed this scene, they definitely would have laughed. Twelve men chasing a young man while swearing, and they did not succeed even after few attempts. It was a little too embarrassing! "You... YouDon''t run," said Fu Lulong while gasping for breath. Chen Fan covered his head and did not speak. He had been running for more than ten minutes, but the others were still chasing from behind. In front of him was a vast expansive field, where he had left more than twenty feet of long tracks behind him in the green shoots of wheat. After continuing to run for more than ten minutes, although Chen Fan was physically fit, he too was gasping for air. As he glanced over his shoulder, Chen Fan found out that the group that was chasing him just now had scattered. The ones who ran in front were the athletic drivers and bodyguards, and the ones left behind were the well-dressed staff. "You... You... Don''t run away... "Fu Lulong''s physical quality seemed good too and he remained in the front row. "Do you think I want to run? If it was not because I felt guilty and sorry, I would have drawn out my knife and fought against you all!" Chen Fan secretly complained and continued running. Five minutes later... Thud! With a sound, Wang Xingyu, who was trying to stagger on, fell onto the wheat field like a rotten wooden plank. He was like a mackerel fish that left the sea, his eyeballs were flipped back, and he was gasping for air, lying in the field. "Ah, HuAh, Hu" "F**king useless Wang Xingyu!" Seeing Wang Xingyu fall on the ground, Fu Lulong was mad, his throat was hoarse and his pants were dyed greed by the wheat! If it were not for the sake of this useless employee, would it be so? Promptly the situation was tense he could not back out either! "F**k, you will know what I''ll do to you when I get back to the office!" Fu Lulong swore while he chased Chen Fan. 100 To The Deep Sea For Training Thump! Another physically unfit one fell to the ground, panting away like a bull. Five minutes later "Stop!" Fu Lulong could no longer be bothered with not being able to back down. So what if he managed to catch up with that man? He was after all a Taekwondo black belt 1st dan, but he wouldn''t have the strength to bash the man up even if he was right in front of him now. A few of the strong men''s legs suddenly turned to jelly when they heard the command from their leader. They sat right on the wheat field and stuck out their tongues like dogs during summer, huffing and puffing. "This...this...chap, he must be on the provincial track and field team, and...and he must have been some long-distance running champion" One of the man mumbled as he gazed at Chen Fan getting further and further away. "Come on, come chase me!" Chen Fan said as he gasped for air with both hands supporting his knees. He had continued running for more than 1,000 meters before turning back to look at the ten men who had become small black dots. After resting for more than ten minutes, Chen Fan walked a few hundred meters to the highway and waited for half an hour before he managed to get a cab. He did not bother picking up the BMW parked at the airport and took the cab straight to Bolan Gardens. "Hello, Wang Bing, come get my car key from Bolan district and drive my car back from the airport." Chen Fan dialed Wang Bing''s mobile phone as he laid in the bathtub. He did not ask Wang Bing along when he sent his parents off with the car, and he ended up being chased such a long distance by more than ten strong men. Other than being in the wrong, the biggest issue was that Chen Fan was unable to fight with those twelve men barehanded, unless he took out a knife. However, there was another extremely serious problem. The other party was an investor with powerful backing and was highly-influential in Hong Kong. If he called the police, Chen Fan might even be put behind bars for up to two weeks for just pushing him, not to mention stabbing him with a knife. The government focused on and cared for investors. Chen Fan didn''t have any confidence in playing games with him, unless he used underhanded methods. Wait till I make tens of billions. I''ll also get myself the title of an investor. I shall see who dares to lay a finger on me then. If I just show slight displeasure toward a person, there would be someone dealing with him immediately without the need for me to take action. I wouldn''t be such a good-for-nothing like today! I didn''t even dare to fight back after being chased this way! Chen Fan couldn''t help but fantasize in the bathtub. After Wang Bing took the key and drove the BMW back, Chen Fan had him drive himself to the old house to get the "ghost moon incense" before dismissing him. Chen Fan drove to the shipyard by the sea, controlled the electric eel to swim to the ravine in front of the shipyard before throwing the ghost moon incense into the water for the eel to swallow. After getting back into the car, Chen Fan shifted his thoughts onto the eel. The overall physical fitness of the electric eel improved greatly from the previous time it swallowed the piece of white ghost moon incense. Chen Fan wanted to see what the effect of this dull-looking piece of ghost moon incense would have this time. The feeling this time was similar to the previous time. When the ghost moon incense dissolved and entered into the bloodstream, the electric eel felt warm all over and was extremely comfortable. After waiting for a while, the eel did not experience any other significant changes. It twisted its body and swam lazily toward the faraway reef. The twenty meter wide hole among the reefs had been dug forty meters deep by the electric eel. More effort was required the deeper it got. The soil needed to be transported faraway for disposal so that the ocean currents could wash them away. After getting into the hole and resting the eel''s head on the seabed, Chen Fan retracted his thoughts and started the car engine. He drove back to Bolan district and laid down in a comfortable position before shifting his thoughts over again. The electric eel was Chen Fan''s backing. He could live better only if his backing became stronger. Chen Fan''s goal was very simple. His goal was to train the electric eel''s pressure resistance so that it could go to extremely deep areas in the sea to catch ghost hair jellyfish. He could then get ahold of its poisonous sac and use it to strengthen the eel. After two hours, the ghost moon incense in the eel''s body had significantly reduced, and it would probably dissolve completely early next morning. Since there were no other changes, Chen Fan had the electric eel continue to dig for two hours before it fell asleep, both mentally and physically exhausted. Early next morning, Chen Fan immediately shifted his thoughts onto the electric eel after washing up. He shifted the electromagnetic induction to the eel''s stomach and did not discover any signs of the ghost moon incense. It seemed like it had already been completely absorbed. After moving its body around carefully, Chen Fan found that the eel''s strength and discharge only increased by a little, unlike with the previous white ghost moon incense where the increase was very obvious. "Oh well, guess we gotta take it slow," Chen Fan exclaimed as he controlled the eel to swim toward the deeper part of the ocean. Oceanic trenches were one of the most magnificent geographical features underwater. They were long and narrow depressions with steep walls at the bottom of the ocean, and more than 2,000 meters deeper than adjacent seabeds. Chen Fan''s destination was very clear. It was the Shimen Trench which was thirty-two nautical miles northwest of Zhongyun. The over seventy nautical mile wide and two hundred meter long oceanic trench was discovered by the Ocean No. 6 research ship in 1993. Its deepest point in the center was more than 4,000 meters, and was the perfect place for the electric eel to train on pressure resistance. Chen Fan''s training method was very simple, which was to just dive all the way down into the deep waters. Every animal has an instinct to adapt to the surroundings, adjusting its body accordingly after a change in environment. Chen Fan planned to monitor what type of changes the eel''s body would undergo after reaching the deep sea. He was especially concerned whether the pituitary gland would secrete any strange substance in order to adjust the body to fight against the seawater pressure. Thereafter, Chen Fan would be able to locate the secretion area and then use weak discharge to simulate the pressure-resisting cortex; like how the pituitary gland had been simulated to encourage the growth of cortex. The electric eel only took over forty minutes to travel thirty-two nautical miles to reach this place. There were two ways that living creatures fight against pressure in the ocean. One was using the pressure of their own body fluids to maintain a balance with the seawater pressure. The other was purely using their body endurance to counter the seawater pressure. Both methods had their drawbacks. The first method only allowed living in the deep sea and not floating to shallow areas, otherwise the body would explode due to an imbalance between the internal and external pressures. The ghost hair jellyfish is such an example. The second method is very demanding on the body. Although it allowed the survival in environments of different pressures, it was extremely difficult to reach the deep areas of the ocean. It had to be mentioned that even if a tank was placed three or four thousand meters deep in the sea, it would be squashed into a discus. Since eating the ghost moon incense the day before, Chen Fan still did not know the pressure depth the eel could now go to. He could use the current opportunity to test it so that he could have an idea. The electric eel breathed out a huge row of air bubbles before diving head down toward the deep sea. Shimen Trench was a V-shaped oceanic trench with sloped edges around thirty degrees. After diving to a depth of 600 meters, the electric eel reached the gentle slopes. At 600 meters, the seawater was already totally dark. The electric eel could only use electromagnetic induction to sense the surrounding. Other than being a little slow in movement, the electric eel did not feel any pressure from the seawater. With its belly close to the gentle slope, the electric eel swam slowly downward. At the depth of about 900 meters, the surrounding pressure was like an invisible, big hand gently grabbing the eel''s body. Ten minutes later, the eel already reached the depth of 1,200 meters. The surrounding seawater pressure wrapped tightly around the eel''s internal organs like penetrating mercury, squeezing them forcefully. Huff! Chen Fan could clearly feel the strong pressure produced when the electric eel breathed. Within fifty meters of the eel''s electromagnetic induction, the entire area was in total silence except for the eel''s breathing sound. The silence was akin to that of a death zone without any signs of life, with a terrifying air around. Ten seconds later, the electric eel broke the silence as it continued swimming toward the deep waters. Chen Fan could feel that pressure on the eel''s body increase with each additional meter downward. At 1,300 meters, Chen Fan finally succumbed to the excruciating pain from the eel''s body. Chen Fan controlled the eel to insert its four claws tightly into the ground to prevent its body from sliding down the slope before shifting the electromagnetic induction onto the pituitary gland. He wanted to observe how the pituitary gland would adjust under the deep water pressure. If a human being stays for a period of time at the Tibetan Plateau where the air is thin, his body will adapt to the surrounding; the pituitary gland will secrete a special hormone to significantly improve the function of the lungs. This also applies to the electric eel in the deep sea, except that the organ doing the adaptation is different. However, the adaptation process takes time. Chen Fan could only grit his teeth and wait patiently for the pituitary gland to undergo changes. Ten minutes later, Chen Fan had the urge to give up. There was no obvious change in the pituitary gland and the bones of the eel seemed to have started to crack. Twenty minutes later, the eel started tearing either from the pain or from the seawater pressure. Thirty minutes later, Chen Fan felt that his thoughts were at the verge of breaking down. He could even feel that the eel''s internal organs were going to rupture. The only consolation to Chen Fan was that the wrinkled tissue, at fifteen degrees of the lower left corner of the watermelon-size pituitary gland, had slowly started to become active, secreting a type of white collagen hormone unknown to Chen Fan. "This should be it!" Chen Fan simply recorded down the position so that he could control the eel to swim to the shallow waters. Otherwise, the eel might die vomiting blood if it stayed for another few minutes. Chen Fan controlled the eel to release discharge from its body and removed his thoughts from the pituitary gland to the dark sea waters. Suddenly, Chen Fan felt as if his heart had been shot by a Barrett anti-materiel sniper rifle. "Ghost!" 101 20 Meters Long Monster He could see above the electric eel that there was a monster with eight claws, a pair of pincers and a body filled with needle-like white hair. Its white pincers were like 20 meter long pliers when they were open. It was like absolutely nothing that Chen Fan had ever heard of, nor had he ever seen. The creature, with its gray eyes the size of two tires, looked at the black electric eel without moving. "What is it? It''s neither a spider or a crab. Didn''t scientists say the world''s largest crustaceans were only four or five meters long?" This creature, however, had completely broken the biological science theory that Chen Fan had built over the years. While Chen Fan was stunned, the huge, white hairy monster may have felt this energy of paralyzed fear emanating from the eel and both of its pincers attacked the electric eel''s head with lightning speed . Boom... The electric eel suddenly became a bright glowing object as it burst out thousands of volts of high voltage from its skin surface. In the deep dark sea, a dazzling, bluish white light swept through all the living things in a 200-meter range. When the terrifying monster was hit by the bluish white light, its hair stood up like a kitten whose tail had been stepped on and its pincers froze in mid-air. Pa! Although the giant claw had no more strength left, the force from the initial acceleration let it move along through the inertia. The eel was unable to move because of the pressure exerted from the sea which allowed the monster to hit it on the head. As if hit by a meteor hammer, Chen Fan only felt some dizziness from the electric eel''s head. Even the release of the electric current had temporarily been disturbed. The trembling on the electric eel''s head, made Chen Fan feel as though there was fire in his heart and it was burning vigorously. It was as though someone poured petrol on it. Yesterday was enough and now he was being bullied by the ''white spider'' in the sea! Boom...Boom... The electric eel woke up and released its voltage which looked like bluish white light that attacked the white spider like a tsunami. The electric eel could release a maximum frequency for about a minute. The ''white hair spider'' was not in good shape. It took not even thirty seconds for its shell to turn from white to red like being cooked in hot water. Hu! When the ''white hair spider'' become the ''red hair spider''. The electric eel''s mouth spat out a long series of bubbles and then quickly stopped the discharge of electricity. Severe discharge of electricity would cause the water in the electric eel to split into oxygen and hydrogen so it was best for it to store some electricity unless it met urgent situations, otherwise it would be weak if it lost too much moisture. What made Chen Fan feel strange was that after it was dead, this ''white hair spider'' unexpectedly, slowly floated to the top of the water, unlike other sea crustaceans that sink to the bottom after death. "Who cares?" The electric eel was nearly crushed by the water pressure. It was more important to float up immediately. It took more than a dozen minutes to descend to a depth of 1300 meters, but it was easier to float up. With four claws holding on to a gray cliff, and swinging its tail a few times, it managed to float to the shallow area in just three minutes.Looking at the ''red spider'' that was floating up in front of him, Chen Fan felt it was better to tear it up. As the electric eel moved forward, a sudden sound of a diesel engine came from a distance away, and a huge trawl was coming near. "Shit!" With a curse, Chen Fan quickly controlled the electric eel and snuck away. ...... Returning to the cave in the reef, Chen Fan moved the electromagnetism to the pituitary gland and then locked it in a pituitary fold that acted abnormally in the deep sea. Although he did not know what type of protein it released, it did not prevent Chen Fan from stimulating it. It''s not biological scientist''s academic research. Why did he require this knowledge? Observing the details of the pituitary image in his mind that he would have seen under an electron microscope, Chen Fan took a breath and turned the voltage down to 13.5 volts swiftly to stimulate the area he just planned. Squeaking The unfamiliar pituitary tissue was injected with 15 milliliters of a stimulant, and the release rate of hormones was shocking. For the first time, Chen Fan didn''t dare to spend too much time on it, so he stopped after more than ten minutes. In a few minutes, the electric eel''s stomach was like a large, powerful meat grinder that was just fed but still felt hungry. Energy conversion is a constant process. It would only improve if it was supplied with nutrients, thus strong hunger is a good thing, which proved that the electric eel needed a lot of nutrition to improve itself. Now the 60-meter long and more than 50 ton electric eel, had to eat more than two tons for a meal, which is definitely a lingering nightmare for the fish nearby. After leaving the cave he looked for a large group of sardines in a distance, Chen Fan immediately controlled the electric eel''s attack on a scale of 100 meters. Boom! After a circle of bluish-white light, the originally active group of fish were immediately motionless as though attacked by the gaze of Medusa. The electric eel returned to the unfinished cave after finishing a hearty meal. ......... The next morning, Chen Fan rubbed his eyes, woke up from his dream, looked at the time, realized it was still early, and then, leaning on the pillow, turned on the TV to kill time. When changing to Zhongyun TV station, Chen Fan''s jaw dropped wide open when he watched the news on TV. He was shocked and speechless for a while. "Excuse me, gentlemen, how did you capture this gigantic monster?" With a sweet voice, the host appealed to the two young men who looked alike. "At that time my elder brother and I were sea trawling when suddenly the wooden boat shook. I thought it hit the rocks. My brother was observant, he patted my shoulder, and then pointed to the nets. I then realized that I captured a big guy!" A young man with an overall covered with oil stain, pointed at the ''red hair spider'' on the beach that was surrounded by men wearing various uniforms and said, "We were so frightened, if it wasn''t that we saw the monster was motionless, we would have cut the net down and fled to save our lives..." "Thank you, Sir. Let''s talk to professor Liu from the Institute of Oceanography in Zhongyun city and ask him what he had found out." The host turned the microphone over to the man who was in his 40s. "According to our observations of color and shape, it should be a variation of a type of crustacean, the Decapods, and the spider crab." The white coat man was loud and clear. "The 20-meter-long red spider crab is presumably a mutant from the ocean''s nuclear explosion. We know, after the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, rats that were exposed to radiation from the area had grown to the size of pigs. So this spider crab... " "A silly, this crab is originally white, okay?" Chen Fan said with contempt and then continued to stare at the screen. This huge crab had only a certain impact on the city. People who live by the sea have long been immune to these things. They talk about them as anecdotes during leisure time. The two poor youths took advantage of the opportunity to show their faces. They got paid a great deal from all the newspapers to establish this news. But Chen Fan, the culprit behind the incident, was still trying to stimulate the electric eel''s pituitary, preparing for the next two days to test the electric eel by letting it go into the trench again. 102 Company’s Issue Chen Fan woke up a little late today. The night before, the electric eel acted as an "excavator" for five to six hours before finally digging a sixty-meter deep hole. At last, the eel would no longer need to curl itself up or hang its head out anymore. After filling both stomachs, Chen Fan stimulated both the growth cortex and the pressure-resistant cortex of the pituitary gland before moving its tail, and then he swam toward Shimen Trench. Ringgg!!! Just as the electric eel reached the gentle slope of Shimen Trench and was about to dive in, the mobile phone which was placed on the bedside cabinet rang. "Who''s this?" Chen Fan shifted his thoughts back from the eel temporarily and picked up the phone. "Bro Chen, it''s me Zhang Xueyang! You don''t recognize my voice?" "Oh Bro Zhang, what''s up? You need me to smuggle machine tools from Japan again?" "No, no, we have enough machine tools for now. It''s about something else. Do you have time now? It''s better for us to meet up and talk." "Can''t you just say it over the phone?" "It''s the company''s issue. It''s difficult to explain like this. Let''s meet up first!" "Company''s issue?" Chen Fan mumbled. "Alright then, you name the place!" -------- "Company''s issue? There''s no issue with my company. What''s this fellow up to?" Chen Fan shook his head and then controlled the electric eel to find a more even seabed to lie on. Unknowingly, the monster managed to touch its head the previous time because its attention and electromagnetic induction were all on the pituitary gland. The electric eel usually could release 800 volts of continuous discharge to monitor a radius of around 100 meters, so it didn''t have to worry about surprise attacks by monsters. After settling down the electric eel, Chen Fan changed his clothes and drove to the business club he arranged with Zhang Xueyang. "Tsk tsk, rich people are just different. People usually meet at tea houses, but he arranged to meet at a business club!" Chen Fan exclaimed after getting out of the car, as he looked at the luxurious three-storey building. The hostess brought Chen Fan to the private room. Once he entered, he saw Zhang Xueyang leaning on the couch looking like he was up to nothing good. "So, why are you looking for me?" Chen Fan went to the coffee table, took a piece of watermelon and put it into his mouth before sitting on the couch. "How''s your company doing recently, Bro Chen?" Zhang Xueyang asked with a sinister smile. "Same oldthree employees, nothing much to do." Chen Fan crossed his legs. "You know what it''s like in the smuggling trade; the company is just a cover-up." "Then, do you have any intention of expanding the company?" Zhang Xueyang sat up straight and said with a serious expression. "The government is hitting hard on smuggling activities, and you don''t have a legitimate business facade. There might be issues as time goes by!" "What issues?" Chen Fan also sat up straight. Although he did not think that anyone would be able to find out about the electric eel or of the eel''s owner, he still wanted to listen to Zhang Xueyang''s suggestion. After all, smuggling was also one of his sources of income. "Most bosses in the smuggling trade have a company under them specializing in ocean shipping as a cover. Other than not being easily discovered by the government. It wouldn''t be a big problem even if it is discovered. The government will just turn a blind eye to it." Zhang Xueyang took the remote control and switched off the projection on the wall. "Look at the richest man in Zhongyun, Ma Rongtao. The Star Shipping Group under him has twenty huge cargo ships just for ocean shipment, not to mention other types of vessels. The number of employees is more than 3,000." "Yes, I know that!" Chen Fan nodded as he started to understand what Zhang Xueyang was trying to say. "The largest smuggler in Zhongyun is none other than Ma Rongtao!" Zhang Xueyang said resoundingly. "But look at him...He appeared on TV more often than the mayor. He has no less than ten social titles, like Philanthropist for Provincial Exemplary Unit of Good Faith, Honorary Chairman of Zhongyun Red Cross Society, etc. He could even easily get you a post in the government." "I understand what you mean, but can you get straight to the point?" Chen Fan waved his hand. "Like your purpose of asking me here?" "Heh heh" Zhang Xueyang scratched his head feeling a little embarrassed. "I have a friend who also manages an ocean shipping company. He has two second-hand, 5,000 ton class container ships which you can buy under your company''s name for transportation. This way, you can have a cover for your smuggling activities and also pay a huge amount of taxes so that the government will look after your company. "Well" Chen Fan looked at the ceiling not knowing what to say. What Zhang Xueyang said made a lot of sense. His business was still small and his company did not have anything that attracted the attention of others, but this would not be the case forever. Chen Fan thought of something which was of utmost importancepower. Having just money was not enough. The previous incident alerted him that having both money and power was the way to go. There was a very good method of obtaining power and that was to use money! "Your friend''s bankrupt?" "Almost there!" Zhang Xueyang shrugged helplessly. "He gambled away everything in Macau. He''s sold almost everything that he could sell and is only left with two cargo ships. I feel that it''s more suitable for you to buy them, which is why I contacted you." "How much in total?" "They were custom-made domestically three years ago. The price is 36 million RMB if you can pay in full!" "36 million" The price is neither expensive nor cheap; it was about forty percent off the factory price. A three-year-old ship was still considered relatively new, and the price wouldn''t drop much if one were to sell it after another few years. Chen Fan thought for a long while before saying, "Let me go back and think about it. 36 million RMB is not a small sum after all. I won''t be able to come up with so much cash now even if I wanna buy." "Sure!" Zhang Xueyang nodded. "I can lend you money if you wanna buy it and don''t have enough. We''ll calculate the monthly interest at 0.8 percent." "Um, I''ll give you a reply in the next two days!" After saying goodbye to Zhang Xueyang, Chen Fan drove home and laid on his bed immediately. "Ocean shipping" Chen Fan mumbled to himself. He was inexperienced in this trade, and the possibility of him making a loss was high if he took over. Nonetheless, Chen Fan was not worried about money. He had the means to make money, but he was just lazy to do so. He just had to get the electric eel to make a few rounds on the ancient waterway, and he could easily get thousands of antiques from any shipwreck. However, Chen Fan felt that it was not easy to sell off the antiques, and hence was not in the mood to do it. "Use money to get power..." Chen Fan analyzed the possibility carefully. If he had a legitimate business as a cover, he could better explain the sources of huge amounts of money in the future. Moreover, if he managed to become the richest man in the city or even the richest man in the province with his legitimate assets, he would have much more social influence. If anyone wanted to lay a finger on him then, the person would have to think twice about whether they could bear the negative consequences. It was easy to understand this. If you had 10,000 employees under you and contributed a hundred million RMB in taxes to the government every year, the government would be the first to stand up for you if anyone were to lay a finger on you. This was because, other than losing a hundred million RMB every year, the social impact from the career of 10,000 employees was enough to cause distress to the leaders. Needless to say, it would be a different thing if you committed to anything outrageous. "Argh, I''ll think about this again tomorrow." Chen Fan shook his head and shifted his thoughts back to the electric eel. Opening the eel''s eyes, Chen Fan controlled it to move its tail and swam toward the deep waters. After spending over ten minutes to reach 1,000 meters under the sea, the electric eel stopped swimming and only used its four claws to grab onto the gentle slope. It slowly crawled down the oceanic trench. Three minutes later, the eel reached a depth of 1,200 meters. The eel could now feel the pressure of the seawater on its body, but it was much better as compared to the previous time. At 1,300 meters, the eel''s four limbs started to feel heavy and the surrounding seawater felt like Gleihow glue, making every step forward difficult. Gritting its teeth as he crawled downward for another fifty meters, Chen Fan could already hear the cracking sounds coming from the bones of the electric eel. "It''s slightly better than the previous time at 1,300 meters deep!" After resting for a few minutes, the electric eel continued crawling downward under the enormous pressure. 103 Diving Up To 1,700 Meters Two minutes later... The electric eel reached a depth of 1,400 meters. Pain...the intense pain. It was as if someone was trying to wrap the electric eel with tape. Even taking a breath was difficult. The cold...the intense cold. The temperature in the surrounding water was cold. The deeper and faster the eel went, the more the temperature dropped. It was not easy to handle the cold, as not even the thick skin of the electric eel could bear it. "One thousand four hundred meters, one hundred meters more than three days ago!" After only a few minutes, Chen Fan had to control the electric eel to float back up. One hundred meters is not much, but it meant that the electric eel could bear ten times more pressure than its original ability. It''s like a sprinter who reaches the limit of their physical ability and wants to decrease their time by a few seconds, but cannot. ... Later, Chen Fan took out his cell phone and called his father. After much consideration, he had decided to buy the two freighters. Although he had made a lot of money he would have to remain a secret millionaire. There was not enough power in the industry. He needed a good guarantee for the future. "Well, son, don''t you tell me half a million is gone?" Chen Fan''s father''s voice was full of doubt. In general, there was one reason for a son to call his father, which was to ask for money. "I haven''t spent any." Chen Fan paused two seconds and said, "Dad, I want to talk to you about something. I want to buy two ships for ocean shipping." "Shipping... you''re not going to school?" "Just leave it there...anyway, the school doesn''t recognize people. It only recognizes money. I''ve been thinking lately that we can''t afford to just spend money our whole life. Even if we are rich, we still have to make our own money. "There are so many ways to make money. With this much money, if I were to put it in the bank, we could easily make millions from the interest per year." His father suddenly raised his voice five pitches higher. "You don''t understand the transportation industry, and buying the ships would be a waste." "I have an old classmate of mine who is close to me. He is investing in it too, and I could learn things about transportation from him, right? I am sure I would learn all of it in a year or two." "It''s not because I''m worried about the money. It''s because I have no confidence in you. Wouldn''t I know how much endurance you have?" said Chen Fan''s father. "Listen to me..." Half an hour later... After Chen Fan''s persuasive talk, his father finally agreed. "How much are you going to invest?" "Ten million...so we have more than four million left... it''s only the ships'' money if we don''t make a profit for two years... and I could sell them...the most we would lose is two to three million. "Then I will go back with your mother tomorrow. And we discuss together?" "Don''t!" Chen Fan said quickly. "Both of you have been working hard for ten years, so it''s not easy to catch a chance to relax. Just enjoy." His father was silent for more than ten seconds, and finally sighed. "It''s okay then. Anyway, we got the money easily...you can move on! But I tell you, only this ten million...after the loss...directly sell the ships, and do not invest more." "Uh-huh!" Chen Fan nodded. His father advised him for more than a half an hour, then after a series of guarantees, Chen Fan hung up the phone. Ten million, plus twenty-five million in his own card, and I would borrow five million from Zhang Xueyang...the current period of miscellaneous expenses... "Money and money...I want money!" he said to himself. Then he called Zhang Xueyang. ... Two hours later, near the east lake wharf in Zhongyun city. This was a medium-sized dock with a capacity of two million tons. There were ships in the sea. The ocean ships were standing there, loading and unloading goods, or stopping for maintenance. The scene that came to Chen Fan''s sight was the ocean, the blue sky, and the enormous ship, which slowly revealed the modern industrial picture. "Well, bro, these two ships look good, right?" Standing on a white container ship, Zhang Xueyang pointed to a similar vessel on the left. "The captain and the sailor... are there any available? If there is already a worker, then I won''t need to recruit any." Chen Fan took off his sunglasses and stretched his neck. He just bought that suit, and he was not used to the necktie. "By the way, can you lend me five million? I''m short of money." "No problem, I''ll write you an IOU. As for the captain''s crew, they were sent home by my unemployable friends...but it wasn''t that long ago, so we should be able to contact them. Zhang Xueyang took out a stack of data from his pocket. "These are the specific models and parameters of the two ships. After you buy them, I''ll help you contact a few dealers for you to work with. You could first transport around Southeast Asia with the two ships because after all, they are small ships, and it wouldn''t be worth it to sail far with a small cargo." "Sure!" Chen Fan nodded. Industrial development was just a cover for him. The real focus was on the electric eel and as long as the electric eel was taken care, he would be able to withstand it even if he lost money every day. Chen Fan laughed and walked up to the pier. "Let''s go...bring your friend along for the documents." Buying a big ship was a lot more complicated than buying a car. The procedures were a real headache. Just after encountering two departments, Chen Fan was completely over his head. He hurried and called Yiteng Yun and Yu Lin, and asked them to take the company''s certificate to the relevant department to run the procedure. After a week''s work, the two freighters were officially registered in Chen Fan''s name. The former captain and sailor were also contacted by Zhang Xueyang. Chen Fan signed a one-year contract with the captain for an annual salary of 150,000 RMB and 100,000 RMB for the chief engineer. The other mariners had a salary of thirty to fifty thousand. Now that this was an official transportation company, Chen Fan needed someone who knew how to operate the business, so he asked Zhang Lele to hire her friend who had experience in this line of work. Then he asked Yiteng Yun and Yu Lin to make a report for all the marine transportation expenses of each boat. ... In just a week, I went from being a guy with assets of more than 30 million to being a poor guy with only five million! Chen Fan was really more concerned with the electric eel than the ships since the eel was what he would be using to transport. After a week of strengthening, the electric eel could now descend to a depth of 1,600 meters which was 300 meters deeper than its current diving ability. Chen Fan hoped he could get the eel to the diving depth of the jellyfish which was two thousand meters deep. It would take about 20 days for the electric eel to be able to move at a depth of two thousand meters. The next morning, the sky was dark. Rumbling... The thunder roared, and raindrops the size of beans turned the surface of the sea into ripples. Looking at the sea, it was a vast expanse of water that could not be seen clearly. Chen Fan controlled the electric eel as it propelled through the choppy waters. The eel''s dark, shiny skin made it look imposing, like the dragon of the sea in the myth. After arriving at the Shimen trench, the electric eel plunged into the deep sea. The arrival of the eel caused quite a disturbance to the surrounding fish. All of them sped off to avoid this horrible monster. Drop! Falling down! Five hundred meters! One thousand meters! One thousand and two hundred meters! ... When he reached 1,500 meters, Chen Fan stopped the electric eel''s feet and began to slowly move under the water. The electric eel was shivering with cold as it moved slowly to a depth of 1,600 meters. Damn cold. The electric eel had never felt such an extremely cold temperature. It was as if the thick skin and strong muscle did not hinder the work. It was very cold, like a sword piercing through directly to the bone and intestines. However, the cold was not that difficult for Chen Fan. The real difficulty was the strong pressure from the sea. "Let''s try the electric eel''s limit again!" Chen Fan bit his lips and continued to control the electric eel for the difficult climb down. On a 45-degree seabed slope, the electric eel took six to seven meters per step. When he crawled about 50 or 60 meters below, the electric eel''s blood seemed to be frozen, and the pressure of the sea was so great that the electric eel could not breathe. Picturing the electromagnetic induction in his mind, Chen Fan found that there was a relatively raised gentle slope within the next 50 meters similar to the stairs in the building across the gully. "Aim for that gentle slope!" After that, the electric eel continued to move its four strong claws, holding the earth like a dragon; crawling on the silent, dark undersea ravines. Fifty meters was only seven or eight steps, but when the electric eel finally reached the gentle slope, Chen Fan was more tired than after two hours of digging. The shape of the gentle slope was unknown, but the width was only ten meters and below it was a bottomless 90-degree angle. It was just like a cliff''s surface. Slowly releasing a thousand volts of voltage, Chen Fan was ready to try to see how deep the cliff was. One thousand volts could spread about one hundred and twenty meters in the midst of the sea, but it was obvious that the cliff was more than one hundred and twenty meters deep. Chen Fan could only feel the end where the voltage disappeared and to the white icy cliff. He slowly increased the output voltage of the electric eel to reach to about 250 meters, but the cliff''s appearance was the same. Voltage in the water would not show a trend of double transmission. One thousand volts can detect up to 120 meters, but it was impossible for the 2,000 voltage to detect up to 220 meters. The farther the distance, the more the voltage would be lost to the surroundings and the weaker it would get. The most he could detect was 180 meters. "Could it go to 4,000 meters deep?" Chen Fan was filled with exaggerated thought. After thinking for a moment, Chen Fan decided to fully release the voltage to have a closer look at the cliff. If it had a depth of 400 meters or more, then Chen Fan was ready to give up and look for a new dive site. After all, 90 degrees was a bit much and the electric eel would need to rest. Boom! A bluish-white light was gushing out from the electric eel and sweeping across the area. Two hundred and fifty meters. Three hundred meters Three hundred and fifty meters. Three hundred and sixty meters. At last, in the distance of 365 meters, Chen Fan successfully detected the height of the cliff. "Three hundred and sixty-five meters...about ten days." He decided not to give up the climb, but to try again in 10 days. "Well, what''s that?" As Chen Fan decided to shift his mind and swim back up, Chen Fan was suddenly attracted by a square object underneath. This was an object that looked almost the same color as the gentle slope. Chen Fan would have mistaken it for a stone had it not been for its odd shape. Maintaining the high-frequency voltage discharge, Chen Fan focused all the electromagnetic induction on it. When the electromagnetic induction penetrated the layer of sediment attached to it, Chen Fan finally found that it was a wooden case full of ancient flavor and engraved with intricate patterns. 104 The Raging Storm An ancient wooden box? The first thing that came to Chen Fan''s mind was a treasure box full of jewelry and antiques. However, this 60-centimeter diameter wooden box made Chen Fan very confused. Judging from the workmanship and the slight decay, despite being soaked in seawater for years, the box itself was definitely worth a mint, not to mention the things inside. There were no signs of shipwrecks nearby, so there was only one possibility. The box was thrown into the sea by someone. Throwing a valuable box into the sea for no reason? Chen Fan felt that it was a little absurd and that it was probably lost by someone unintentionally. As the box had been sealed tightly and the distance was too far away, the electric currents were unable to penetrate through the box to see what was inside. Oh well, I''ll just have to wait for another 10 days for the eel''s pressure resistance to reach 2,000 meters to salvage it. Although Chen Fan was feeling very anxious, he could only stare at the box since the electric eel could not dive to that location. After more than 10 seconds, Chen Fan had to control the eel to the water''s surface before swimming toward its hideout among the reefs. Lightning flashed across the gloomy sky and thunder rumbled, blinding one''s eyes and deafening one''s ears. The rain got heavier, connecting the sky and the sea into one, accompanying the roaring gigantic waves. The endless sea looked as if it was being stirred continuously by an invisible big hand with a rod. Are you out to kill? Swimming 60 to 70 meters deep in the sea, Chen Fan could also feel the strong vibration of the rumbling thunder. The electric eel which was traveling in the ocean seemed so weak and small under the majesty of nature. Another bolt of lightning flashed across the dark clouds, illuminating the entire sea to the color of white. There was actually a 15-meter-long white double deck yacht struggling in this part of the sea which seemed capable of devouring all forms of life. The white yacht went up and down in accordance to the raging waves as it struggled amongst them. If someone had witnessed this scene, his heart would have probably popped out. The yacht, which looked like it could overturn anytime, was like a sharp knife stroking on one''s heart. "Hello, is this the marine rescue team?" A pretty young lady in a blue and white floral bikini grabbed the maritime satellite phone at the side and shouted anxiously. "I''m at 32.56N and 122.04E. My yacht is in the storm zone. I need help" "Hello, can you hear me?" The young lady''s porcelain-like forehead started to sweat and her messy hair stuck onto her snow-white ears, making one associate her with ambivalent words like "sweet-smelling", "delicate" and "tight"! "Hello? Hello?" Xia Qingqing felt that she was worse than Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty who was held captive by the Jin soldiers and later died of illness in prison. Oil was extracted from his body and used in oil lamps. Her parents went to France to discuss a contract the day before, and she secretly drove her dad''s yacht out to the sea, wanting to go to Mawei Island for an island vacation. Unexpectedly, she met with lightning and thunder on her way back, with a storm and fierce winds following soon after. By the time she realized that things were not looking good, the satellite phone had already been affected and she was unable to call through. Now she could only pray for heaven to be kind enough to not let her die so early. However, heaven seemed to be working against her. Right after she prayed, a shiny bolt of golden thunder flashed across the sky and the yacht started shaking more wildly. "Sh*t!" The usually refined Xia Qingqing couldn''t help but curse. The torrential rain outside had already prevented her from seeing what was outside the portholes. All her senses were filled with sounds of the rumbling thunder and rain water hitting on the yacht. Turning the wipers to the maximum, Xia Qingqing ran to the hatch to check if the bolt was tightly fastened. Thump! A three-meter tall wave swept past the yacht. The violent tremor made Xia Qingqing slip in the cabin. "Ah!" Xia Qingqing gritted her teeth and let out a kitten-like scream, not knowing whether it was due to pain or anger. After getting up, Xia Qingqing bore the pain on her butt as she quickly checked for crevices on the skylight and portholes. Thereafter, she ran to the driver''s seat again and turned the engine to the maximum. Without even looking at the navigator, she held the controller tightly and went straight ahead, hoping to get the yacht out of the storm zone with its own speed. The 600-horsepower engine let out a series of continuous piston sounds, pushing the yacht to cut through an approaching wave and travel at a speed of 40 knots in the storm. Under the huge crisis, the amateurish Xia Qingqing seemed to be possessed by a yacht racer, displaying a series of eye-dazzling control techniques, making an S-turn with the yacht and cutting through the huge waves one after another. "Dear gods and deities, please protect me and help me weather this crisis!" Xia Qingqing mumbled to herself as she held her breath while controlling the rudder with the seat belt fastened. However, luck was not on Xia Qingqing''s side. Less than five seconds after fighting against a huge wave, another five-meter tall wave approached the helpless lamb like an Indonesian tsunami. Bang! Both heaven and earth seemed to be shaking. The over 10-meter-long yacht started sinking after getting hit. Thereafter, a huge wave surged past, forming an arc stream and threw the yacht up into the sky. The yacht hit the water again after being thrown up, producing deafening sounds of thunder. Xia Qingqing who was tied to the seat belt was so shaken by the great impact that her internal organs shifted positions. Being stranded by the seat belt, she was unable to balance herself to lessen the impact. "I don''t believe there''s an end to this storm!" The shaken Xia Qingqing, with faint green veins showing on her fair skin, stared at the porthole with her pretty eyes as she got ready to take on another wave. As soon as she said this, the entire yacht got lifted up by an approaching wave, moved back five meters and fell into the water. Before she was able to recover from the violent tremor, Xia Qingqing suddenly heard the engine give out a series of noise before gasping for five seconds and then died out. No words could describe the pain Xia Qingqing felt at that moment. After pressing the engine switch fiercely for more than 10 times and hearing no sound come from it, her heart fell to the floor. Boohoo! Xia Qingqing covered her face and wanted to cry out. She felt like she was hanging on a cliff and was going to pull a rope to climb to the side, but a wicked scoundrel appeared out of the blue and cut the life-saving rope! Feeling helpless, she started to fantasize about some men appearing who would help her repair the engine, and then she would even marry them. However, the real world was harsh. After the yacht was lifted up twice by the waves, she gave up all hope and came out of her fantasy. She pressed the button beside the bearing, which released the anchor from the reel, and then prayed for the storm to quickly disperse. The yacht, which had lost its support from the engine, was like a lamb that had its legs tied and was trembling among wolves. The rumbling sound of thunder got louder, shaking the entire ocean. One after another, the tall waves trampled on Xia Qingqing and the yacht under her feet. Although there was no need to worry that the damage-resistant yacht made of fiberglass would be smashed by a wave, it was possible that it might, at anytime, be swallowed by the ocean, judging from the way it had been shaken sideways. Xia Qingqing had given up hope. The yacht was not a submarine. If it really overturned, it would be impossible for it to rise to the surface again. Although there was an airbag cushion to absorb the impact, Xia Qingqing still felt pain all over from the yacht jolting her more than two meters up and down. Ah!! Suddenly, Xia Qingqing let out a tragic and desperate scream. The white yacht was lifted up to an angle of 30 degrees by a slightly smaller wave and before it could come down, a five-meter tall wave came from the side and turned it upside down. Feeling as though the sky and the earth were spinning, Xia Qingqing was still unable to think of anything when she smashed into the water like a cannonball, splashing up a two-story tall white water curtain. Xia Qingqing, whose head was facing down, had just unfastened her seat belt when the huge impact smashed the fiberglass of sea-facing side of the yacht into pieces. At that moment, the smell of seawater shot up Xia Qingqing''s nose! Am I dying? Xia Qingqing fell onto the side of the cabin. The stabbing pain made her weak all over, and she could only curl up at the corner and stare lifelessly at the hatch. Under such circumstances, it would be useless even if Phelps came in a life jacket. The seawater could hit a person unconscious, so there was no hope of survival even if one managed to escape. The merciless seawater injected fiercely into the cabin. Xia Qingqing could only make use of the seawater''s buoyancy to keep her body afloat, trying her best to take in another breath of air in the cabin. The over 10-meter-long yacht only struggled in vain for less than a minute on the surface before sinking into the raging waves. "Farewell, my family!" Xia Qingqing mumbled as bitter saltiness gushed into her mouth. Poseidon appeared? The deep sea dragon was born? The East Sea Dragon Prince showed his power? Just as Xia Qingqing sank into the bitter seawater and could not hold her breath any longer, the yacht suddenly shook. After that, it rose quickly to the water''s surface as if it was being held by a big, invisible hand, totally defying Newton''s First Law. Braving the wind and the waves and overcoming all obstacles, the yacht seemed to be possessed by a nuclear-powered steam engine as it cut through the angry waves one after another. At a speed of 50 knots, it started sailing toward the coastline of Zhongyun! 105 Meeting The Richest Man in Zhongyun Feeling warmer, Xia Qingqing opened her eyes and looked up at the white velvet ceiling, saying to herself, "Is this heaven?" "Welcome to heaven" accompanied by a deep voice, a man in a white coat, came into Xia Qingqing''s sight. "Miss, how old are you, and where did you live in your past life?" "I..." The moment Xia Qingqing wanted to speak, she was interrupted by a similarly dressed woman nearby. "Little girl, we''re doctors..." ... "Amitabhasaved one life which was better than building a seven-storied pagoda!" The electric eel hid in a distance and watched. Chen Fan was the one who controlled the electric eel and dragged the ship to the sea. He also called the ambulance. After all, he saw that there was a boat in the water. No matter who witnessed this would not hesitate to rescue. Of course, the person''s nationality was also a crucial factor. If it was in the Japanese sea, Chen Fan would control the electric eel to transport a large stone and dump on it. The storm raged on the ocean, but the Zhongyun city only had pouring rain, and there was no terrible storm. At six o''clock in the evening, Chen Fan dialed Wang Bing''s mobile phone and asked him to come and drive him to the Hotel Grand Monarque. Yesterday, Zhang Xueyang called and said that he had helped him get some shipping business in Singapore and asked him to discuss the price tonight. Looking at the heavy rain outside the window, Chen Fan could not help recall that these few months had been a dream. He went from a mediocre youth to what he was now. All this was just a stepping stone to when one day, the ocean would have a giant ship with the Storm Ocean Company logo on it, and it would be a real success! Ga A sudden break. Chen Fan woke up from his daydream! "What happened?" Chen Fan turned his head and asked. "This..." Wang Bing was embarrassed and scratched his head. "The rain is too much. There was small husky that suddenly ran across the road and almost collided with the car." When he just completed his sentence, a fat woman in her early 30s came towards their window, holding the damp husky, staring at the window shouting something while pointing at them. From her gesture, they knew she was definitely scolding them. "Come on, let''s go!" Chen Fan looked at the time and urged Wang Bing. Woo Wang Bing deliberately stepped on the gas pedal and drove the powerful BMW 7 series across a water puddle and splashed the puddle on the plump woman. As the cold and dirty cold water poured down, the plump woman was speechless. At the gate of the hotel, Chen fan asked Wang Bing to drive him to the roadside diner to get something to eat. He turned and stepped into the opened glass door. Inside the room, Chen Fan was surprised to see there was a round table filled with all sorts of authentic food. There sat only two people, Zhang Xueyang and Ma Rongtao! That''s right, he was the richest man in the Zhongyun city, who bought the giant squid''s beak from Chen Fan for two million! "Chen Fan, you are a little late!" Zhang Xueyang stood up with a smile and held out his hand and showed Ma Rongtao. "When I called Uncle Ma yesterday and mentioned your name while chatting, Uncle Ma said he knows you and said that they managed to treat aunt''s arm with your help. "Young man, we really have fate!" Ma Rongtao was friendly and smiled. "Yangyang called asked me yesterday, asking me to help him introduce him to several Southeast Asian businesses. After asking, I came to know it was the young man who assisted me the previous time. I''ll treat you dinner today to thank you!" "No.No I should treat you...please." Chen Fan smiled and continued. "You help me to introduce business, how could I let you spend this money?" He had little respect when he was with Zhang Xueyang, but with a middle-aged man with billions of dollars, he was polite and respectful. "So young man you''re in this field," Ma Rongtao said as he flicked the cigarette ash and then gave a thumbs-up. "You are so capable that you can easily do something that even I can''t do. But this is not a long run career. It is crucial to have deals... buy more ships later...after three to five years, maybe you could be famous. When you are rich, the police won''t bother you. Even if the police have evidence that you are smuggling goods, they will communicate with you in advance before taking any action." Like most marine dealers, Ma Rongtao began from scratch. In fact, if he was not bold and careful when he was young, Ma Rongtao would never have become a millionaire who was well-known worldwide! "Nah" Chen Fan was embarrassed and said, "It is just a small business, and it was because brother Zhang pointed out a path... that''s why I decided to go into this field." "Haha, when I was your age, I was still capturing shrimp in the sea to sell for money! A great ship is not built in a day, but if you do it well, you can wind it up," Ma Rongtao said. "You bought two five thousand-ton container ships, and sailing far would sure be a loss. I have a few clothing business customers who will let you transport to Malaysia. Then wait till you own a more enormous ship and I''ll introduce you to a few Arab oil tycoons, or people from the mining industry. Then you can be bold and transport goods. As long as you''re not smuggling something extremely sensitive, I could ensure that no one would stop you!" "Ok!" Chen Fan thought for a while. He did not act melodramatic. He nevertheless had self-confidence and would surpass Ma Rongtao in the near future, and then he would return the favor! "Let''s eat!" Ma Rongtao smiled and picked up his chopsticks. On the table, there were all kinds of exquisite dishes, such as the abalone in a porcelain cup which was in front of Chen Fan. All of this made him envious of Ma Rongtao''s lifestyle. The people in Zhongyun liked to eat seafood, which was a popular food in China. If you don''t have high-class seafood on the dining table when you have a guest, you would be looked down upon. While eating and talking, Ma Yuntao handed Chen Fan a few customer business cards, saying that he had talked to all these dealers, and he just needed to make a phone call, and then he would be able to transport the goods. After two bottles of ten-year old Maotai, Ma Yuntao asked the waiter to serve a couple bottles of Gabriel wine. Ma Rongtao was an old man with a young soul and after a few glasses of good wine, he was flushed and talked and joked with both of the young men. The three of them drank some white wine and a catty of Gabriel wine, and then they left a little drunk. Out of the room, Chen Fan whispered in Zhang Xueyang''s ear. "Bro, how much is this meal? I don''t have a card with me. I only have 20,000 RMB in cash. If it''s not enough, can you lend me money?" Ma Yuntao had helped him a lot. Chen Fan didn''t want him to pay for the meal. "It''s okay." Zhang Xueyang rubbed his hazy eyes. It was fine to drink two types of wine, but he still felt a little dizzy. "You had helped a lot in treating aunt''s hand. If you pay for this meal it would just make him unhappy!" "Okay!" Chen Fan nodded. He would be ready to pay him back the next time. "Both of you" Ma Rongtao was a little drunk as he turned and said with slurred speech, "Let''s go to the hot spring on the fifth floor and then call a beautiful massage girl each to massage our legs!" The three of them took the sightseeing elevator to the fifth floor, then walked into the dressing room where they were stripped bare, and walked into the small artificial hot spring pool. After soaking for more than half an hour, the whole body was loosened, and the three of them put on their white cotton trousers and went upstairs to the rest hall. Once they entered the rest hall that covered an area of five hundred square, there were 40 to 50 ladies in white transparent robes moving around, handing a cup of tea or flirting while lying on the couch. Chen Fan was blinded by the spectacular scenery. After standing for just 10 seconds, a beautiful head waitress with a headset came up to them and asked, "What can I help you with?" Zhang Xueyang waved to the head waitress and then whispered something in her ear. "Sure!" The beautiful leader smiled, then Zhang Xueyang pressed his mouth to her ear and asked if there was a big room for the three VIP''s. After her reply, the beautiful leader beckoned the three men to the side passage. Are they going to have fornication in a group? When Chen Fan heard her say that they were using a big room, he went blank. "There is such activity here, but Uncle Ma is elderly. He would not take us to play such things." Zhang Xueyang seemed to see what was going on in Chen Fan''s mind, and gave a wretched smile. "If you want to play that, I''ll bring you some other day." "Oh!" Chen Fan was not worried anymore. Not that he wanted to promote the spirit of the willows, but he could not accept the fact that there would be a third person present when he was in a state of affection. The leader opened the door of the room, led the three into the antique room, and with a smile on her face, she turned away and left. Just as they laid down on the chair, the door was opened and the room was filled with three pretty girls. Each of them carried a good-looking basket, filled with unknown bottles. The three of them, regardless of their appearance or figure, were above average. Zhang Xueyang randomly pointed out and allocated each one of them to Chen Fan and Ma Rongtao. "Boss, please turn your body." The girl took out a few bottles from the basket which were printed with a foreign language and squeezed some out and massaged Chen Fan''s back. "Great!" Chen Fan slowly enjoyed with his eyes closed. The girl used a white towel to dry the stuff on his back. Then she pinched Chen Fan''s fingers and used her skillful technique to pull the knuckles. Ring A ringtone from the mobile phone interrupted Chen Fan. It must be Ma Rongtao''s phone because he was the only one who brought it in. Sure enough, as Ma Rongtao looked at the number, he then climbed up from the couch and walked outside to the door to answer the call after informing the two young people. "How do you feel bro?" When the elderly man had gone away, Zhang Xueyang turned his head and looked at Chen Fan. "Not bad!" Chen Fan smiled and replied calmly. Even if his heart was filled with joy, he had to show a steady appearance. The two of them chatted for a few minutes... The beautiful head waitress, who had just brought in the three of them, rushed in. "Something bad is happening, the boss who just came with you was beaten up by several people!" "What!" Zhang Xueyang''s eyes became enlarged, and he bounced up from the couch. He did not even put on the slippers, he bumped into the beautiful leader and disappeared out of the room. F**k, they dare to beat up the richest man in Zhongyun city! Chen Fan didn''t say anything as he followed Zhang Xueyang who rushed out. Rushing to the corridor, they saw Ma Yuntao holding his chest and lying on the ground, while the three young men that were standing next to him were in the same big cotton pants. The young man standing between two muscular men looked at them with disdain. "F**k, isn''t this Fu Luolong?" Chen Fan rubbed his eyes in disbelief. This was an unbelievable coincidence! "Damn you!" Zhang Xueyang''s veins were about to burst into anger as he picked up the metal rubbish bin at the side and smashed it into Fu Lulong. 106 Chen Fan’s Outburs Zhang Xueyang felt that he was about to explode from anger! Who was Ma Rongtao? Ma Rongtao had been like a brother to his father since they were young. He had looked upon Ma Rongtao as his real uncle all these years, and his uncle was now lying on the floor in pain and covering his chest with his hand. How could he not be furious? How could he not get worked up? Swish! A cylindrical trash can rotated twice in the air, spilling a large amount of cigarette ash onto Fu Lulong''s body. At this moment, an agile and rough-looking accomplice beside Fu Lulong suddenly stepped forward without any expression on his face and raised his leg high up, kicking the trash can top-down. Clang! The cylindrical stainless steel trash can got kicked into the shape of a bow and hit the wooden door on the side after making a loud clang. Zhang Xueyang naturally did not count on the trash to hit anyone; it was just for him to vent his anger, and he still had to depend on himself. "Ahh!!" When Zhang Xueyang was three meters away from Fu Lulong, he focused his strength on his heel, jumped up with the help of the accelerating force and then gave a kick high up in the air. At that very moment, the crew-cut guy suddenly sprang up like a tiger and did a perfect split in the air. Thump! Zhang Xueyang got kicked by the crew cut guy in midair and got all scrunched up. After landing, he followed his uncle''s footsteps, holding onto his stomach and rolling his eyes as he let out a long groan. "A martial arts practitioner...a true martial arts practitioner!" Chen Fan who was standing at the back gave his appraisal. The crew cut guy was swift and domineering. At least five years of a martial arts foundation was needed to execute that. The gaze of six icy cold eyes shone over like torchlight and the two accomplices stared hard at Chen Fan. Years of bloodshed left indelible traces on their faces, and their gazes were like bloodthirsty wolves in Inner Mongolia staring at lambs and antelopes. "It''s you?" Fu Lulong''s pupils suddenly dilated six times before constricting to the size of a needle tip. Chen Fan had left such a deep impression on him that he was recognized with just a glance. "Why is it him again?" Chen Fan grumbled in a low voice. He had no intention of getting into any more conflicts with Fu Lulong. It is best to avoid acquaintances when it comes to fighting. If Chen Fan did not know that Fu Lulong had powerful backing, or if Chen Fan had his head covered up, he wouldn''t hesitate to bash him up. However, Fu Lulong had much more power than him, and he had yet to come after him over their previous conflict! Nonetheless, his hot-blooded disposition did not allow Chen Fan to hesitate. Ma Rongtao and Zhang Xueyang got beaten up for treating him to a meal. Even though he knew how powerful Fu Lulong was, Chen Fan had to brace himself and take him on. As for whether the situation would snowball, he would think about it later. Right now, he had to attack to help the two men lying on the floor get even with them. This had nothing to do with being calm or far-sighted. It was simply an issue of a man having a backbone. Furthermore, this was Zhongyun City, and the one beaten up was the richest man in Zhongyun. Chen Fan did not believe Ma Rongtao would do nothing after being beaten up. "Kill him!" Fu Lulong sounded very arrogant and seemed to have absolute confidence in the two accomplices. "I''ll see who''s the one killing who?" Chen Fan mumbled. The other party only had two people. Although he did not know any special moves, he could mash the two up with just his strong bull-like body. Looking at the two men charging toward him, Chen Fan kept a straight face as he stood still, ready take them head-on for a brutal and bloody fight. As the two accomplices charged to the front of Chen Fan, the one with a deep flame tattoo between his brows pounced like a tiger and executed a kick. Chen Fan stretched out his arm to block it and felt his hand turn numb from the great force. The flame tattooed man beamed with joy. Just as he wanted to give a punch, his eyes suddenly widened when he saw a foot approaching his head at great speed. Unable to dodge, the man could only use his arm like how Chen Fan did to block, but his arm got kicked back after a loud bang. The toes of the foot even went over his arm and touched his cheek, and the man felt saltiness in his mouth as his teeth clattered. Such strong legs? The man took six or seven steps back and leaned against the wall as he wiped the blood coming out from the corner of his mouth. The man who got kicked by Chen Fan was the top fighter of Hong Kong''s Temple Street for three consecutive years, and he recently switched to become a professional bodyguard. He did not think much of Chen Fan just now when he charged toward him, but now he realized that his strength was clearly two levels above his own. The big and sturdy crew cut guy with bulging muscles immediately went forward and punched toward Chen Fan with his tightly clenched fist. Hearing the sound of wind at his ears, Chen Fan took two steps back to avoid the fist before turning and giving a back kick onto the crew cut guy''s belly. The crew cut guy leaned sideways and managed to dodge Chen Fan''s kick. With a sinister smile, he threw out his hands and wanted to grab Chen Fan''s thigh before throwing him onto the ground. There is a saying that the leg should never go above the waist. A real martial arts practitioner will never kick his leg above the waist in order to prevent the opponent from catching hold of it as the other leg will not be able to balance the body. Nevertheless, Chen Fan''s leg went above the waist, and was even directed at the other party''s face. The crew cut guy grabbed hold of Chen Fan''s thigh sideways and was about to attack the balancing left leg when a strong countering force suddenly transmitted to his hands. Before he could react, the thigh pressed downward and pushed him to the ground as if he was grabbing onto an elephant''s leg. After the crew cut guy landed on the ground, Chen Fan''s right foot also touched the ground. With his right leg supporting his balance, his left leg gave a fierce kick to the guy''s belly. The crew cut guy''s expression looked as if a Transformer had grabbed hold of his testicles. Due to pain, his brow and mouth were squeezed into shapes like in fractal geometry questions that even Archimedes would surrender to. Arghh! The crew cut guy held onto his stomach, cross-eyed. "Way to go!" Zhang Xueyang, who was lying on the ground witnessed the scene and immediately became energetic. He rolled on the floor, got behind the crew cut guy and kicked madly at the back of his waist. After kicking one guy onto the ground, Chen Fan who had drunk over 300 milliliters of Chinese liquor and 0.5 liters of wine started to turn fiery. With nothing holding him back, he rushed forward and with the help of inertia, pointed his knee toward the belly of the flame tattooed guy at the corner. The guy twisted his body as he endured the pain in his mouth, hoping to dodge the fatal blow. However, Chen Fan who was in midair was not going to let him have his way. Seeing that he was trying to dodge, Chen Fan straightened his elbow, ready to execute a double blow. Thump! The guy managed to dodge the knee below but not the flexible elbow. Like a wild goose shot by a Remington shotgun, the guy laid straight on the ground without making any noise. It was human nature to go where the crowds were. Earlier on when Ma Rongtao was punched down to the ground, there were already a few nosy onlookers. When Chen Fan put the two men down, everyone in the main hall crowded the entire hallway as if they were sharks who had smelled blood. You''re next! Chen Fan turned his body and shot daggers at Fu Lulong in the corner. Since he had already fought to this level, there was no need to think of the consequences. He would fight to his heart''s content by throwing the big boss onto the ground! 107 Do You Guys Have The Thing With You? Fu Lulong''s life had run amuck. His family background and his well-built body had given him the opportunity to be frivolously indulgent. Looking at Chen Fan''s eyes, anyone could sense the hostility in them. "Do you want to die?" Fu Luong glared at Chen Fan. Chen Fan had contained his anger for a long time. Fu Luong''s arrogance and provocation were like a match which completely lit up an explosive in his heart. "Well, before I die, I''m going to help my friend who is lying on the ground to get justice!" Just as Chen Fan completed his sentence, he smashed his fist into Fu Lulong''s chest. Fu Lulong was furious. How dare a sheep show its teeth to a lion. Isn''t that going against nature? As a former student who had learned Taekwondo from Master Yuan Tao in Hong Kong, he immediately raised his front leg and kicked it into Chen Fan''s chin. Fu Lulong had made a mistake because the kick was fine for the dojo. This was a serious conflict; not a training ground. To lift the leg high in a fight was a mistake an amateur would make. Of course, if you''re a lot more powerful than your opponent, then you would be fine but Chen Fan and Fu Lulong were tied. It was a pity Chen Fan thrust out his right arm and hit him hard on the side of his right knee. Bang! It was like the sound of a punch to a leather sofa. Fu Lulong only felt numbness in his knee, as if the muscle had temporarily severed contact with the nerve center. With his left foot on the floor, he stumbled three steps backward, lost his balance and fell back on the wall. Chen Fan took two steps, clenched his fist and struck again. Fu Luolong''s right foot trembled as he held on to the wall and was about to give a sidekick to Chen Fan''s crotch. The inner sidekick would strike the crotch of the opponent. The kick was simple but was meaningful. With good use, he would be able to win easily. But if not used appropriately, because the power was limited and the base was unstable, he would be easily knocked down by the opponent. But Chen Fan''s maneuver was faster and more effective as he twisted his waist and blocked the kick with his leg and punched Fu Lulong''s face with his iron fist. Fu Lulong felt as if he had evaporated on the ground. His head felt as if it was stuffed with explosives. He felt dizzy and saw stars above his head. When severe pain made him return to consciousness, he felt a pile of hard objects in his mouth. Then he knew that it was the punch that has caused his teeth to fall out. The taste of blood filled his mouth. Before he could respond...bang...another hit struck him. Then Fu Lulong held his stomach as he lay on the ground and moaned in pain. Getting kicked in the crotch was hated most by men. Chen Fan was quite bold today and when Fu Lulong spilled oil on his fire, Chen Fan burst in rage. Chen Fan grabbed the metal trash bin that was by his side, and with all his might he smashed it on Fu Lulong''s head. Dang! The loud deafening sound echoed in the hallway! "He would at least get a concussion!" The people around were anxious and held their breath. ... "Uncle Ma is your wound serious? Should I take you to the hospital?" Chen Fan squatted down beside Ma Rongtao. "I''mstill .fine." Ma Rongtao spoke disjointedly. "I was just talking on the phone, and I accidentally spit on those guys while they were passing by. As I was about to apologize, the bodyguard gave me a punch before I could even say a word." "By the way, you go and pick up my phone. This guy is quite arrogant. I''m sure he has a wealthy background, but I am not familiar with him. He is probably not from Zhongyun. I want to check out who this young man is and how he could be so arrogant." This was a serious conflict. "You don''t need to ask! I had a problem with his employee before. I recognize this guy." Chen Fan directly told him about this guy. "This person is called Fu Lulong and is the head of Hong Kong Bada biotechnology company!" "Bada Biotech?" Ma Rongtao recalled for a moment and did not show any expression on his face. " Okay, he is also the nephew of the head of Fu''s family. Fu Chenghui from Hong Kong...recently he came to mainland market to broaden his business in the medical industry." "Fu? Fu Chenghui? Is he powerful?" Chen Fan handed the phone to Ma Rongtao. He seemed to have heard this name, but couldn''t remember when. "Much more powerful than I am" Ma Rongtao shook his head. "But here in the Zhongyun, not Hong Kong, we have advantages. Even if we beat up Fu Chenghui, he can only give me a stare!" "Hey, Jun Zi, bring someone up to the rest hall." On the phone, Ma Rongtao rejected Chen Fan''s help and then leaned on the wall, clutched his chest and moaned in pain. "Uncle Ma, are you alright? Why don''t I ask someone to throw the three guys in the sea." Zhang Xueyang had also regained his strength but the frown on his brow showed the pain he bore. "I''m fine, don''t call!" Ma Rongtao said in a serious tone. "Don''t burn one''s bridge. We are a tie now if we kept on revenging, then we would be on the wrong side." "Well, they have been beaten up severely by brother Chen anyway!" Zhang Xueyang was clutching his stomach and gloating. "He was so arrogant, he deserves to be beaten to death." ... After waiting for two minutes, Ma Rongtao''s three black suit bodyguards ran up into the corridor and saw their boss lying on the ground clutching his chest. Immediately... All of them were angry, sorry and ashamed. They wanted to find the culprit. When they captured the sight of Fu Lulong''s group who lay prostrate on the ground, the three of them were prepared to beat them and tear them into pieces! "Don''t!" Ma Rongtao stopped the three of them from turning into raged barbarians. "Jun Zi, you go to ask the waiter to see if they had reported to the police. The two of you help Yangyang and me walk to the dressing room to change!" "Okay!" When they heard their master''s words, although they were furious they carefully helped Ma Rongtao and Zhang Xueyang up and went to the dressing room. At the dressing room, Chen Fan dressed, called Wang Bing and asked him to drive to the entrance of the hotel. Sitting in the dressing room for a minute, Zhang Xueyang had recovered from the side effect of the punch. He held his abdomen and gave out a light moan. Ma Rongtao''s wound was slightly more severe. There was a clear trace of a punch on the ribs and it probably would need three days to fade away. When they came out of the lobby, Wang Bing had just arrived in a rush. He was confused at how they could be in this situation? "Boss, was it because the deal was not done? Did you beat them up?" Wang Bing whispered to Chen Fan''s ear. "There were a couple of gangsters in the shower, and some conflict happened!" Chen Fan said while he walked to the gate. Just as they exited the entrance! Screech. Suddenly the sound of brakes screeching on the road was heard, and then there were five cars with bright neon front lights which shone through the hotel''s glass door. Chen Fan took out his dagger from his waist and handed it to Wang Bing. "Take it!" "Have you brought the things, Jun Zi?" said Ma Rongtao with a frown. 108 Ready To Salvage The Treasure "We left the weapons in the car and only brought expandable batons!" Junzi looked at the seventeen or eighteen men as they got out of the cars, all holding identical kukris in their hands. He said to Ma Rongtao, "Boss, this group of people are likely targeting us. Let the three of us deal with them. You stay on the side." "Um." Ma Rongtao nodded before turning to Chen Fan and Zhang Xueyang. "Let''s go inside the bar first and leave this to the bodyguards!" "It''s time to put you to the test!" Chen Fan patted Wang Bing''s shoulder. "What...what do you want, you...you can''t...fight here" The bellboy wearing a red hat trembled as he walked forward and said to this group of people who were obviously up to no good. This was a group of youngsters with ''insolence'', ''arrogance'' and ''tyranny'' written all over their faces. They looked as if their hands were not holding kukris but ancient artifacts, making little of everyone around them. "Ahh!" The two receptionists standing at the bar covered their mouths as they trembled and let out screams before hiding under the bar counter like ostriches. "Little girls, don''t be afraid, big brother is here to protect you!" Zhang Xueyang laughed jovially, not at all worried that anyone would be able to hurt him. Other than the fact that his Uncle Ma''s three bodyguards were previously from the special forces, just witnessing Wang Bing fight on the Princess cruise was enough for him to believe that this group of people were not able to overcome Wang Bing. Just then, two men wearing painful expressions were holding onto a man with blood all over his face as they walked out from the glass elevator. "It''s them, kill them!" The crew cut guy pointed to the bar and shouted as he recognized Chen Fan and company at first glance. Swish! Ma Rongtao''s three bodyguards quickly took out the expandable batons and swung them out before getting into a posture ready to take on their enemies. Clang! With a grim face, Wang Bing also took out the dagger Chen Fan passed him. He wouldn''t be afraid if the other party doubled in numbers if they came empty-handed, but he had to be careful now that they had knives. The dagger was a foot long and felt heavy in his hand. After wielding it, Wang Bing felt smooth using it, and the design of the grip was good. After years of assassination and anti-assassination training in the army, even if he was not considered a top expert in using daggers, he was definitely still better than master-level. The two groups did not do any pre-fight shouting of ''rah-rah''. Each of them took two steps forward and waved the weapons in their hands toward the other party. Wang Bing did not bother using any backhand grip or sophisticated fighting technique with this group of juveniles. He simply held the grip tightly to block the approaching kukris and planned to kick them off. Clang! Wang Bing''s eyes widened in disbelief as the black dagger went an inch deep into a kukri. Having no time to think, he sent one of them flying with a kick and took two steps back to widen the distance before pulling out the kukri that was stuck on the dagger. As for Ma Rongtao''s three bodyguards, they proved themselves to be from the special forces. It was not known what material the batons in their hands were made of. After swinging it down, the opponent''s curved blade suffered a few more bends and became a corrugated knife. Wang Bing and company each on average had to deal with four out of the seventeen men with kukris. Bang! Junzi''s baton hit a man down to the ground. After leaning his head to the side to dodge a fatal stab, he immediately took two steps back to widen the distance before jumping to the 300 square meter main hall, and engaged in guerrilla warfare. The four men had all gone through strict formal training, hence gang fights were easy for them. After each of them went forward and hit each opponent with just one strike, they ran faster than rabbits, going around the hall in circles and hitting with their batons whenever there was a chance. They continued to wildy chase those who they did not manage to get a strike at, competing to see who could hold on longer. Three long haired youngsters with tattooed elbows were bawling and chasing Wang Bing with kukris in their hands. After jumping over a pot of landscaped bamboo, Wang Bing turned his body and uprooted the bamboo with his left hand before throwing them like windmills onto the three men behind them. "Bah!" The three men with kukris had their eyes and noses covered with the soil that was thrown out. Wang Bing saw the chance and quickly stepped forward, wielding the dagger with his right hand to block his opponent''s kukri attack as his left hand clenched together and struck toward his opponent''s chest. Clang! The man saw danger out of the corner of his eyes and quickly raised his kukri to block. However, he did not expect the kukri to be broken into two by the dagger after giving out a loud sound of cutting metal. Bang! The man did not even let out a sound. His legs turned to jelly and he knelt right onto the ground. In less than two minutes, twelve out of the seventeen initially aggressive and shouting men were lying on the ground, they either had seizures and were foaming at the mouth or had already lost consciousness and not moving at all. Seeing that the situation had undergone a 180 degree change, Junzi and company craftily smiled, swinging the weapon in their hands as they trapped the remaining five men toward the center step by step. Clang! Finally, one man could not stand the strong contrast anymore. He threw away the kukri in his hand and squat down with his hand covering his head. He acted like a coward. Clang! Clang! Like a chain reaction, the arrogance on the faces of the remaining four men had long disappeared and was replaced by endless fear. Unfortunately, Junzi and company were not policemen and did not buy their surrendering act. Seeing their opponent throw down their weapons, they charged forward and kicked them one after another before forcefully slapping them left and right. The empty hall sounded as if a few Afghan freedom fighters had slipped into it, making banging sounds which could have been mistaken for roadside bombs. Woo-woo-woo Some kind soul called the police and saved these nameless fighters who had almost lost their teeth. Wang Bing and company quickly stopped and ran to the front of the bar counter. "Boss, what knife is this? It''s really sharp!" Wang Bing returned the Kunwu dagger to Chen Fan. "An antique dagger I bought some time back!" Chen Fan put the dagger back behind his waist and turned his head to Ma Rongtao. "Do we have to align our statements?" "Don''t worry, we''re victims!" Ma Rongtao pointed to his injured chest. "Our Zhongyun city police are good police, why would they make things difficult for us commoners?" The policeman leading the team was in his thirties, with two bars and three flowers on his shoulder. After a sweeping glance, his gaze stopped and he rushed in front of Ma Rongtao. "Are you Mr Ma? You were attacked by these ruffians?" "Captain Wang," Ma Rongtao pulled a long face. "I was having a meal with a few friends when I ran into this group of gangsters. Luckily my friends are highly-skilled and managed to prevent a vicious stabbing incident." "Damn it, these scoundrels can''t wait to get shot!" Captain Wang almost got frightened out of his wits when he saw what these people were holding: kukris. If the richest man in Zhongyun was stabbed to death, those guys in the municipal committee would definitely suggest a big shake-up for the police force the next day. "Quickly take the photographs for evidence and then take them away!" Captain Wang waved his hand. "Mr Ma, what do you think" "Just do whatever you should do. I''ll send someone over to the police station later to take the statement!" Ma Rongtao rubbed his chest. "I got kicked quite hard and need to get back for some rest. I''ll make a move first." "Alright, alright." Captain Wang nodded. At the car park, Ma Rongtao patted Chen Fan''s shoulder. "Fu Lulong won''t let the matter rest just like that! But I, Ma Rongtao won''t let the matter rest either. He dared to get his men to stab me. I''ll change my surname if I don''t chase him out of Zhongyun! Be more careful these few days and bring your bodyguard along when you go out. If you get into any trouble, quickly give me a call!" "No problem!" Chen Fan nodded. In actual fact, this had nothing much to do with him anymore since the ruffians with the knives dashed into the main hall. After bidding farewell to Zhang Xueyang and Ma Rongtao, Chen Fan got Wang Bing to drive back to Bolan District. After fixing some supper to calm his nerves, Chen Fan went to the bedroom on the second floor and laid down. Since getting the electric eel avatar, various coincidences seemed to be magnified a thousand times and happened to him one after another, making him more attention grabbing than a male lead in a novel! "Seems like there''s a high chance of me striking the 5 million RMB lottery!" Chen Fan exclaimed before he shifted his thoughts onto the electric eel. He controlled the eel to swim a distance away and found a school of fish to fill its stomach. After returning to its hideout, Chen Fan shifted the electromagnetic induction onto the pituitary gland and used a weak current to stimulate the pituitary cortex. There was silence the entire night. The next morning, Chen Fan got out of bed and contacted one of the big bosses in the garment trade according to the business card given to him by Ma Rongtao. It seemed like Ma Rongtao had informed the man beforehand. Chen Fan only mentioned his name and the other party readily said that he was going to Singapore for a delivery in five days, and he arranged for Chen Fan''s ships to have the goods loaded at Dagang Port. Chen Fan did not know about shipping and did not wish to understand the ins and outs of it either. He got Yiteng Yun and Yu Lin to be fully in charge of this matter. They would not be paid if there were losses. If they managed it well, they would get twenty percent of the profits. Five days later, Chen Fan got Wang Bing to drive him to Dagang Port. His two ships were bought by his hard-earned money after all. Although Chen Fan said he couldn''t care less, he was still a little worried. He especially went to cheer the crew on and also verbally promised them some welfare as a form of employee reward. The two five-ton cargo ships let out a series of reverberating whistles and started to slowly move their massive bodies carrying fully loaded containers and sailed toward Singapore. After getting home, Chen Fan started to strengthen the electric eel again. Time flies. Ten days later, Chen Fan felt that the electric eel had already gone through a long period of strengthening and should be able to withstand the water pressure of more than 2,000 meters deep. Therefore, at 3PM in the afternoon, Chen Fan again controlled the electric eel to swim toward Shimen Trench, ready to salvage the treasure box to see what kind of treasure was inside! 109 The Secret In The Treasure Box Today the weather was nice. The cool breeze lifted the sea surface that was sparkling with white light, like a layer of white and silver foil shining in the sunlight. The electric eel swam to the Shimen trench, estimated the range, and then plunged down in one go. After more than ten days of strengthening, the electric eel''s pressure level was unquestionably up another level. It was able to dive up to 1,200 meters in one breath and there was hardly any other feeling except the cold. One thousand and four hundred meters... One thousand and five hundred meters... When it achieved 1,700 meters, the electric eel stopped above the cliff. By this time, the electric eel could clearly feel the pressure from the surrounding water, and even the blood flow slowed down, and its body felt icy cold. Hu Hu After deeply inhaling twice, the electric eel wiggled its tail and headed down the cliff. The cliff was as high as three hundred and sixty meters. It must go down to the bottom in one go. The white cliff was an almost ninety degree angle which was as smooth as if it was cut with an ax. The electric eel could not even bear the 1700 meter depth the last time, but this time, it only had difficulty in breathing and was uncomfortable as it approached the cliff. Boom... The more than 60 meter long electric eel fell to the sea bottom like a crashing helicopter, and sediment kicked up from the collision, churning the entire area. "Cold very cold!" The electric eel could still bear the pressure from that depth but the cold made Chen Fan suffer. After bearing that for about two minutes, he waited for the debris to slowly sink to the bottom of the sea and then he carefully observed the images in his mind. The box was not large. The height was about fifty centimeters high, and the carved pattern on the surface had been eroded by the sea water. At the mouth of the box, there was an ancient lock that had rotten into useless metal. As the voltage penetrated across the wooden case, the voltage decreased. Chen Fan did not dare to increase the output voltage because he was afraid of damaging anything precious in the box. He could not obtain a distinct image of what was inside. All he could observe was a hazy general outline of the object. The eel moved two steps forward with its four claws and approached the box. Then it gently held the box with its front claws, used the two hind claws as a pedal, and floated to the diving area. The floating process was slow. Chen Fan was afraid that, because of the electric eel''s speed, the water in the box would not be able to balance its pressure with the surrounding pressure, causing the box to break. The reason why the box had not collapsed after it had sunk to the depth of 2000 meters was that as long as there was a gap for the water to flow between the internal environment and the sea water the pressure was equalized. Even if a delicate, cracked, empty egg shell was thrown into the sea and it sank to a depth of 2000 meters, it would not break. For more than half an hour, the electric eel swam to the beach dock, and then quietly placed the box in front of the dock. ... "Hope it is not filled with stones when I open it!" Chen Fan secretly prayed and drove to the dock. As he drove the car to the dock, he glanced around and saw that no one was around, and he took off his clothes and jumped into the water with a splash. The weather in October was slightly harsher, and the cold water was slightly piercing cold, but it was not a problem for Chen Fan, whose curiosity was higher than the Himalayas. After getting into the water and reaching down to the bottom, he felt the box. It was very heavy. Chen Fan took a long time to pull the box out of the water using brute force. GulpGulp Chen Fan shivered in the cold as he came up to the bank. He quickly took out a towel to dry himself, and then put on his clothes. Kaqiang! The rotten copper lock on the wooden box was cut off by the Kun Wu dagger in one cut. When he pried open the box, what came to his sight was a cloth that was rotten from the corrosion of the sea water. Chen Fan immediately tore the cloth into several pieces so he could see what was underneath. After ripping off the cloth, Chen Fan was suddenly stunned. There were actually stones in the box. Yellow, green, and white stones. But these stones were not normal stones. All of the yellow, green and white stones were exquisite, smooth, shiny jade! "Tianhuang, Jadeite, Suet white jade!" These familiar names flashed through Chen Fan''s mind. "Tianhuang! It is Tianhuang!" Aside from the fact that the other two were very valuable, the Tianhuang alone made Chen Fan drool. Tianhuang was worth a great deal! It was a very rare, one of a kind type of jade that was found in a small area of land that was less than one square kilometer in Shoushan, Fujian province. It was the king of stones and had great value. At the Fuzhou auction in 1999, the price of 500 grams of Tianhuang reached 21 million which was about 600 times the price of international gold. Chen Fan had three pieces of Tianhuang, two of which were carved into small orange squares with a coiling dragon and a crouching tiger pattern, and the other was a slightly larger uncarved rough piece. "Treasure absolute treasure!" Chen Fan, even as a layman was able to determine that these were definitely first-class goods! Like women who loved diamonds, Chen Fan''s heart was immediately captivated by this Tianguan; these yellow stones that were a beautiful eye-catching yellow, and as smooth as a baby''s skin. "I''ll take this big Tianhuang, and ask the professional carving master to carve my name on it!" Chen Fan made this quick decision within five seconds. Chen Fan was lucky enough to get a piece of this rare stone. It was important to know that Tianhuang was extremely rare and since the Qing dynasty, it had often been made into a seal. Those seals had been bought at a high price and then carved with their owner''s name, replacing the original name. This is how many of them were worn down to where they couldn''t be used, which made them even more rare. In the modern era, there were even collectors who were so obsessed that they did not want to damage the seal, so they changed their name to the one carved on the seal. Chen Fan picked up the Tianhuang and put it in his arms. He then took the other jade stones and situated them on the ground one by one. These jade stones were all about the same size and shape as if they were specially screened. The emerald green jade was in seven pieces, each the size of a fist, and had a smooth surface, while the eight pieces of the Suet white jade were all also the size of a fist! "I''m making a fortune!" Chen Fan was excited and his hands trembled. Just these three pieces of Tianhuang alone could sell for more money than he had earned so far, not to mention the other pieces of jade which were worth plenty of money! Under the jade was another cloth, and when he pulled it out, he found that it was a wrapped, flat, rectangular box, which was better looking than the other box, and it was not completely decayed. "Is it a more valuable treasure?" Chen Fan was so nervous that he opened the wooden box and found that inside was a piece of grey-brown cloth full of writings. "It''s the God''s will and the emperor''s command: that the city of the stone mountain has recently been plagued by the great bandits, and I confer Fu Lin as Royal deputy leader of the Xiaoqi Camp to lead men to seize the bandits... Granting him with a yellow Magua, and eighteen jade, that''s all!'' "Guangxu fifteen years and nine... Nine... " The writing in the back was a little vague, and Chen Fan wanted to take it down to see it, but as he picked up the corner and pulled it down, the brocade tore in two! "Oh!" Chen Fan put down the box, and then put his hands on his head. His heart ached! "God, kill me! I just tore up a yellow Magua and an imperial edict!" 110 Become A Millionaire "Imperial edict, my God! Imperial yellow robe, my God!" Chen Fan pulled his hair and felt like crying. "If I air-dry it, frame it up and place it in the cabinet, wouldn''t my status shoot up to that of an aristocrat?" However, it was all too late. The imperial yellow robe had become a rag, and the imperial edict had broken into two. Even if it was glued back together, people would still think that it was fake. It was too bad that this thing got so seriously corroded by the merciless seawater. Feeling frustrated, Chen Fan could only stand up and turn the wooden box over, giving it a good shake to empty everything that was inside. Other than the torn imperial robe and edict, there were some documents and books in the box. However, they turned into a pile of sludge with just a light touch. "Seems like only these ten pieces of jade have some value!" Chen Fan shook his head with regret before kicking the corroded box and smashing it into pieces. Chen Fan picked up the small box and looked at the imperial edict. After gently gluing the damaged portion and wiping away the water stains on the box, Chen Fan put it into the car together with the jade pieces and took them away. Driving himself back to Bolan Gardens, Chen Fan leaned on the bedroom couch and started to daydream. Why did an imperial edict conferring the title of Deputy Commander of the Royal Elite Knights end up in the sea together with the bestowed gifts? Was it because this man called Fu Lin knew that he was a coward and couldn''t beat the robbers, hence he took valuable things and escaped to other countries? Or could it be this Fu Lin guy was a brave and skillful warrior who fought the pirates after fighting the robbers? Chen Fan thought about it for a long while but still couldn''t figure it out. However, if this had been on the "Discover" TV program, the experts and professors would also be put in a difficult position, so it was reasonable for Chen Fan not to understand. Casting his doubts aside, Chen Fan shifted his gaze onto the attractive jade pieces! He put away two seals with names carved on them and then started to look carefully at the seventeen pieces of fist-size jade. He was now strapped for cash and still owed 5 million RMB, so he had to sell a few pieces to recoup some funds. The ones that were engraved into seals definitely can''t be sold, as for the others jadeite, white jade Chen Fan gave it a long thought before picking out two of the smallest pieces of jadeite and white jade. It had to be mentioned that these things were all bestowed on others by an emperor. Although bestowed items were definitely not as valuable as those belonging to the emperor himself, the things bestowed by an emperor were definitely of a certain grade! Moreover, from ancient times until now, the price of these jade pieces had already increased by many folds, so they could certainly be sold at sky-high prices. However, Chen Fan did not know about the specific price of jade, so he decided to ask someone knowledgeable in this area before selling them. Within Chen Fan''s social circle, the most influential person he knew had to be the richest man in Zhongyun, Ma Rongtao. Since rich businessmen generally liked to show an exaggerated interest in artistic things, Chen Fan decided to find out about the price before asking for Ma Rongtao''s help to sell them off. Needless to say, Chen Fan also fancied doing the same thing, otherwise he wouldn''t air-dry the imperial edict before placing it nicely in its box and putting it on display on his bedroom shelf. After stashing the jade pieces away, Chen Fan called Wang Bing over to drive him out. Although it was a dangerous period in which Fu Lulong was very likely to seek revenge, Chen Fan did not get Wang Bing to stay with him but instead had him stay at his old house to look after the place. After all, the security system of Bolan district was very complete, especially at the villa area. The entire area had surveillance without any blind spots, with 24-hour security patrol throughout the day. On top of that, each household in the villa area was installed with an alarm system connected to the security room. Upon pressing the button, more than ten security guards holding batons would rush over immediately. Needless to say, high quality security services meant that the cost was high. The annual property management cost of staying there was 18,000 RMB! ... "Boss, where are we going?" Wang Bing who was in the driver''s seat turned his head to Chen Fan. "Bajing Street''s antique market!" Chen Fan replied as he continued looking out of the car window. Bajing Street was located at the north end of Zhongyun''s main road. It was an antique street with decades of history, specializing in antiques and jades. It was the place where Chen Fan sold the porcelain pieces that the electric eel had salvaged from the shipwreck the first time. When they were near Bajing Street, Chen Fan got Wang Bing to park the car a distance away before walking in. After getting to the side which specialized in jade, Chen Fan walked around before entering a jade shop called ''Jasper House''. "Young man, looking for jade?" The shop owner was a white-haired old man in his sixties. He squinted his small eyes underneath a pair of reading glasses, giving off an air of craftiness. "Um!" Chen Fan walked around the glass counters before shaking his head with dissatisfaction. "Show me the best jadeite you have here!" "Well" The old man was a little hesitant. Two strong young men wearing yurt sunglasses asked to see the most valuable jadeite the moment they came it, could they be robbers?! "This is the most valuable piece!" The old man thought for a long while before taking out a piece of green jade Pixiu from the side drawer. Chen Fan picked up the jade Pixiu from the top of the counter and took a long look at it. As he looked at it, he felt that something was not right, but he couldn''t say specifically what was wrong! "Help me take a look at how much this piece of jadeite is worth?" Chen Fan glanced around before taking out a piece of green translucent jade from his shirt and passed it to the shop owner. "Burmese Zhengyang jadeite?" The old man''s squinted eyes suddenly widened, like a man who had been imprisoned for ten years seeing a young pretty girl right after being released. "This...this" The old man stuttered as he took off his glasses and wiped them with his shirt. After putting them on again, he examined for a long while before saying with a sigh, "Young man, our shop can''t afford to buy this piece of jade!" The man didn''t even think of confusing Chen Fan. There aren''t many fools these days; almost everyone would have done a thorough search on the internet and gone to various shops to ask for the price when selling valuable things. Moreover, this item was valuable enough for one to risk his life for it, so the old man didn''t dare to play any tricks, for fear that he might just lose his life. "Help me estimate how much it''s worth." Chen Fan took out a few red notes and slammed them on the glass counter. The price of jadeite stones were mostly fixed, unlike finished products which have artistic value added. The old man examined for a long while before announcing to Chen Fan a jaw-dropping figure. "8 million RMB, don''t sell any lower than this price!" The old man smacked his lips. "I can help you get a client if you wanna sell it, I guarantee it will be more than 8 million RMB. After the transaction is successful, I''ll just take a 200,000 RMB commission from you!" I just want an estimation of the price, I''m not for selling it for the time being!" Chen Fan took the jadeite back from the old man''s reluctant eyes before signaling to Wang Bing who was standing guard at the door to leave. "8 million RMB!" Chen Fan totaled up the sum of all the pieces as he walked. There were a total of seven pieces of this fist-size jade stone. If they were all sold at this price, it would be a total of 56 million RMB! After walking a few more rounds, Chen Fan went to another jade shop to get an estimation of the price of the white jade. It was indeed a little rash of Chen Fan to do this. If it caught the attention of someone with evil intentions, a bloody fight would probably break out. Nonetheless, with a superb fighter like Wang Bing around, the other party would definitely be the one bleeding. The price of the white jade was a little lower than the jadeite; the other party only stated a price of 7 million RMB. Chen Fan continued going to a few more shops and got the shop owners to do an appraisal of the jade stone, and the price given at the end was all about the same. An hour later, Chen Fan walked out of Bajing Street. As a precaution, he brought Wang Bing along to the nearby market quarter with high human traffic and walked a few rounds there. "Boss, I''m very certain that no one is following us, don''t worry!" Wang Bing understood Chen Fan''s intention and gave him his assurance. Who was Wang Bing? He was a soldier from the special forces who had gone through rigorous training. This could be seen from the unit he was in. No member of his unit could be found in the active military sequence! What did being tailed mean to him? It meant that there was a kindergarten kid whirling a kitchen knife in front of Guan Yu! "Um!" Chen Fan nodded and then walked toward where the BMW was parked. After the car started, Chen Fan dialed the number on the business card Ma Rongtao gave to him. After two rings, the call was picked up. "Hello, Chen. What''s up?" "Hello Uncle Ma!" Chen Fan deliberated his tone. "Do you like stuff like jadeite and white jade?" "Haha, are you thinking of giving me a few? Or selling me a few?" "Well" Chen Fan was a little embarrassed. "Sell...selling a few!" "No man at my age will dislike jade." Ma Rongtao laughed heartily. "You can show me of you have good quality ones." "When are you available? I''ll bring them over for you to have a look!" "Now is fine, you can come over to my office!" "Um, I''ll be there an hour from now!" After hanging up, Chen Fan got Wang Bing to drive him to Bolan district. He left the biggest piece of the jadeite and white jade each behind and took the rest away. Stepping into the main entrance of Ma Rongtao''s company again, they saw that the receptionist who had been teased by Wang Bing previously had either been promoted or sacked, and was replaced by a woman in her thirties. After getting Wang Bing to stay guard downstairs, Chen Fan carried a gray briefcase and asked the reception to notify his arrival before walking toward the elevator. Ma Rongtao''s office was at the highest level which had a panoramic view and was surrounded outside by dark glass panels. Even a sanitation worker would instantly feel superior and high above the rest here. After walking to a door with a sign that said Director''s office, Chen Fan gently knocked on the yellow wooden door. Creak! The door was opened from the inside. "Why do you sell everything?" Wu Ruoyu, who was dressed in a black suit stuck out her tongue cheekily. "You sold the giant squid''s beak the previous time, and now jadeite... I wonder where you got all that stuff!" "What a coincidence!" Chen Fan laughed and scratched his head. "Well, a businessman needs to have various sources and varieties to make money!" "Then I wanna buy Doraemon''s magic bag. Do you have that?" Wu Ruoyu touched her hair charmingly. "I do have that" Chen Fan spread out his hands. "Just that it can''t produce anything!" "Ha!" Wu Ruoyu smiled. "I''ll catch up with you again, I have some things to see to!" After stepping into the office, Chen Fan was dumbstruck! The 100 square meter office was luxuriously decorated. The white wool carpet, the exquisite stenciled wallpaper, and each of the valuable ornaments highlighted the extraordinary qualities of the owner. "You''re here, Chen, come take a seat!" Ma Rontao was seated on the chair, going through documents while sipping tea. After seeing Chen Fan walk in, he put down the purple clay tea cup in his hand and gestured to Chen Fan to sit on the chair at the side. After pulling the swivel chair to the long cedar wood table, Chen Fan said a few words of formalities before opening the gray briefcase. "So many?" Ma Rongtao gasped, but it was not because of the price. This was an ordinary amount to him since he was used to hundreds of millions of circulating capital. The real thing that shocked him was the number of jade stones, and how so many jade pieces of good purity and similar shapes would appear together. "Um!" Chen Fan placed the jade stones on the table one by one. "I salvaged an ancient box in the sea, and inside were all jadeite and white jade!" Chen Fan mixed both truth and falsehood in his explanation. He had no reason to come up with some story to a rich man like Ma Rongtao, because he wouldn''t bother about such a trivial thing. "Do you plan to sell all of them?" Ma Rongtao picked up a piece and weighed it in his hand. "There''s nothing to complain about the purity, they''re definitely top grade. If you wanna sell all, I''ll get someone over now to calculate the price." "I''ll sell all of them, I''m a little short of cash flow these days!" Chen Fan shrugged. "Haha!" Ma Rongtao let out a laugh before dialing the phone at the side. Half an hour later, a fatty in his forties who looked like Maitreya Buddha walked into the office with a metal box. "This is Luo Yi, a famous jade appraiser in Zhongyun. The price he states is definitely reasonable!" Ma Rongtao nodded at Luo Yi before introducing the two. "Hello, how are you!" Chen Fan stood up and extended his right hand. "How are you!" The flesh on Luo Yi''s face shook as he smiled and used his thick meaty hand to grab Chen Fan''s right hand. After exchanging greetings, Luo Yi opened the metal box and took out a miniature microscope. He placed the jade stone on top and adjusted the magnification before putting his eyes over it. After examining for a while, Luo Yi took out another odd-shape torch and shone it from the bottom of the jade stone. Luo Yi looked at each of the jade stones carefully and then clapped. "The stones are excellent, based on their sizes, the price of the six pieces of jadeite is a total of 50 million RMB, and the seven pieces of white jade is also 50 million RMB!" "100 million RMB!" Ma Rongtao touched his chin. "Chen, are you satisfied with the price?" "Why wouldn''t I be?" Chen Fan smiled happily. 100 million RMB! What an astronomical figure. Other than being used to describing the number of sperm, there aren''t many other uses for these large numbers. "We''ll agree on that then!" Ma Rongtao laughed. "With such a high price, I wouldn''t dare to keep them all to myself. I gotta sell some to my friends and earn a little from it!" "The amount is a little too much. If you trust me I''ll transfer to your account in a few batches within the next ten days!" "Of course I trust you, Uncle Ma!" Chen Fan agreed without even thinking. His office was here, and he couldn''t possibly run away. "By the way Uncle Ma, since you''re in the freight business, if I use this money to make a custom ton-size ship, which shipyard would you recommend?" "Custom make a ton-size ship! This is a great idea, you can only get more influencing power if you expand your business!" Ma Rongtao gave it a thought before taking out a business card from the drawer and passed it to Chen Fan. "This is the top shipyard in Zhongyun. Half of its orders are from European and American countries. Its credibility and quality are guaranteed!" "Thank you, Uncle Ma!" Chen Fan took over the business card and looked at it. "Zhongtian Shipyard''s business manager...Xia Qingqing?" Chen Fan read out the words on the business card. "She''s a beautiful lady around your age!" Ma Rongtao winked, teasing Chen Fan. 111 Ordering A Ten Thousand Ton Large Ship The amount was too large, so Ma Rongtao transferred 20 million to his card, and then the rest would be paid in a few days. After leaving Ma Rongtao''s office building, Chen Fan rang up Zhang Xueyang and asked him to give him his card account number, so he could return his five million debt along with its fifty thousand interest. "Now I''ve got 19 million in hand...nearly 100 million in ten days!" Sitting in the car, Chen Fan decided to take the money and order an ocean-going freighter. He had only a few million in his hand and all the others were changed into assets. "Xia Qingqing" Chen Fan muttered, then dialed the number on the card! "Hello, you are..."On the other end of the telephone came a sound like a lark singing. "Is this Zhongtian Shipyard?" "Yes! How can I assist you, Sir? "Oh!" Chen Fan closed the window. "I want to consult about ordering a enormous ship!" "What kind of ship would you like to order, Sir? Container type? Bulk type? A tanker?" "About a ten-thousand ton bulk type!" He already owned two five-thousand ton container ships. Chen Fan decided to buy a bulk cargo type. "Then, Sir, if you are free, could you come to our office so we could talk about the details!" "Well, no problem!" After asking for the specific address, Chen Fan asked Wang Bing to turn around and go to the seaside in Zhongyun city. The car turned on the Tricyclic viaduct and a half an hour later Chen Fan looked through the window where he could see in the distance near the sea, the seven gantry crane brushed in red paint and more than 20 large and small rotations of a tower crane. "It''s enormous!" Chen Fan exclaimed in wonder. This was such a large area that they had to recruit at least 3,000 workers to maintain this operation. The salary of the workers had to be a great expense. After a 10-minute drive, the black BMW finally arrived at its destination, Zhongtian shipyard. From far apart, Chen Fan could hear all kinds metal percussion sounds and the creaking sounds when the tower rotated. "Hello, Miss Xia? I''m in the office building of your factory! Standing in front of the white office building, Chen Fan called and looked around. "Are you wearing a black suit?" It was apparent that Chen Fan had been noticed by Xia Qingqing from upstairs. After getting Chen Fan''s confirmation, Xia Qingqing pushed the window open on the second floor and waved to him downstairs. "Ah! Ma Rongtao did not deceive me at all, she sure is a beauty!" Chen Fan, with a nod, walked up to the lobby. Just as he reached the second floor, Chen Fan saw Xia Qingqing pop her head out of the manager''s office and gaze at him. As they both entered the office, Xia Qingqing immediately passed him a cup of "Biluochun" tea, then pulled out a pile of colorful advertising copies printed with various parameters and said to Chen Fan, "Sir, here are our parameters of bulk ships that the shipyard built according to the international standard. You can choose any one of them!" "You can call me Chen Fan!" Chen Fan smiled and flipped over the color map on the tea table. "What is the duration of the production?" "If it is only a ten thousand ton bulk ship. It will take a month to complete the construction. Of course, if Mr. Chen wants it in hurry, I can urge the workers to work faster, and it will require about twenty days!" "What about the price?" Chen Fan looked for a long time and pointed to the picture on page 3. "That''s the type!" It was a hundred and twenty meters long, nineteen meters wide, and ten meters deep in the water. It had a hull that looked like olden vessels, and it was cool. "Let me see!" Xia Qingqing came closer and looked at the picture. "This type costs sixty million and if Mr. Chen is prepared to order, I can call to send the model over, then you could adjust hull structure that you are not satisfied with." "There''s no need to adjust, I think this is fine!" Chen Fan has no experience in this. He felt that if he were to adjust the design he would be disparaged by the designer. "So... Is Mr. Chen really ready to order?" A young man, at Chen Fan''s age was still a bit too young to believe that he was ordering a $60 million ship as simply as though he was ordering a birthday cake. "Of course I am really ordering, or why have I come all the way here?" Chen Fan took a sip of his tea. Ma Rongtao had already told him the price of the enormous ship, so sixty million didn''t sound like too much to him. "Then I will take the order form after Mr. Chen fills in the order, and then we receive a 20 percent down payment, and will immediately ask the workers to start!" It was the first time that she had met such an easy customer. "By the way, could I order a yacht here? I''d like to order another 15-meter double-deck yacht." "Can... Can... " The expression on her face was a little unnatural. A dozen days ago, experiencing the storm at sea left a trauma in her that was hard to erase. Now, as soon as someone mentioned the word "yacht", Xia Qingqing trembled. "Are there any brochures? I want to take a look!" "Please wait, I''ll get it!" Xia Qingqing took a deep breath and went to the side display cabinet and pulled out the thick picture book. After flipping for a while, Chen Fan selected a steel structure double-deck yacht with a white hull, and black side windows made with a high hardness glass. "How much does it cost?" Chen Fan pointed to the atlas. "The price of this bare bones boat is five million, with an extra one million for simple design, three million for delicate design, five million for deluxe suits, and these three different decoration prices." Xia Qingqing took the picture book and opened a few pages and pointed to the interior decoration photo. "The deluxe suite then!" After a detailed comparison of the several styles, Chen Fan directly chose the most expensive one. Who the hell is this guy with a local accent? Xia Qingqing couldn''t help wondering in her mind. She recognized almost all the rich people in Zhongyun, but she could not guess whose son had this great ability to get ten million from his father to buy a yacht. It''s ten million! Xia Qingqing couldn''t help wondering. Zhang Xueyang, who bought a few million Bentleys, was hailed as a big brother by the rich people in Zhongyun. And this guy? Purchasing a yacht like buying a Chery QQ, not even hesitating! "How long will it take to complete the yacht?" Chen Fan interrupted Xia Qingqing''s thought. "Ah?" Xia Qingqing was pulled back from her thoughts. "All the yachts here were handmade, so the time taken would be relatively long, about 40 days or so." "Okay then, you go and bring the order...I fill in the information!" Chen Fan smiled. When writing the order, Chen Fan wrote Storm Ocean on the order form as the name of the ten-thousand ton large ship. ... After spending more than half an hour filling in the order, Chen Fan asked Wang Bing to drive to the downtown area to get something to eat. Overnight... The next morning, Chen Fan went to the bank to collect a 14 million deposit in the name of the company. Five minutes after the remittance, Xia Qingqing called and said that the deposit had arrived, and she immediately ordered the workers to start work. "Twenty days, only twenty days to own a ten thousand ton ship!" Returning home to lie in bed, Chen Fan could not help being filled with such gratitude. "This electric eel is freaking awesome! Robbery, drug trafficking, counterfeiting, monopoly and a series of profiteering industries, could not be compared with the electric eel! "Ultraman(eel) ...Absolutely an ultraman(eel)!" Chen Fan laughed and subsequently transferred his mind to the electric eel. 112 Hunt the Ghost Hair Jellyfish The hole in the reef had already been opened up by the electric eel to 20 meters in diameter and 100 meters in depth. If all the seawater here had been emptied, the experts would definitely think that it was another big hole created by an aerolite. After days of putting in effort, the electric eel could already dive to 2,000 meters deep, but it still needed a few more days of training to be able to move around freely for a long period under that pressure range. Otherwise, it wouldn''t be able to do anything when it reached Tonga Trench. Reaching Shimen Trench again, Chen Fan decided that he would only go back after the electric eel was able to not feel any pressure at more than 2,000 meters deep. After that, he would prepare to go straight to Tonga Trench to catch the ghost hair jellyfish. Arriving under the cliff where it previously found the treasure box, Chen Fan turned the output power of the eel''s discharge to the maximum to test the terrain below. Bang! A sound akin to the vibration of a bowstring transmitted quickly in the surrounding waters, and the dark underwater suddenly sparkled. The thing that consoled Chen Fan was that there were no large cliffs or large cracks on this gentle slope all the way to the end of the electromagnetic induction testing. Under pressure and cold, Chen Fan started to dash toward 2,200 meters under water. The electric eel could now manage to withstand a depth of 2,000 meters, but was still some distance away from moving around freely. Enduring the pain and cold, the electric eel slowly crawled along the slope for two minutes before reaching 2,200 meters deep. Endure for ten minutes this time before leaving! Chen Fan made up his mind. There was only the sound of the eel''s deep breathing in the dark and silent underwater. Gritting its teeth and holding on for ten minutes, the electric eel could not take it anymore. Exerting its strong back claws and with the strong counter force, it dashed toward the shallow waters. If it had been a diver with the eel''s ascending speed, he would definitely suffer from serious decompression sickness, and may even die of it. However, the breathing technique of the electric eel in the deep sea was different from a human being. The electric eel breathed by filtering oxygen directly from seawater, whereas a human being could only rely on an enclosed diving suit and could not expel the cause of decompression sickness, which was nitrogen molecules, out from the diving suit. After floating up to the shallow waters, the electric eel stopped at the gentle slope at around 300 meters and rested for half an hour before making another dash. The eel repeated another few rounds of resting and dashing all the way until midnight before it dragged its exhausted body to find fishes and fill its stomach. After strengthening its pituitary gland for half an hour, the eel shut its eyes and rested until dawn. The next day, Chen Fan did not do anything but straightaway controlled the electric eel to dash toward the deep sea. There was significant improvement today as compared to the day before. The electric eel stayed for a good fifteen minutes at a depth of 2,200 meters before it couldn''t take it anymore and rose up. Three days later, the eel could stay for fifteen minutes at 2,300 meters! Six days later, it became 2,400 meters! Ten days later, the eel could stay up to twenty minutes at 2,500 meters. Also, it could stay at around 2,000 meters for half a day without feeling too much pressure and cold. According to Wang Xingyu, the ghost hair jellyfish was usually active around 2,000 meters! The Tonga Trench located at the center of the southern part of the Pacific Ocean was 4,800 nautical miles away from Zhongyun. With the electric eel''s current average speed of 50 knots, it would need ninety-seven hours, which was a little more than four days to arrive. When resting and eating were added in, it would need at least a week. After a week''s journey, the electric eel should be able to reach the ability to stay at a depth of 2,500 meters for half a day. In this case, when the eel arrived at Tonga Trench, it would have the endurance and time to hunt the ghost hair jellyfish down! ... Chen Fan retrieved his thoughts from the electric eel. Since it was going to Tonga Trench, the electric eel definitely could not just kill one ghost hair jellyfish and return to Zhongyun after getting hold of its poison sac. It had to catch at least ten of them to make the trip worthwhile. However, there was another new problem. A live ghost hair jellyfish was poisonous all over and even if the eel electrocuted them to death, it was still difficult for the eel to take out the poison sac inside. It would be terrible if the eel got poisoned! "I can''t possibly kill the ghost hair jellyfish and wait for it to sink to the bottom and rot, and then wait for the poison sac to float up by itself!" Chen Fan twitched the corner of his mouth. Nonetheless, there''s always a solution to all things as long as you rack your brain. After pondering for a long while on the couch, Chen Fan finally thought of an idea which he felt was good! Taking out his phone, Chen Fan dialed Zhang Xueyang''s number. "Hello Bro Chen, I heard you made a hundred million recently. Are you calling me to buy me drinks?" Zhang Xueyang laughed cheekily on the other end of the phone. "I''m quite busy these days but I''ll definitely treat you to a good one once I have time!" Chen Fan laughed. "Bro Zhang I need help from you this time!" "What is it? I''ll definitely help if I can!" "I would like to ask for your help to custom-make a thirty-meter long and half-meter diameter round iron bar!" Chen Fan hesitated for a while before saying. "That would weigh around forty-six tons. Why do you need such a long iron bar?" Zhang Xueyang was a little curious. "For use on the large ship!" Chen Fan had no other excuse and could only make up a lie. "Large ship? Are you using it as a watchtower or a flagpole? If it''s for that stuff, it doesn''t have to be so long. Also, the weight will exceed the limit...just hollow steel is sufficient." Zhang Xueyang said doubtfully. "Moreover, doesn''t the ship come with that stuff?" "No, it''s not for those. I custom-made a 10,000 ton ship recently" Chen Fan paused for two seconds to organize his lies. "I intend to connect a long bar at the bottom of the ship, for smuggling purposes." "Can''t you just use metal chain?" "It would hit the bottom at shallow waters!" Chen Fan said, as if to say "you''re a layman". "Just help me make one, why do you need to bother so much?" "Alright!" Zhang Xueyang readily agreed. It was just making a solid iron bar, not a cannon. He would be more than happy if someone ordered a hundred at one go. "It would be best if the metal used has high hardness and corrosion resistance, otherwise, a normal iron rod would get corroded very fast underwater." Chen Fan added after thinking. "That''s simple, I just need to get the master worker to add in ten percent of titanium alloy. Much diving equipment these days uses this type of material, but the price may be a little expensive!" "Titanium alloy" Chen Fan gave it some thought. He was aware of the properties of titanium. This silver-white metal is stronger than steel, but its weight is forty-three percent lighter than steel. Its corrosion resistance is also very good; even aqua regia is not able to corrode it, not to mention seawater. "Add thirty percent of titanium into it then!" "Thirty percent? Then it will cost 3 million RMB just to make this iron rod!" "Um, price is not an issue!" Chen Fan stretched himself out on the couch. "Oh one more thing, tell the master to cast one end of the rod into a shape of an anchor one meter in diameter." "No problem!" Zhang Xueyang replied readily. "But the melting point of titanium is higher, so it will take around four days to get it done!" "Um! Just get someone to send it to the previous seaside shipyard when it''s done!" Chen Fan instructed before hanging up. Chen Fan''s idea was very simple. After the electric eel electrocuted the ghost hair jellyfish to death, it would rip through the jellyfish with the pike like candied haws on a stick before bringing it to the shallow waters and torture it slowly. Actually there was another reason behind this. The electric eel did not have a suitable weapon after the meteor hammer was scrapped. Just as Chen Fan was about to get up from the couch to fix some food to fill his stomach, the phone which he had just hung up rang again. He saw that it was from his father and quickly pressed the answer key. "Hello, Dad, what''s up?" "S-son, how have you been recently? Did...did you take your meals regularly?" Chen Fan''s father faltered and stopped. "I''ve been eating well, and even put on a few pounds!" Chen Fan was a little puzzled as his father did not usually sound like this. "Dad, what is it?" "Then...how about the shipping company? Is it making profits or losses?" "The ship just did a trip to Singapore recently, and made 200,000 RMB!" Chen Fan did not lie about this. After deducting the workers'' salary and expenses, he really made 200,000 RMB. "Dad, what is it exactly? Tell me quick. " "Erm...erm" Chen Fan''s father hemmed and hawed before saying, "Your mom and I went Macau yesterday" "And then?" Chen Fan suddenly straightened his body and asked anxiously. "Then...then we went to the casino and walked one round. Your mom and I couldn''t couldn''t control ourselves and bought 5,000 RMB worth of chips to play" "But...in the end, we continued playing after losing, and after playing the whole night, we...we lost 1.2 million RMB!" Chen Fan''s father sounded like a child who had done something wrong, muttering at the end that Chen Fan could not hear what he said. "Well" Chen Fan felt relieved. His parents had always liked gambling, but they only played mahjong and cards at the most, and they had indeed gone a little too far this time. It was fine as long as it was nothing else serious, he could make more money as long as he spent some time. "So be it then!" Chen Fan put his worries aside. "The company has started to make profits anyway. We can earn back the lost amount after another month!" "Oh...then...that''s good...your mom and I are not going to stay in Macau anymore. We''ll take the plane to Dali in Yunnan tomorrow!" "Take care of yourselves on the way!" "Um" After some nagging, Chen Fan hung up the phone. "Gave me a scare!" Chen Fan placed his hand on his chest and then went to the kitchen downstairs. There was still three more days before he could get the weapon. After filling his stomach, Chen Fan shifted his thoughts onto the electric eel to strengthen its pituitary gland. -------- Four days flew by in the blink of an eye. At 5PM in the afternoon, Chen Fan ate some food before driving to the shipyard by the sea. Zhang Xueyang had just called to inform him that the iron rod had been cast and it was now being transported to the shipyard on a semi-trailer. When Chen Fan reached the shipyard after making a detour to the bank to transfer 3 million RMB to Zhang Xueyang, there was already a Steyr semi-trailer towing a long iron rod parked at the side with a yellow crane right behind it. Zhang Xueyang got out of the truck the moment he saw Chen Fan and pointed at the shipyard, looking troubled. "Your shipyard is too low, the crane can''t go in!" "Seems like it!" Chen Fan looked at the shipyard and the crane. The shipyard was twelve meters tall, and the crane was not able to go in with its arm extended. "Lean it at the entrance in front of the shipyard then, I''ll get a lifting vessel to tow it later!" Chen Fan scratched his head and pointed at the waterway in front of the shipyard. "That works too!" Zhang Xueyang ran to the crane and gestured to the driver. The yellow XCMG crane which could lift up to sixty tons, extended its sword-like arms, and the truck driver jumped off the truck, and attached the hook onto the steel cables wound in the middle of the pike. Looking at the more than forty-ton pike being lifted high up, Chen Fan, Zhang Xueyang and the driver all covered their heads and ran a distance away, afraid that the shaking pike might drop and mash them up. Thump! The pike got hooked to the front of the shipyard by the crane, with half of it on the beach and the other half in the water. "I''ve already transferred the money to your bank card!" Chen Fan turned to Zhang Xueyang after seeing the ''handover ceremony'' was completed. "I''ve received the notification message!" Zhang Xueyang showed his phone and then patted Chen Fan''s shoulder. "I still have things to see to. I''ll make a move first. Let''s go have fun another day!" Chen Fan laughed. "Get going!" After the two heavy-duty trucks left, Chen Fan ran to the front of the pike which looked like a pillar from heaven. The pike which glowed with a silver-gray metallic luster and had thirty percent titanium alloy mixed in it completely occupied Chen Fan''s mind with its thirty meter length and forty ton weight. The tip which had been specially cast into a one-meter diameter spearhead with curved hooks at the two sides fully portrayed its "all-conquering" property! Chen Fan picked up a ten-kilo rock nearby and threw it at the pike with all his strength. Clang! A huge echo-filled metal sound got into Chen Fan''s ears. After Chen Fan wiped away the slags on the surface of the pike, the surface of the metal that he hit still glowed with perfect luster without any scratches. "Divine weapon! This is absolutely a divine weapon!" Chen Fan danced with excitement. With this pike, even Godzilla would have to beg for mercy. Chen Fan got back into the car and switched on the in-car theater. He casually found a movie to kill time, and planned to wait till nightfall before getting the electric eel to tow away the pike. After finishing two American movies, the sky outside was already completely dark. Chen Fan got out of the car and stretched himself before opening the main gate of the shipyard. Thereafter, he got into the car again and shifted his thoughts onto the electric eel. Chen Fan had gotten the eel to drag the submarine to the nearby seabed because he was afraid that Zhang Xueyang would discover the fake submarine in the shipyard. A human being could only use machines to move a forty-ton pike, but it was easy for a sixty-meter long electric eel, especially when it could still make use of the seawater''s buoyancy. Chen Fan controlled the electric eel to use its front claws to grab the pike and drag it to the seabed a distance away before pushing the submarine back into the shipyard again. Chen Fan closed the main gate of the shipyard and then drove himself home. After getting home, Chen Fan found a comfortable position and laid down before shifting his thoughts onto the electric eel again. Ghost hair jellyfish, your nemesis is coming! 113 Encountering A Whaling Ship 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 pass 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 passed 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 passed, 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 shift 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 Japanese island of Akashi which was about five hundred and thirty miles from Zhongyun city. It was bizarre to Chen Fan that the Japanese 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. "Hello. 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 Shipyard. The ship 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 Wang Bing''s number and asked him to come over and take him to the shipyard. "Ten- thousand ton ship" Chen Fan got out of bed and stood in the sunshine 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, Wang 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 Shipyard where we went last time. The big ship 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?" Wang 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 passed, Chen Fan was shaken awake by Wang Bing. "Boss, we have arrived at Zhongtian Shipyard!" "Oh!" Chen Fan opened his eyes and looked around. Then he looked at the time. It was 3pm sharp. "Hello, 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!" Wang 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 muffled 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 shipyard." Chen Fan and Wang Bing followed the Aston Martin in the BMW. Wang 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 ship. "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 ship''s bow was wrapped with colorful flags. A bouquet of bright red silk was hanging right under the bow of the ship 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 ship. 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 principal 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...CoEveryone, 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 ship..." 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 ship 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 crashing sound, the ship slipped into the vast sea. "The new ship 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 Wang 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 ship! 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!" Wang Bing hit his chest in confidence. "Well!" Chen Fan replied. After going to the bank to remit the money, more than 40 minutes later, Wang 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 shifted 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. Japan is a very developed country in the fishing 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 fishing boats that were trawling. "If you dare to touch me, I will let you all serve the water devil!" Another fishing boat passed 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 fishing 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 passed... 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 ship, 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 ship, "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 Japanese whaling ship?" Chen Fan was furious. As a standard hot-blooded youth, he had no good feeling for those Japanese, let alone his food was snatched by them. But the anger of Chen Fan became confusion... Because... Another white ship came out of nowhere, moving past the electric eel. It was evidently smaller than the whale-ship and had set up three water cannons which shot at the Japanese whaling ship! "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! 114 Butyric Acid Bomb The International Whaling Commission had announced the cessation of commercial whaling since 1986, and only a few countries had been allocated a share in scientific whaling. However, this perfunctory regulation was of no significance to Japan where numerous whale catchers continued with their activities. They took pleasure in being reviled by tens of thousands of people around the world, as they acted as a catalyst in whale extinction. The two vessels, one red and one white, one big and one small, both set up a few high pressure water pumps and shot at the people on the side of the ship. The white ship had probably been specially modified to drive out whale catchers with its extremely powerful high pressure water pumps. A man wearing a white headscarf was shot right in the chest by the high pressure water jets the moment he came out from the cabin of the whaling ship. He screamed and bawled as he got thrown back into the cabin by the huge impact. "Nice one, Casey!" On the white ship, a mustached man in his thirties wearing a jacket with a "Greenpeace" logo whistled after he saw his partner hit the target. "Baynes, quick get a butyric acid bomb here, I wanna stink these shorties to death!" Casey hid behind a specially welded protective steel plate, flinging her wet hair as she stared at the whaling ship without turning back. "Okay!" The blonde mustached guy, Baynes bawled and quickly rushed into the cabin. A butyric acid bomb was a pale yellow "bomb" made from transparent oily liquid extracted from stale butter which was poured into glass bottles to be thrown. Its smell was extremely unpleasant, like a huge piece of butter placed in a bucket and fermented for ten years. Even pigs will vomit non-stop after smelling it, so it was most suitable to use on this group of evil guys. "F*ck you!" Casey cursed. They had been tracking the location of this whaling ship for more than twenty days. During this period, they had used various calculation methods such as latitude and longitude estimation and radio location, which locked in the whale''s active area. They even used a satellite phone to call her incomprehensible Chinese classmate, asking him to use Chinese astrology to estimate the location of this whaling ship before finally finding traces of it. However, by the time they rushed over, a killer whale had already been killed. Uh-oh! Twenty seconds later, Baynes wore an industrial face mask and dashed out of the cabin carrying two big yellow plastic boxes. Hiding under the deck, Casey opened the yellow plastic box, exposing the ten pale yellow glass bottles inside to the air. A foul smell shot past the face mask and went right into Baynes'' head. "Argh" Casey turned away in disgust, as if she had seen a decayed corpse, and then grabbed a "bomb" with her right hand that was covered in a plastic glove. "Buddies, let''s stink these devils to death!" Casey shouted to the seven or eight fighters beside her before throwing the "bomb" over with all her strength. "Stink these devils to death!" This group of whaling protesters from all over the world grabbed the butyric acid bombs and threw them at the whaling ship. "Baka" The moment the twenty devils on the deck of the Twilight No. 9 whaling ship saw the glass bottles being thrown over, they widened their eyes in shock and quickly threw away the high pressure hydraulic pumps in their hands before frantically escaping into the cabin. Bang! Bang! Bang! The pale yellow glass bottles hit the deck and sputtered! At that moment, a putrid foul smell beyond description and human thinking spread rapidly on the deck. The smell was so toxic that even the microorganisms on the deck were suffocated to death by the smell. "Argh" Before he could rush to the cabin, the devil who ran the slowest raised his head, shooting out white and yellow vomit into the sky. "Get out!" Even the whaling protesters who were more than ten meters away could not stand the strong smell. With the sea breeze blowing, the group of courageous fighters covered their noses and slipped into the cabin before shutting the door and crowded in front of the enclosed porthole to observe the situation. "Argh, it''s this bunch of Greenpeace protectors again!" The captain Kato Yamato pounded the stainless steel table at the side. "Why aren''t we equipped with gas masks when we''re out in the sea?" "Captain, why don''t we kill them with harpoon guns?" A short, ugly-looking man at the side said ferociously. "Baka!" Kato Yamato gave him a tight slap, taking it out on him. "You want to be shredded by all the environmental protesters around the world?" "Set the sail, quick, we have to shake off this bunch of lunatics!" Kato Yamato knocked away a few men as he walked to the side of the rudder and pressed the start button. The red whaling ship shook fiercely on the spot before giving off a loud metal screeching sound. "Baka!" Veins appeared on the raging Kato Yamato. "What''s going on?" Just when everyone in the cabin was puzzled as to why the ship stalled, the Greenpeace anthem in English traveled to the ears of everyone. A black, fully-enclosed assault boat with the words "Get lost, Japanese monkeys" on it dashed to the front of the whaling ship, howling loud music with its ten high-pitched speakers. "Argh!" Kato Yamato took off his clog and threw it at the glass in front of him. ... "What an eye-opener!" Chen Fan was stunned watching this drama from afar. Just a moment ago, when the two ships were surrounded by the strong, butyric acid smell and everyone was hiding in the cabin, he had clearly seen a black assault boat slip out from the back of the white ship. The assault boat quickly got to the back of the whaling ship and the hatch of the boat was opened from the inside. Two muscular, black guys came out from inside, each holding a bundle of steel cables as thick as a thumb, and threw them toward the propeller of the whaling ship. The steel cables fell into the water and hung right on the propeller! The two propellers of the whaling ship made a few violent rotations, giving out a series of cringing winch sounds. After struggling for more than ten seconds, the 2,500-horsepower heavy oil engine finally broke the steel cables, rapidly pushing the whaling ship forward to escape. "Baynes, quick start the ship and go after them!" Casey who was wiping the water off her hair with a towel, saw the other other part escaping and quickly pushed Baynes to the side of the rudder. "Yes!" Baynes quickly stepped to the side of the rudder. The propeller of the white ship rotated madly and followed the whaling ship closely. "Two bunches of lunatics!" Chen Fan watched for a long while before he was able to suppress his hot-bloodedness and refrain himself from getting involved in it. Although he really wanted to send the whaling ship to the bottom and make a contribution to Greenpeace International, it was broad daylight after all, and scuttling a ship in front of those protectors would definitely give rise to much speculation. The two ships were getting further away. Chen Fan controlled the electric eel to search a few rounds to fill its stomach before swimming toward the southern part of Guam. Ten hours later, when the electric eel arrived in between Palau and Guam, Chen Fan settled the eel down and retrieved his thoughts. The time difference at both sides was almost a day apart. It was sunny at the eel''s side but dark in Zhongyun. "Sleep!" After dinner, Chen Fan mumbled while he held his pillow. Latitude 9.24 degrees and longitude 139.2 degrees A few flashlights from afar suddenly projected on to the sea surface that was gradually getting dark. Two ships, one red and one white cut through the waves at full steam. "Baka!" Kato Yamato, captain of Twilight No. 9, was burning with rage. The white ship behind had been chasing them for a day like a sticky candy, using all sorts of stuff like hydraulic pumps, paints and butyric acids. Bang! Just as his voice trailed off, a loud sound came from the porthole on the left. A vodka bottle filled with black asphalt was thrown over by some strong guy. After the porthold was damaged, the black asphalt from inside the bottle mixed with the shattered glass and splashed onto Kato Yamato''s face. "Ahhh" Kato Yamato covered his face which was full of glass fragments and asphalt. He clenched his teeth and looked furious, as if he had just gotten the results of a DNA test that his son was not his biological son. "Gunman!" Kato Yamato bawled. "Kill them with harpoon guns!" "Hai!" The man who got slapped the day before quickly replied. He removed the white towel from his forehead and bound it around his mouth before opening the hatch and running toward the bow. He loaded the gun at one go and turned the gun the other way to point at the white ship, and fired! Boom! Chen Fan jumped up from his bed. The muffled explosion sound from the electric eel''s ears woke him up from his dreams. "Why is it them again?" Chen Fan opened his eyes wide after shifting his thoughts onto the electric eel. The two ships yesterday were floating side by side above the eel at the water surface more than 300 meters away where the electromagnetic induction would not detect. "They''ve opened fire?" The explosion sounded very much like the firing sound of the whaling ship the day before. Bang! Just as Chen Fan was feeling uncertain, another dull explosion reached the water surface. Chen Fan could see clearly this time. There was a spark on the bow of the red whaling ship followed by a loud metal clang from the white ship. "Damn, these lawless little devils!" Anger rose from the tail of the electric eel to its head, burning Chen Fan''s thoughts. Although harpoon guns were not cannonballs, it would still be terrible if it hit a human body. Since the devils weren''t afraid of committing evil when the sky was dark, neither was Chen Fan! "On a dark and stormy night, murder and arson take place!" Chen Fan recited some poetry and then controlled the electric eel as it clutched the forty-ton metal alloy pike, and swam toward the bottom of the whaling ship. 115 What Is Our Mission? The dark night sky gave the electric eel the best cover. No matter how good the imagination of both sides was, it would have been impossible for them to guess that a more than 60 meter long, terrorist, electric eel was in the middle observing. In fact, even if the electric eel were to cause some chaos during the day, it would not have to be afraid. After all, the sea was the largest mystery that humans haven''t finished solving. Over the decades, there have been many lost planes over the Bermuda triangle so it was normal to have other small bizarre incidents occur. Boom! The gunner''s dexterity was almost as good as the World of Warcraft''s gold medallist in the game. The shot went straight into the cabin of the white ship, and a heavy harpoon as thick as his arm shot through the cabin. "Go and get a butyric acid bomb!" Casey crawled on the deck and shouted to his men who were also crawling on the floor. "OK!" Banes called out to two black men who crawled to the storage tank with the "butyric acid bomb." Ignoring that intense, nauseating odor, Banes lay prostrate and crawled to the front of the deck. He stood up and with all his might, he launched the bomb on to the whaling ship. Whoosh The two black men next to him did not want to be left behind, and they tossed two bottles of "butyric acid bombs" in the same direction. Bang! Before the gunner could escape, he was knocked down by a glass bottle that hit him on the middle of his head, and the yellowish butyric acid splashed all over his face. Ahhhh!... The endless night was filled with a sudden, terrible cry. Half a second later, the voice came to an abrupt end, and the gunner seemed to have fainted from the foul smell. "Woohoo!" Banes jumped up from the deck and danced with excitement. "Banes! Banes! " The two black men also stood up, and with the distinctive hip-hop style of a black man, sang out with rhythmic like hip-hop music. After being hit by a few bottles of bombs from the gun turrets, no one dared to go near them. No one even bothered with the man who fainted whose forehead was hit by the yellowish, butyric acid bottle. By this time, the electric eel had been quietly lurking under the bottom of the whaling ship. Chen Fan looked around a few times and then smiled! The electric eel rubbed its claws, and then with the two front claws that held the spear, thrust it into the propeller of the whaling ship. The spear pointed against the belly of the ship while the electric eel writhed under the water. Kabang! A loud noise came from the water, as the eight-meter diameter propeller, that had been forcibly struck by the spear, was yanked from the bearing and plunged into the sea. "What is this?" Kato gave a hard blow of his fist to the man next to him. "You two, hurry and check it out." He had not completed his sentence, and the sound came again. The whole hull shook violently; twice this time. "Stupid, we can''t stay here anymore!" With a pat on the table, he ran to the helm. He pressed the propeller button and the powerful engine gave two loud sounds, then started up smoothly. Pulling down the sailing gear, the engine noise was very normal, but the boat was still motionless. Kato had pushed the gears a few times, but it still hadn''t moved. "Is the gear broken?" Kato shut down the engine, kicked a few technicians in the buttocks and urged them to hurry and go check it out. He was not happy about the removal of the two propellers because the whaling ship had lost its ability to drive. The eel used the spear to hold the place where the propellers once belonged, and then it worked its way through the water, pushing the 80-meter long ship out into the distance. The white ship, of course, would not let them go easily so it followed behind. But at that moment... All the people on the whaler were stunned. They looked at each other, and for a moment no one uttered a word. With their limited brain capacity, they couldn''t figure out why the ship would be able to break out at the fastest speed and sail ahead, even when the gears were turned off. Chen Fan, of course, was not a man of sympathy. He had broken the propeller and was suddenly repentant, replacing the ship''s power system with the electric eel''s. But... On the other side of the ship, from the shine of the light, they could see that a few hundred meters away in front stood a five to six-meter-high rock! "Ah," Kato''s mouth was opened wide; bigger than a whale. With a whoosh he ran to the helm, spinning the rudder like a wheel. Silence, dead silence! All of them stood still. Not only their breath was paused, but even their eyes dared not move. Creak! A sound was heard and the whaling ship set off in an S-shaped line on the surface of the sea to avoid the deadly rock. The people who had just escaped death were acting out a scene that was similar to what was always seen in a control room of an airport when the plane has safely landed after a tragedy. "Oh..." The desperate people suddenly burst into happy smiles and hugged each other. They shouted with joy to each other and the joy filled the whole cabin. "Long live the captain!" "Captain, banzai!" All the people generously sent their praise to Kato, and Kato was enjoying it! Just as everyone''s mind was relaxed... All of a sudden... The view outside the window once again made everyone''s breath stop and their hearts beat faster. The whaling ship, after sailing out in the distance, made a large circle, and again headed to the huge rock. After a lot of experiments, researchers concluded that the human body would explode at a level six times higher than the normal level in the face of a huge crisis. Then, after the crisis had lifted, there would be a lot of fatigue in all aspects of the body, and the physical quality would fall to 0.7 times lesser than the normal level. And then if there''s another crisis, the brain will be temporarily in a vacuum, and the body''s secretion would be dysfunctional. "Ah, a ghost" Not knowing which coward gave out a sad and indescriptive howl. "Mom..." "Ghost..." Then the terror of the whole crowd spread like a pestilence, and every one of them sniveled. "Stupid, quiet!" At the age of thirty-eight, Kato, of course, had not lived enough, and in the face of a great crisis, he fully embodied the distinction between the captain and the ordinary crew. Once again, frantically turning the ship''s rudder, Kato in only less than two seconds, turned the rudder at a maximum angle to the left. The very fast speed changed in the blink of an eye. It was as though the ship was blessed by the "lucky goddess" and managed to prevent crashing on the rock. There was only a long deep scratch on the side of the ship. Wheezing, wheezing. Kato was sitting on the floor. He was wet, as if he had just come out of the swimming pool, and the huge excitement had almost snapped the string in his head. "Oh my God, are they mad?" Banes looked at the scene with disbelief as the red whaling ship went straight on to the rocks, and then there was no hope at all. Suddenly with a turn, and a big drift, for more than a thousand meters, once again the bow of the boat sailed toward the rock. Twice! Looking at that situation, it was very likely that this would happen a third time! The seven to eight people on the white ship stopped breathing and stared at the front of the ship in disbelief. "God!" Kathy said with a loud voice that broke the calm. The whaling ship was... actually... turning back. ... Suffocation, despair, pain, fear...and so on was a series of negative emotions that filled the whaling ship. Some timid ones had their eyes closed and fell into the cabin because they were not able to endure much more torture. Kato felt as if something in his head had suddenly broken off, and that thing seemed to be called "sense"! At this moment, Kato had given up the bushido spirit, the spirit of a captain, the spirit of honor, seeing the ship was about to collide with the rock in a few seconds. He ran out from the cabin with lightning speed, and then jumped into the sea with a splash. Rumble... It was like chaos The whale-ship, driven at a speed of 35 knots, crashed into the rocks in a thunderous manner. The whole sea trembled as though it was experiencing a 7.5-magnitude earthquake. What is the concept of the collision at a speed of 35 knots? This is equivalent to a truck carrying a thousand tons and hitting the top of the hill at 65 kilometers per hour. A spark that was three-meters thick glinted on the bottom of the boat. The bottom of the whaling ship, had a big crack that was three meters wide and few dozen meters long that was caused by the collision with the rock. "Help!" At this time, the other twenty or thirty people on the boat, jumped into the sea, calling for help in an unknown language, and swam to the white ship. Kathy suddenly felt that they were no more intelligent than a three-year old because, she just couldn''t understand why the Japanese were deliberately banging into the rock so many times. Were they mad? "Kathy, do you think we should save them?" Banes pointed to the Japanese who were struggling on the surface of the sea. "Save people? "Answer me, what is our mission?" "To save the dwindling whale population!" Banes, who had a strong sense of mission, didn''t even need to think before answering. "Then what are they? Tell me loudly!" "It''s human, oh no, it''s a ghost! "Then, it''s settled?" Casey gave a "you''re really an idiot" look. "They''re not whales. Why should we save them?" 116 Arrived At The Place Of Origin Of One Ghost Hair Jellyfish Latitude 4.19, longitude 153.0, local time 8AM. After four days of the voyage, the electric eel had already reached the north of East Caroline Basin, and was still 2,600 nautical miles away from Tonga Trench. If everything continued as planned, the eel would reach its destination three days later. Next stop, Chen Fan decided to target the Solomon Islands more than 700 nautical miles away. Of course, this Solomon Islands is not the place of origin of King Solomon''s treasury recorded in the Bible. Nonetheless, the Solomon Islands is still associated with King Solomon''s treasure. When Spanish navigator Mendana arrived in 1568, he saw that the inhabitants were all extremely rich, wearing gold accessories. With another two more coincidences, he mistook the place as the place of origin of King Solomon''s treasure, hence naming it Solomon. This history had nothing much to do with Chen Fan. His priority now was to get some sleep. After sleeping for six to seven hours, Chen Fan shifted his thoughts to the ocean again. The sky was gradually getting dark as Chen Fan controlled the electric eel at around 300 meters under the sea, swimming forward like an arrow. The eel continued swimming monotonously, like a car on the highway which does not require any skills other than just moving forward. The next day at dawn, Chen Fan reached the destination, Solomon Islands. After eating, Chen Fan encountered a problem when finding a place to rest. The surrounding water was so deep that electric eel at 500 meters deep could not detect the seabed even when it released the maximum discharge. "Don''t tell me it''s some trench again?" Chen Fan mumbled to himself. Ocean trenches are usually near islands and at borders of mainlands. The electric eel was now only over ten nautical miles away from Solomon Islands, so it wasn''t too surprising to encounter an oceanic trench. "I''ll just go take a look to find out!" Chen Fan decided and controlled the eel to face down before dashing toward the dark deep sea. After such a long period of training, the electric eel''s diving limit had reached 2,700 meters, which meant that it could swim freely around ninety-five percent of the oceans on earth. 700 meters 900 meters 1,200 meters... Finally, when the eel dived to almost 1,500 meters, it finally touched the seabed. It was a seabed occupied by white sand, and the smooth, even sand bed had no other protruding objects. The icy cold seawater and the invisible pressure made the eel feel a little uncomfortable, but there was no other better place to stopover, so Chen Fan could only choose to rest on the sand bed. After swimming a few rounds, Chen Fan decided to find a comfortable place in the sand to sleep. Just when he swam a few hundred meters forward, the electromagnetic induction in his brain suddenly met with a wall. "What''s that?" Chen Fan went closer out of curiosity. He saw a 180-meter long, twenty meters wide, steel ship lying quietly on the sand. There was even a big black hole on the left side of the ship which could fit the electric eel if it were to slip in. "Isn''t this an aircraft carrier?" Chen Fan''s jaw almost dropped. Although the tonnage of this aircraft carrier was a little small and the plane inside was a propeller aircraft, the steel-plate runway on top gave its identity away. "Japan''s Ryujo aircraft carrier?" Chen Fan looked around it closely and came up with this conclusion. During World War II, Japan and the United States had numerous naval battles at the waters near Solomon Islands, with the one in 1942 being the most tragic. Just Japan alone lost an aircraft carrier here plus a quasi-aircraft carrier and also numerous smaller warships. Chen Fan had read about that phase of history a few times on the internet. Inside the aircraft carrier was the impressively famous Japanese zero fighter, hence he was able to figure out the origin of the aircraft carrier based on its location. However, the look of the aircraft carrier was a little tragic. Not only was there a large hole in the middle, there were also two huge holes caused by bombs on its deck. Also, the surface of the hull was bumpy due to corrosion by seawater, and the electric eel was able to dig out a large piece of iron scurf easily with its front claw. "Oh precious" Chen Fan mumbled. With such a huge ship, just selling the junk on it could make one rich. However, Chen Fan did not intend to be the "King of Junk". Compared to this humongous thing, Chen Fan was more willing to touch those ancient wooden shipwrecks. After admiring it, Chen Fan wanted to leave and find a place for the electric eel to take an afternoon break. "Ah" the electric eel suddenly widened it eyes, blowing a string of tank-size air bubbles from its mouth before shooting to the side like a mattress, giving out a series of movement sounds with its 60-meter-long body. The center of the aircraft carrier behind the eel suddenly caved in and then spread like radioactivity in less than 0.2 seconds. Boom! A strong shock wave smashed the hull into pieces. A ball of water mixed with steel and sediments spread outward at a speed of more than 300 meters per second. Boom! Boom! Boom! The aircraft carrier exploded one time after another in less than five seconds. "Oh my goodness me" Chen Fan was almost scared to death. Who would have expected that the bomb carried by this aircraft carrier which had been soaked in the sea for decades had not been corroded by seawater. When the electric eel''s discharge swept by from above, the bomb suddenly exploded. Luckily the bomb ignited by the discharge was only a small bomb carried by the zero fighter, and it exploded in the hangar. If it had been those heavy aerial bombs carried by bombing planes, the electric eel would probably be knocked out by the strong impact. Nonetheless, the electric eel which dashed more than twenty meters away at that moment was still affected by the strong underwater shock wave and still felt dizzy and deaf after more than ten minutes. After waiting for the sound to stop and the dust to settle, the electric eel slowly swam back to the place. The seabed which the aircraft carrier was initially lying on had become a big burnt hole. Only the wreckage scattered around showed that there was indeed an aircraft carrier here just now. Still feeling shaken, Chen Fan glanced at the large, four-meter deep hole. He had thought that he could get a fighter plane from inside and bring it back to Zhongyun for the fun of it. Now what? He couldn''t even find any aircraft part that was more than half a meter. The aircraft carrier was gone The electric eel laid in front of the large hole and stared at it for a long while before climbing inside. Treating it as its nest, the eel closed its eyes for a rest. ... Two days later, the electric eel finally reached the final destination after swimming day and night for a week. Tonga Trench is situated on the east of the Tonga Islands in the southern central of the Pacific Ocean. On its north is the Samoa Islands, and its south connects to Kermadec Trench, with a total length of over 1,350 kilometers and a width of 80 kilometers. The average depth is over 6,000 meters, with its deepest at over 10,000 meters. The electric eel laid on the seabed over 800 meters deep and used the electromagnetic induction in its brain to sense the bottomless trench in front which sloped at a sixty-degree angle. It couldn''t help but exclaim, Finally here, it hasn''t been easy! After retrieving his thoughts from the electric eel, Chen Fan went downstairs and took in two breaths of fresh air as he stood in the yard. His bones were falling apart after shutting himself at home for the past few days. "Let me take a good rest and revitalize myself first before catching a few ghost hair jellyfish up!" Chen Fan mumbled to himself after stretching himself and filling his stomach. At 9.10PM that night, Chen Fan shifted his thoughts onto the electric eel again. Chen Fan had no idea if the sky outside was bright or dark now. Even if there was sunlight, it wouldn''t be able to illuminate more than eight meters under water. Although the place was more than 5,000 nautical miles away, the geomorphological and biological aspects were not much different from the Shimen Trench near Zhongyun. They had the same dark and cold environment. "Ghost hair jellyfish, I''m coming!" After taking in a deep breath, the electric eel kicked its four claws and lowered its head, and dashed toward the Tonga Trench. As the eel descended along the trench, the surrounding environment changed slowly with the depth. The colorful coral reefs and multi-colored fishes were gradually replaced by bare rocks and white ugly-looking fishes. At the depth of 1,500 meters, the gentle slope suddenly widened into a ninety-degree right angle. The surrounding fishes also went into hiding, except for the occasional escaping silhouette which flashed past at the end of the eel''s electromagnetic induction, which Chen Fan couldn''t figure out what exactly it was. At 1,500 meters, the temperature of the water was already down to zero degrees. Organisms who dared to live here were definitely not easy to deal with. At about 2,000 meters deep, Chen Fan stopped the electric eel from swimming downward but increased the release of discharge instead and let it swim horizontally to see if there was anything interesting. The electric eel''s eyes had already lost its use completely now, so it could only depend on the discharge to sense the environment. However, if it intended to stay in the deep waters for long, it couldn''t use high discharge to sense the environment as the eel''s discharge tissues would get exhausted quickly if used over long period. After swimming aimlessly for half an hour, Chen Fab couldn''t take it anymore. It wasn''t because the electric eel could not withstand the water pressure in this area, but because the search efficiency of the eel was simply too lousy! The electric eel could only sense a range of around 110 meters, but the probability of finding a target in this vast ocean with this 110 meter range was even smaller than bumping into a beauty on the streets. A ray of bluish-white light flowed from the electric eel''s body. The round-shaped power-ball traveled straight out with the seawater for more than 1,000 meters before dying off completely. After pondering for a long while, Chen Fan decided to use another search method. The method was to let the electric eel release a high-pressure light ball every 1,000 meter. Although this would shorten the time of the eel in the water, it could search within a range of more than twenty kilometers within the time that the discharge was almost used up. 117 The Deep Sea Hun At about a distance of a thousand meters, the electric eel gave out an instantaneous discharge like underwater sonar that sounded like a bang every one thousand meters that it swam. But the high efficiency came at a high cost, and after half an hour, Chen Fan felt the intense fatigue that came from the electric eel. The endless ocean was always so heartbreaking, and in half an hour the electric eel''s only prey were several ugly white fish. "There seems to be a long battle to be prepared!" Chen Fan sighed, ready to rise to the surface to rest. All of a sudden... Swish! A large shadow rapidly dashed at the end of the low voltage the electric eel used to probe the environment. Kill it! Chen Fan shouted in his heart and quickly controlled the electric eel to hold the spear in its front claws and chased after it in the direction of the shadow. The shadow moved too fast. The electric eel turned around to find it but there was no trace of the shadow in the electromagnetic induction. Boom... The bluish-white voltage crazily spread within the scope of the electro-optical. Like a knight in black armor, it was an exotic fish with two black eyes bigger than a tub, that was exposed to the eel''s induction range. The fish was about 17 meters long, and its mouth bared 12 pointed teeth. There was no doubt that it could bite any living thing. "Not a ghost jellyfish?" Chen Fan was blindly excited just now. The eel had released so much electromagnetic induction that it was so exhausted to the point that Chen Fan could not even keep track of the strange fish. He just wanted to get to the water surface to rest. However, as the eel was about to turn away, the Blackfish, which had been affected by the voltage, turned on its tail and exposed the electric eel to its gleaming teeth. "I see you are a lobster, and there is sh*t in your skull!" Chen Fan cursed. The more than 60-meter-long monster, was unexpectedly provoked by a ten-meter-long, little guy. That was intolerable! Once again, from the electric eel''s body, an electric current of more than five thousand volts was released, and Chen Fan intended to give it a little punishment. Crack! The fish, which was a hundred meters away from the electric eel, was electrified, and without a word, it opened its enormous mouth with the intent to bite into the electric eel. It was unrealistic to use the electric discharge to kill the exotic fish because the electric eel was so tired at that point. But it didn''t mean that the electric eel had no other means of attack. In the blink of an eye, the fish that was a hundred meters away was about to bite the belly of the electric eel. All of a sudden, a long, metallic spear pierced the water, piercing the fish''s belly with a flash of lightning, and then a thick, bloody smell came out of the fish''s back. Rumbling The Blackfish, pierced by a spear, had the greatest struggle of its life, and the electric eel nearly let it off. It took not even seven to eight seconds for the exotic fish to stop struggling. Only the horrible mouth opened and closed, indicating that its life was not over. "That is the end of being in a rush!" Shaking its head with a sigh, the electric eel swam to the shallow area with the bloody blackfish. Reaching the eight hundred-meter deep ravine, the electric eel was too tired to even move. It found a place on the flat sea floor to lay down, then placed the spear far out, leaving the vicious fish to eat the other fish. ... After seven to eight hours of rest, Chen Fan woke up. The strange fish on the pike had been eaten up, leaving an empty skeleton hanging on it. After shaking off the skeleton, the hungry electric eel found a few sharks to fill its stomach. It once again plunged into the deep sea, and continued to start its own hunting trip. This time, the electric eel went a little deeper and began to search for the whereabouts of the ghost jellyfish in the water at a depth of 2200 meters. At 2200 meters, this depth had shut out 95 percent of the species in the ocean. The large creatures that can survive here would be the dominant presence if put into the shallow sea. The eel swam fast and aimlessly and at every kilometer it released a voltage wave that was up to ten thousand volts. Cold and pressure consumed the electric eel''s body. Although the deep ocean temperatures were usually at most, two degrees below zero, it would still freeze the electric eel. After a few miles of searching, he found a lot of odd-looking creatures, but there was no sign of the ghost jellyfish. Clenching his teeth, Chen Fan controlled the electric eel to dive down to a depth of 2,500 meters so that it could reach a range of six hundred meters in both the upper and lower levels. ... After a few minutes of swimming, the electric eel gained nothing even after it released electricity six times. "Are they even more rare than giant pandas?" Chen Fan was frustrated. It was not long after he had the thought... At the depth of 300 meters below, Chen Fan''s whole heart was occupied by a feeling of "excitement." It was difficult to describe the visual impact this creature had on Chen Fan! This jellyfish was seven meters in diameter. He couldn''t see the mouth and eyes on its surface. It was as though it was brushed with a layer of lubrication; slimy, satiny and greasy. On the lower part of the jellyfish, hung countless white whiskers. Every one of them were only as thick as a thumb, but each one could reach more than 60 meters in length. What was the concept of more than 60 meters? Chen Fan had never seen anything this long other than the electric eel. It was not a myth that the arctic glow jellyfish has tentacles that can reach up to more than 70 meters! The Ghost jellyfish name comes from its tentacles. The umbrella body can reach 10 meters in diameter and under the strong umbrella body are numerous tentacles that look like hair. The jellyfish looks like a big head with long white hair and that is why the jellyfish are called ghosts. In contrast to what Wang Xingyu said, Chen Fan found no difference between the two. "The ghostly jellyfish..." Chen Fan was so excited that he could not control himself. After a week of effort, he finally saw the reward. Swiftly the electric eel with several oscillations darted to the top of the ghost hair jellyfish. This ghostly jellyfish felt just a slight tremor from the voltage sweep, but it was calm again and continued its slow journey. At a safe distance of 120 meters above the head of the jellyfish, the electric eel took a deep breath, then with a bang, unleashed the maximum power current. When 10,800 volts of electric current was transmitted too far, up to 120 meters, it lost some of the power of its voltage, reducing it to 6,000 volts. Six thousand volts, however, was more than enough to electrify and paralyze the blackfish he met in the morning. However, to Chen Fan''s wonder, the ghost hair jellyfish''s countless tentacles violently shook twice, then it increased its speed and fled to the deep sea. What was this concept? It was about three times more powerful than the blackfish that was about a dozen meters long. Chase! Chen Fan could only think to control the electric eel with the spear, and continue to release the maximum power voltage while swimming quickly to the location of the ghost jellyfish. The ghostly jellyfish might also have sensed the impending disaster, and quickly fluttered its tentacles and rapidly pushed itself toward the deep sea. Its speed was about 50 meters per second, and the electric eel''s speed was about 60 meters per second under the enormous water pressure of the deep sea. After tracking for two hundred meters, the pressure of the surrounding water was increasing. But also, after the huge voltage attack, the ghost jellyfish''s speed was significantly reduced. Sensing in his mind that he was closer to the ghost jellyfish, Chen Fan was very anxious. The eel had reached the depth of 2,800 meters, and the distance from the ghost jellyfish was still a hundred meters away. It took less than eight seconds to find the jellyfish and to trace it to the 2,800-meter sea depth. When the eel finally brought the distance closer to 60 meters, the ghost jellyfish had also lost its energy, like an old man that was about to die struggling. The electric eel was also definitely not in a favorable condition at this time, not to mention the effect that the release of the high strength voltage had on it. The sheer pressure of the 2,900 meters made the electric eel''s bones crackle as if there was a possibility of them breaking. "Heiya!" The electric eel burst out loud, and with the front claws, held onto the spear and wiggled its body and then pierced the spear towards the jellyfish. Maybe it was because it was busy trying to flee. Maybe it was also because of the numbness caused by the electricity that when the one-meter thick spear pierced its body, the ghost jellyfish didn''t drastically rebel. Due to the differences in physiological structure, there was almost no presence of any organs under the umbrella, which can effectively reduce the puncture injury to the lowest level of severity. But Chen Fan''s assassin''s mace, of course, was not the piercing of the jellyfish with a spear, but the use of an alloy lance as a conductor to transmit the powerful voltage through the spear directly to the ghost jellyfish''s body. When the spear pierced through the umbrella of the jellyfish, it was as if the surface of the jellyfish had been pierced by a burning fork that was a little burned and spread to the spear like a virus. The electric eel captured this ideal moment, and immediately pierced the spear deeper and gave out a deadly voltage. Although the spear mixed with titanium alloy would reduce the conductivity, the deep voltage that pierced through the jellyfish''s body had a strong effect on it. Even the 60-meter-long tentacles had no more might left. In just two seconds, the ghost jellyfish finally stopped moving. It resembled a limp cloth hung on a long thick agnail spear. As soon as the electric eel got its prey, it dragged its spear to the shallow area. The electric eel would probably have been crushed by the immense water pressure if it were to stay any longer. Wheezing After a minute, it arrived at the shallow water. The electric eel was exhausted and laid on the seabed that was eight hundred meters deep. 118 The Huge Ghost Hair Jellyfish After resting for half an hour so the electric eel could recover its strength, Chen Fan glanced at the ghost jellyfish head hanging on the pike. Having heard that it was as poisonous as the Australian box jellyfish, Chen Fan felt that he had better be careful and not let the electric eel touch it. He controlled the eel to use the pike it was holding to first carefully pierce a few holes on the surface of the jellyfish''s umbrella-shaped body and let the egg white-colored fluid that was inside, flow out. Like most other jellyfishes, the body of the ghost hair jellyfish was made up of mostly fluid and two mesoderms; one on the inside and one outside. Therefore, it didn''t require much effort to take out the poison sac. After waiting for the jellyfish''s umbrella-shaped body to completely dry up from using electromagnetic induction, the electric eel then used the pike to tease the thick, greasy mesoderm. It found the grayish-green, half-meter wide poison sac, and hooked it out carefully with the pike. It was a watery, jelly-like ball with a smooth surface, similar to an elastic rubber ball filled with water. However, Chen Fan was a little troubled over how to handle the poison sac. He couldn''t possibly let the electric eel bring it along. After hesitating for a few seconds, Chen Fan controlled the eel to the nearby sediment and dug a one-meter deep hole. Thereafter, it used the pike which still had the jellyfish mesoderm on it to push the poison sac into the hole before filling it up again. Phew! Chen Fan heaved a sigh of relief. Then, he settled the electric eel down before retrieving his thoughts to his own body. Shortly after lunch, Chen Fan received a call from Xia Qingqing, informing him that the various systems of the ship had been tested, and he could get someone to drive it away. The crewmen with whom Wang Bing sourced from the major labor markets and intermediary companies had signed a one-year contract and submitted their records to the maritime bureau. With the help of Zhongtian Shipyard''s sales and public relations officer, the large 12,000-ton bulk cargo carrier was finally in Chen Fan''s name after he completed all the registration procedures. Chen Fan fitted the ship with the necessary navigation equipment before dialing Ma Rongtao''s number again. Ma Rongtao did not decline when he received Chen Fan''s call but quickly helped him link up an order for coal transportation to Australia. After expressing his gratitude, Chen Fan hung up the phone. He decided that he would prepare an expensive gift for Ma Rongtao during the next festive occasion. Reciprocity was a traditional virtue of the Chinese, and also a good bridge of communication between people. After linking up the deal, Chen Fan got Wang Bing onto the cargo ship to be in charge of the route to Australia even though it was beyond his ability. He had no other choice since Yiteng Yun and Yu Lin were still out at sea, and Zhang Lele and her accounting classmate were in charge of financial matters. Chen Fan couldn''t find anyone who he could trust, so he would only let Wang Bing bite the bullet. ... "It has been five months!" Looking at the painting-like lake outside the window, Chen Fan exclaimed as he breathed in the fresh air. After moving around for a while, Chen Fan shifted his thoughts onto the electric eel again. For the past few days, the eel dove into the deep sea no less than ten times and only caught two small jellyfishes with a diameter of four meters and five meters respectively. Diving into the sea at 2,500 meters deep at one go, the electric eel took another breath before embarking on its hunting journey with enthusiasm. After the previous three experiences of successful hunting, Chen Fan had somehow figured out the ghost hair jellyfish''s activity patterns. The ghost hair jellyfish mainly fed on deep sea plankton and fish seeds. He only needed to find where large groups of plankton gathered and then let the electric eel wait patiently nearby. Needless to say, this also depended on luck. The electric eel was unable to stay too long in extremely deep seawater, so whether it was able to wait until the ghost hair jellyfish came for its food depended entirely on Chen Fan''s luck. Luck seemed to be on Chen Fan''s side today. After moving around for seven to eight minutes at a depth of 2,300 meters, the eel found a school of white fish seeds. There was an enormous amount of these peanut-size fish seeds that stretched over a 500-meter long and 200 meter wide area. Clustered closely together, they numbered in the hundreds of millions, like sperm. After finding the spot to sit and wait, the rest depended on heaven''s will. Chen Fan controlled the eel to swim at a range of 100 meters around the fish seeds as it released low electric waves to sense the environment. After monitoring for more than ten minutes, there was no ghost hair jellyfish but only the many fish that wanted to get their share. Chen Fan couldn''t be bothered with them and let these uninvited guests fight over the fish seeds. After waiting for another five minutes, Chen Fan''s heart suddenly beat faster! An enormous shadow suddenly appeared in the electromagnetic induction. Although he already had three experiences with catching ghost hair jellyfish, Chen Fan still couldn''t help but feel excited. This ghost hair jellyfish''s umbrella-shaped body alone was thirteen meters in diameter, and Chen Fan was unable to sense how long the numerous tentacles behind it were. The discharge that the eel transmitted to the ghost hair jellyfish was only 110 volts, which didn''t alert it at all. The jellyfish swam quickly to the center of the fish seeds before spreading out the greasy mesoderm above its tentacles, wrapping the numerous "fillings" like a dumpling. "God bless me!" Chen Fan prayed in silence before controlling the eel to go near the ghost hair jellyfish. The jellyfish''s tentacles were around ninety meters long, dancing wantonly like a fan being used by a white-haired girl. When the electric eel was one hundred meters away from the ghost hair jellyfish, the jellyfish, which was in the center of the fish seeds, probably discovered the terrifying huge creature. Its greasy mesoderm stopped contracting and its numerous white tentacles pointed to the front, like numerous fingers looking at the electric eel. At that moment, the electric eel also stopped moving. The jellyfish''s greasy mesoderm resistance to electricity was too high. It had to be ripped through by the pike first before it could be dealt with a fatal blow. According to the ghost hair jellyfish''s dielectric data from the previous few times, this huge ghost hair jellyfish was likely to maintain its fighting strength under a 10,000-volt discharge. The two were 100 meters apart and its tentacles were ninety meters long, but the pike was only thirty meters. Chen Fan analyzed the situation and then decided to take the risk by implementing a long-range attack on it. At that moment, the electric eel paused for a mere two seconds before suddenly dashing toward the ghost hair jellyfish at full speed. Bang! Just when the jellyfish wanted to entwine its tentacles around the eel, a bluish-white light suddenly burst in the dark seawater. The huge impact caused the jellyfish to pause its tentacles momentarily, and before it could react, a sharp pike flew out at the speed of lightning from the eel''s front claw. After throwing the pike with a strong accelerated force, the electric eel immediately lifted up its head to avoid the jellyfish''s tentacles, and dashed upward. We cannot use human intelligence to measure animals. Seeing the fast approaching pike, the huge ghost hair jellyfish didn''t move its body at all but moved its thumb-size tentacles forward to bind it. How heavy was the pike? It was a full forty tons. Due to the deep sea pressure, the speed of the pike thrown out by the eel was greatly reduced. However, the better the quality of an object, the higher the inertia. The huge inertia brought along by the forty-ton pike was definitely not what the weak tentacles of the jellyfish could stop. The huge pike went right into the jellyfish''s body, like a metal skewer piercing through a water bag, and egg-white colored fluid gushed out as though from a high-pressure hydraulic pump. Chen Fan roared out at his successful strike, and the bluish-white ray continued without any interruption. It looked as if colored dye was poured into the sea. Although this ghost hair jellyfish was much bigger, its behavior was exactly the same as the previous jellyfish he caught. After being dealt the fatal blow, it gave up resisting right away and swam quickly toward the deep sea with the weight of the pike forcing the acceleration. Chen Fan had expected this to happen. The electric eel outflanked below the jellyfish as it continued releasing discharge. One was escaping with serious injury and the other was well-prepared. While chasing downward, the electric eel maintained a distance of 100 meters throughout to allow the strong discharge to attack. 2,300 meters 2,500 meters 2,700 meters Finally, at 2,800 meters, the tentacles of the jellyfish hung limply, letting the force of the pike bring it in a downward fall. Enduring the huge water pressure, the electric eel increased its speed and rushed to the bottom of the jellyfish, moving its claws toward the pike. After grabbing hold of the pike, the eel quickly made a turn and ascended toward the shallow waters. At 2,000 meters, the electric eel could no longer maintain the strong discharge and had to reduce it to 800 volts. However, after swimming for less than two seconds, something that scared Chen Fan out of his wits happened. Unable to withstand the strong discharge, the drooping tentacles of the already motionless jellyfish suddenly started moving slowly again. "Ah" Chen Fan tensed up, and a chill ran down his spine. The electric eel could no longer maintain 10,000 volts of discharge and could only make do with 3,000 volts. It dashed toward the shallow waters with all its might, hoping that the imbalance in the pressures inside the jellyfish''s body and that of the shallow waters would accelerate discharge of the jellyfish''s body fluid. Under the electric eel''s horrified gaze, one of the numerous tentacles of the ghost hair jellyfish suddenly shot toward the eel. They were only thirty meters apart. The eel had just let go of the pike and escaped when the shooting tentacle caught up with it and stabbed it into the eel''s tail. "Fight it out" Under tremendous pain, the electric eel grabbed the pike again and dashed toward the water surface. It was probably a momentary recovery for the jellyfish just before its death. When the electric eel dashed up to 1,000 meters, the tentacle of the jellyfish could not raise up any further. However, the electric eel definitely was not feeling good. The area on its tail that was stabbed felt as if sulfuric acid had been poured on it, and excruciating pain shot to the eel''s brain through its neural stem cells. After reaching the seabed at 800 meters, the electric eel quickly threw away the pike without even taking a glance at the jellyfish, and shifted the electromagnetic induction to the area that was stabbed. Under the electron microscope-like induction, the surrounding tissues of the thumb-size wound had totally lost its feel, and was still spreading. "Ah" Enduring the pain, the electric eel kept pressing the electroplaques on both sides to release a 300 volt discharge, and constantly licking the bowl-size necrotic area. 119 Son, Do You Have A Girlfriend? Whether it was a virus or a cell, there was a limit to its ability to withstand voltage. The visible current burned the cells for about 20 seconds, and the poison that worked its way into these cells stopped spreading and the cells regained their red color. The cell tissue of the electric eel had a much stronger resistance to electricity than the virus cells. Although the tissue had been ravaged by the electricity, it had not experienced complete necrosis, and it could be recovered in two days. After waiting for a few minutes, the pain in the electric eel''s wound stopped, and Chen Fan took a long sigh. The only thing that can be said was that Chen Fan was lucky. This ghost hair jellyfish only attacked it with one of its tentacles. What if it attacked with all of its tentacles? The electric eel would have been stiffened and dead in just two seconds. After laying for more than half an hour on the beach, Chen Fan looked again at the culprit. What was the concept of a 90-meter tentacle? Chen Fan had always thought that the electric eel was the longest animal in the world, but there was an animal that was bigger than the electric eel! Although strictly speaking, this guy was it. It was not possible to find the world''s longest animal, but if the length of other animals were to compare to the jellyfish''s tentacles, no creature on earth could compete with it. After Chen Fan controlled the electric eel to pick up the spear and pick through the germ layer, the jellyfish''s poison sac was taken out. Chen Fan was completely shocked. The largest poison sac was only 50 centimeters in diameter, but this creature''s poison sac in front of him was unexpectedly large. It was one meter in diameter and had a silver surface, rather than grayish-green. The bigger the poison sac, the smaller it becomes... Chen Fan thought of the white-robed man in Myanmar who gave him the poison capsule. Would this one-meter diameter poison sac become the size of a peanut after it shrinks? Chen Fan was filled with malicious thoughts. After he carefully buried the poison sac, Chen Fan controlled the electric eel to find a relatively distant place to rest to prevent the fluid from the jellyfish from contaminating the it. Pulling back his mind, Chen Fan came to the balcony to move and exercise because it''s not healthy to always lie down. He needed some sunlight and fresh air! The sunlight was warm and bright but not dazzling. Chen Fan did a few stretching exercises, then violently stretched his neck and erupted a crackling sound. Suddenly, Chen Fan''s head stopped and his eyes looked straight but it wasn''t because he moved too much and his cervical vertebra was broken! But... Upon the balcony of the White House villa on the left-hand side, Chen Fan saw Wu Ruoyu who was wearing a pure white, close-fitting sports outfit. She sat on a blue yoga mat with both of her slender, fair legs split into one hundred and eighty degrees, with her body bent forward as her forehead gently touched the ground. "Qigong? Dance? Yoga?"Chen Fan''s eyes opened wide and stared. Most women are very sexy when they split, because their waist and hip curves were obvious, including the curvature of the lower leg, which was very attractive to a man''s senses. What kind of beauty is it to have a tall and delicate girl do a split? What''s more, the young girl also had the beautiful and gentle features of the west and east on her charming face. Not only that, but after a few movements, Wu Ruoyu slowly rose up, her body tilted slightly forward, with her left toe raised, as she stretched back and rose to the position of her hips. Then Wu Ruoyu''s hand stretched behind across her neck to where she held onto her toes, and then bent into a beautiful arc. Chen Fan felt that the blood in his body seemed to be filled with a high concentration of gasoline. Then he felt flames as though he struck a match and lit the blood. "If only she could be my wife!" Chen Fan muttered to himself. Actually, the thought that Chen Fan had, had nothing to do with perversion. There was a string of explicit codes which was a natural phenomenon of human beings in the evolution of natural law selection that was deeply imprinted in the male. The analogy was when a lioness seeks a mate and chooses the strongest of all to ensure that the next generation is strong enough. Similarly, when a human male chooses a mate, he chooses the prettiest and most perfect one to mate with so that his offspring can inherit a better gene. Therefore, when Chen Fan''s sight fell on the hips and chest of Wu Ruoyu, he felt that he was not able to move his eyes. When Chen Fan looked at her with a burning look, Wu Ruoyu had noticed it immediately. "Hello!" Chen Fan simply put out his right hand and waved, and said hello in Pidgin English. "You..." She hurriedly put down her toes, pulled up the blue blanket on the floor, and put a hand on her cheek and went into the house. Although she inherited the appearance of the westerners, she still embraced the Oriental''s grace. "The balcony is really a good place to edify sentiment!" Suppressing the heat in his heart, Chen Fan shook his head sadly and then went to his house too. ... After walking downstairs, Chen Fan washed his face and moved his mind on to the electric eel. After an hour or two of rest, the electric eel had recovered enough strength to enable him to go dive again and check his luck. As usual, he would dive to 2,500 meters, and then find the plankton-like creature. However, this time Chen Fan''s luck was bad, he did not see even the shadow of the ghost hair jellyfish. The electric eel really couldn''t bear the cold and pressure anymore. After he continued to search for another few minutes, the electric eel had to go home empty-handed. After finding a few sharks to fill its stomach, Chen Fan was ready to let the electric eel dive again, and the phone rang. "Who is it?" Chen Fan opened his eyes, touched the phone and pressed the answer button. "Brother, I am Zhang Xueyang!" "Oh, it''s you. What''s the matter?" "Has your ship been to Japan lately? I would like to invite you to transport some machine tools. This time the machine tools are a bit big, so I will give you a 50% increase in price." "Japan?" Chen Fan sat up and leaned on the head of the bed. "I have no free time these days unless you can wait for another ten days!" "No problem. Just call me when you''re free." "Sure!" Chen Fan agreed and then hung up the phone. He would just wait for the electric eel to come back, pass through Japan, then bring the machine tools back on the way. He could earn some money with this. As he was about to shift his mind when the phone rang again. The number was his father''s, Chen Fan pressed the answer key immediately. "What is it, dad? "Erm" his father was dragging his tone, making Chen Fan anxious. "Are you dating anyone now?" "Girlfriend? Chen Fan was a little surprised. "No, why?" "Is it real?" "Of course, I would not get a free girlfriend by cheating you!" "Why do you to ask this?" "Well..." Chen Fan''s father dragged his tone again and after two seconds, he said, "When I visited Yunnan Wenshan with your Mom, we met a Miao girl selling products from the mountain. She only had a grandfather and led a very poor life." "And then?" Chen Fan asked quickly. "And then... And then... " "Let me say!" Mrs. Chen grabbed the phone and opened the speaker. "She was a 16-year old, young girl, squatting alone on the street every day selling specialty products from the mountain. Your dad and I felt sorry for her and bought all her stuff. Then we told her that we were going to stay there for a week, and if she had any more products from the mountains that she wants to sell she could deliver it directly to our hotel." "She is also an exquisite and brilliant little girl, maybe knowing that we are trying to help her, so she brings in mountain products that cost only twenty or thirty per day." "Then after chatting with her, I learned that she only has an old grandpa at home. These mountain products were picked by her in the mountains every day, just to raise some money to buy her grandpa some nutritious food." "Then when we went out to travel, we asked her to be our tour guide and took her to the restaurant for a proper meal on purpose. Just three days ago, she had not come to meet us for two days. Your father and I felt that we couldn''t abandon her alone, so we went to the old houses nearby and asked for her address. When we got to the shabby house on the hill, we found her collapsed on the ground. It turned out that her old grandfather had died and she fainted out of grief." At this point, Chen Fan''s mother''s voice was a little choked up. "Her family is poor and she is only left with about ten RMB and that was from the money we gave her. And then I asked your dad to pay for her grandfather''s funeral." "We asked her last night her future plan was. And she just cried and couldn''t speak." "I talked to your father last night, and I thought that the girl was pretty...a filial granddaughter, and a good choice to be a daughter-in-law." "The next day, we asked her if she would want to be our son''s wife." "Thenwhat ?" Chen Fan''s mouth was dry, and his voice was stammering. "Then your dad and I talked to her about this for some time, and she finally agreed!" "Son, listen to me!" Chen Fan''s mother was afraid that Chen Fan might blame her for deciding this without his opinion, so she hurriedly added, "This girl''s ethnic nationality is Miao and she has a sweet voice and beautiful skin. She is obedient and sensible...much better than the barbaric city girls!" "Well? Son, do you agree?" Chen Fan''s mother was like a big gray wolf, step by step she lured Chen Fan into the abyss. "A... Agree... Agree... " 120 The Hideout in the Deep Sea "Your father and I had wanted her to be our goddaughter. The young lady has no relatives in this world, and she is really pitiful!" Chen Fan''s mother sighed. "You can look at the situation after we get back. You can slowly cultivate feelings if you feel that she''s suitable. Otherwise, you can just treat her as a sister." "Um, I got it!" Chen Fan nodded and hung up the phone. He wouldn''t object to his parents bringing a pretty young lady back. In fact, it wouldn''t be of any use even if he had objected, as his parents would still bring the girl back. He only had the choice of not marrying her, but not the right to refuse her in the house. Needless to say, Chen Fan also had the same thinking as his parents. It wouldn''t be such a bad idea if he developed feelings for her, otherwise he would just have a god sister! Anyway, the girl was only seventeen, and had a few years of "probation". Not only was he not affected in terms of chasing girls but he also had another potential one in the making. "Stop it, you''re evil!" Shaking off his unhealthy thoughts, Chen Fan shifted his thoughts over. As of now, the electric eel had caught a total of four jellyfishes, but the three big and one small poison sacs had not yet been sun-dried and were still watery. Diving to a depth of 2,500 meters at one go, the electric eel continued with its hunting journey. Bang Bang The electric eel released a beam of high-pressure discharge every minute. It was quite lucky this time. After searching for six minutes, the eel sensed that there was a huge group of plankton near the cliff 300 meters below. The electric eel''s limit was now 3,000 meters. It could only stay there for around fifteen minutes, whereas it could stay for half an hour at 2,800 meters. After some thinking, Chen Fan decided to let the electric eel go down and try its luck. There were really too few groups of plankton in the deep sea. Instead of abandoning it to find another one, it would be better to stay behind this group. Chen Fan exclaimed how lucky he was because only after two minutes, a ghost hair jellyfish entered the eel''s induction range. Moreover, the diameter of the jellyfish''s body was fifteen meters long which was two meters longer that the previous one. At that moment, Chen Fan had mixed feelings of hope and fear. Chen Fan had a very deep impression of how nasty the previous jellyfish was. Therefore, to kill this one without getting the eel get injured was probably harder than getting ten heads from throwing a coin ten times. Nevertheless, Chen Fan still wanted to give it a fight no matter how slim his chances were. At the most he would just get the eel to escape if the situation went wrong. After swallowing his saliva and slowly moving the eel''s tail, he swam 200 meters away from the jellyfish. Chen Fan decided to let the eel use an accelerating distance of 100 meters to produce a strong inertia to rip through the jellyfish with the pike. The electric eel''s maximum speed at this depth was around thirty nautical miles, which meant that it could move thirty meters per second. The electric eel only took three seconds to cover the 100-meter distance. Whoosh! A sharp pike flew like an arrow toward the ghost hair jellyfish. Like the previous time, the ghost hair jellyfish moved its tentacles toward the pike when it sensed it shooting toward it. The ghost hair jellyfish was ripped through like a candied haw on a stick by the pike. The thing that frustrated Chen Fan was, although the jellyfish had been ripped through like a candied haw and also tortured by a 10,000-volt discharge, it was still displaying its cockroach like vitality, diving toward the bottom of the sea with the pike. "My god, can you show me something new? You can go to the left, to the right or to the top. Why do you have to escape to the bottom every time?" At this point, Chen Fan could only brace himself and fight to the end with the jellyfish. "If you can survive till 3,300 meters, I''ll just forsake the pike at the most!" Maintaining a distance of 100 meters from the jellyfish, Chen Fan kept praying for it to die quickly. After chasing for 2,900 meters, which was 100 meters more than the previous time, the jellyfish suddenly moved vigorously and then stopped diving downward, forming an arc toward its left. "I like you this way!" Chen Fan rejoiced secretly. His chances increased if he was able to buy time. The speed of the ghost hair jellyfish gradually became slower. When it was finally close to the deep sea cliff, it could only move its tentacles weakly and then let them hang freely. 3,000 meters 3,100 meters Just when Chen Fan almost gave up hope, the ghost hair jellyfish landed on a huge protruding rock. Chen Fan suddenly stopped at a depth of 3,000 meters and stared with his eyes wide open. It wasn''t because the electric eel was crushing under the water pressure. Actually, in fact, the eel could still hold on for another ten minutes and wait for the jellyfish to die before striking. Chen Fan saw that on the left of the huge rock where the jellyfish was at, was a dark round hole with a diameter of at least thirty meters. However, the huge hole was not the thing that shocked Chen Fan the most. This kind of hole was rare underwater, but could still be found with some effort. The thing that really shocked Chen Fan was that a few seconds after the jellyfish landed, four small ghost hair jellyfish with a diameter not more than two meters slipped out from the hole and surrounded the ripped jellyfish, going around it non-stop. Judging from the way the electric eel extended itself inside the hole for 300 meters, the wall thickness of the hole was around 100 meters, and it was a humongous space inside. Due to the distance, the electric eel could not detect exactly how big it was inside. However, sensing from the tentacle of a ghost hair jellyfish that flashed past, it could be deduced that the size of the hole was definitely beyond imagination. The ghost hair jellyfish hideout? Chen Fan was totally shocked! It was difficult to describe how Chen Fan felt at that moment. It was like a beggar who had suffered and begged for over twenty years discovering a mountain of gold out of the blue. How did it feel like to work hard every day and beg for a few dollars? What about the feeling of suddenly discovering a huge mountain of gold? The few small ghost hair jellyfishes only came out for a breather, but got forced back into the hole by the strong surrounding discharge, leaving the huge creature behind. Suppressing his intense ecstasy, Chen Fan planned to control the electric eel to grab a few big rocks and throw them at the jellyfish, not caring whether it was dead or not. After swimming upward, the electric eel searched for three to four minutes before grabbing a huge two-meter rock from the cliff with much effort. Holding the rock tightly with its two front claws, the electric eel started to increase speed at 2,700 meters. Swoosh! The electric eel dashed downward like lightning at a speed of over thirty meters per second. "Ah" At 3,000 meters, the eel suddenly raised its head and awkwardly changed the flow of its body. Brought about by the inertia, the eel did a big U-shape after slipping downward for 100 meters, not daring to let go of the rock, and dashed up again at a speed of 30 meters per second. The second before the electric eel came to a stop, numerous white tentacles which were as thick as arms shot over from below. Two minutes later, the eel threw away the rock and laid beside the trench at 800 meters deep, breathing heavily. Chen Fan was extremely frustrated. Who would have expected that during such a short time of finding the rock, two huge terrifying creatures with twenty-meter long umbrella-shaped bodies would appear beside the ripped ghost hair jellyfish. If the electric eel''s reaction had been a second slower, this Tonga Trench trip would likely have be the last for Chen Fan and the electric eel avatar! Two twenty-meter ghost hair jellyfish Chen Fan trembled at the thought of it. How many ghost hair jellyfish were hiding inside the hole? Nonetheless, the endless danger inside the hole also implied endless opportunities! What did getting all the jellyfish inside the hole imply? It implied that the strength of the electric eel would experience geometric growth. "Oh heaven" Chen Fan cried. "You threw me a huge bait, and then placed it in magma" 121 The Success Of The War Now that he had found the nest of the ghost hair jellyfish, the essential thing Chen Fan felt like doing now was to rush in and kill all of them! However, it was only a mischievous thought. Chen Fan was not going to do that "Seven Benevolences by Wen Zi'' said,"Do not drain the pond to fish, do not burn the forest to hunt." Of course, Chen Fan understood the meaning of this sentence which meant promote sustainable development and be far-sighted. Chen Fan was ready to make this cave his long-term future goal. He would take three months for a small hunt, and ten months for a large hunt, slowly making the electric eel stronger. After resting for more than an hour, the electric eel took a deep breath and headed down into the trench. This time, Chen Fan''s goal was to dive to the large rock near the cave. The main reason for this dive was to retrieve his alloy spear that was still on the rock! Ten minutes later, the electric eel carefully reached the depth of three thousand meters, then slowly adjusted its voltage output to three thousand volts and was prepared to slip away anytime. What made Chen Fan happy and disappointed at the same time was that the horizontal spear was still intact on the rock. But the ghost hair jellyfish had disappeared, according to the trace the spear made as it was moved. It must have been the other ghost hair jellyfish that came and dragged the dead ghost hair jellyfish back to their cave. Extending the voltage to six thousand volts, Chen Fan found no traces of the jellyfish in the 100-meter circumference around the cave. Boom... The electric eel had become very gutsy, and it increased the voltage power to the highest! The electromagnetic induction in his mind showed Chen Fan that there was still no sign of the jellyfish at the end of the released voltage. After two seconds of hesitation, the electric eel held its breath, and with several swings of its tail it dove to the huge rock, then grabbed its spear with its fore claws. Holding the spear pointing downwards, it swam close to the top of the cave. It was prepared to attack at any time. The electric eel again released a bluish white electricity from its body. Chen Fan was carefully trying to detect just how big the cave was. With a distance that close, the electric eel could detect at the depth of nearly 600 meters. The structure of the cave was strange. The top was about 300 meters above the floor, but it was just the height, excluding the features, that the electric eel could not detect. With the detection limitations, he could not detect the end of the cave. The cave was still sloping downward, which meant that the more it went down, the thicker the wall. Five hundred meters away, there was no sign of any ghost hair jellyfish. Chen Fan thought that the cave could only hold about a dozen ghost hair jellyfish, but now it seemed that this thought was too conservative. Including the young jellyfish, the one that was dead, and the two big ghost hair jellyfish with the big 20-meter diameter umbrella body and one hundred and thirty meter long white whiskers, they required at least a space of a thousand meter area for them to move freely. But now...? Within five hundred meters, there was no movement at all! What does this mean? This represents an increase of 500 meters and at least one kilometer in height! "The deeper the better, of course!" The bigger the cave, the more ghost hair jellyfish were living in it, and that meant the power of the electric eel could be increased. Floating at two to three hundred meters, the electric eel used its claws to hold the cliff of the cave and stood motionless. It used a voltage of 1,500 to detect the environment above the hole. Since the electric eel couldn''t go deep into the cave to hunt, it would just hide outside to wait for its prey. The electric eel could only spend 15 minutes at this location, then it had to float a few hundred meters above. The voltage used to detect was getting weaker. Chen Fan prayed that his prey would appear within 15 minutes. Seven minutes later, he was startled again and his jaw dropped! It was not a 20-meter ghost hair jellyfish that Chen Fan found difficult to deal with! But... From the bottom of the cave, came a creepie... monster. It was black, and from the middle of the forehead was a long, thin, red bar straight to the end of the terrifying fish. The monster was 26 or 27 meters long, with a duck beak-shaped mouth, a black thick cylindrical body with no scales, and a long thin tail that was one and a half times longer than its body that spun like a wheel. "What the hell is this?" Chen Fan couldn''t find any information about the creature in his mind. But his subconscious mind told him that if this creature could live in a cave with the ghost hair jellyfish then he believed that this fish had some special ability. Swish! This terrifying monster that looked like a huge elongated tadpole, lifted its tail above its head like a scorpion and motionlessly gazed at the electric eel. Animals have two kinds of posture when they encounter enemies: one is to run away, and one is to guard against. When they are on guard, they will display their most aggressive parts first. The serpent''s fangs, the tiger''s claws, the scorpion raises its poison sting...! There was no doubt that this monster''s tail was the most offensive tool of its kind and 10,000 percent that it was poisonous. Chen Fan muttered secretly in his heart. "You are not impulsive, then I am not impulsive too!" He did not want to provoke any creature that was poisonous. Who knows if it was like the ghost hair jellyfish that could rely on the thick greasy tissue to resist high voltage. After staring at each other for 30 seconds, the creature slowly lowered its tail and then swam out to the deep sea. The electric eel relaxed its grip on the spear! The deep-sea creature was a challenge to his comprehension. All kinds of extraordinary things always appeared. After encountering them so many times, Chen Fan even thought that if he saw the "goddess of the world" one day, he would be very uninspired to face her. However, it was not surprising that Chen Fan''s knowledge of Marine life was very poor. So far, 90 percent of the deep-sea species were waiting for the humans to name them; large and small. Just in the year 2006, a deep-sea detector from the United States found more than 100 new species in the process of diving to more than 6,000 meters depths. After a few minutes of waiting, the electric eel still had no trace of the jellyfish, and Chen Fan had to float to the shallow water. An hour later, he came back to the spot, and he had good fortune. After waiting for seven or eight minutes, an eight-meter ghost hair jellyfish came out of the cave. The electric eel finally caught the eight-meter-long ghost hair jellyfish, after a dozen minutes of stalking it. By the time it was ideal to attack with the spear, it killed the ghost hair jellyfish. ... After three days into Chen Fan''s stalking process, he felt that his comprehension had become more and more inadequate. At first, he thought the cave could be thousands of meters in size. But now it seems that even tens of thousands of meters was considered a conservative estimation. Of course, the tens of thousands of meters would not be the height, since the deepest part of the ocean is just over 10,000 meters. If counting the length and width, Chen Fan didn''t think this was an exaggeration. Just in stalking the past two days, he saw the ghost hair jellyfish five times. The electric eel killed three ghost hair jellyfish that were less than 12 meters in diameter, and left two of them that were too large and did not float high enough. Now that he had found the nest he would not have the risk involved in hunting them. Nine other times, he found other unrelated creatures that were found in two forms. All of them had greasy skin and were large and odd-looking. Two forms of fish appeared. The "scorpion fish" appeared five times, and was on average ten meters long. The other one was a blue striped fish that appeared four times. This big, blue-striped fish was by no means a good thing. There was an arc that grew out of its forehead like a horn that looked like a narwhal''s. Chen Fan would never have considered the five-meter hollow horn to be a result of osteoporosis. What does all this mean? It meant that this cave was a "one hundred percent", huge, self-contained ecosystem. In this ecosystem there was an unknown material and if not for this material there would not be that many weird looking, poisonous creatures. This was not surprising. There was a deep pool on the Canglong mountain in the suburb of Zhongyun city where there was a fish that was called "the pearl of the night", that had not been found in any part of the world. "The pearl of the night" was the size of the palm. Its body was completely transparent. With close observation, the skeleton could be seen, but not clearly. During the day, people couldn''t find traces of this fish at all. They could only spot it in the middle of the night by the dim light it released from its body. The fish had already been listed as a key conservation project three years ago by the endangered species protection association. In fact, not only in Zhongyun city in China were there many such deep pools, but they were also found in all parts of the country. Some unique species could more or less be found less frequently whereas finding the "pearl of the night" was more typical. The next day... After resting for a while, the electric eel cleaned up the seven-meter-diameter ghost hair jellyfish. He did not dive directly into the deep sea, but wandered around the shallow waters looking for a large fish''s trail. These days, the number of ghost-haired jellyfish had dwindled, and Chen Fan wondered if it was the same as the Javanese rhinoceros that lived in Indonesia, with fewer than 60 of them in the world. He waited at least half a day just to hunt this ghost hair jellyfish. Chen Fan had now killed ten of them, excluding the one that was lost, leaving nine of the poison sacs that were of different sizes. Judging by their sizes, the nine would at least double the eel''s power. Chen Fan decided to stop hunting and come back again after some time. Maybe he would be able to get into the cave and get a glimpse of it at that time. As for why he wanted to find a large fish''s trail? It was simple: the poisons were still watery, and it was the poison that prevented the scent from coming out. Chen Fan still thought that it was better to find a large fish skin to wrap them up in. Finding and capturing a large fish in the shallow sea would be like a little kid encountering a deep-sea monster. The electric eel was able to release tens of thousands of volts over the course of a dozen seconds which was strong enough to turn over an eleven-meter-long whale. Dealing with its hunger at the same time, it used its four claws to rip the skin for about half an hour, fortunately, he did not burn the skin when he attacked it with his high voltage. He carefully excavated the poison sac buried in the sand with the whale''s jaws and then put it inside the fish skin. The front claws held the nine ghost hair jellyfish''s poison sac wrapped in the fish skin. Feeling reluctant to leave, the electric eel wagged its tail and swam towards the Zhongyun city. 122 Identical Crew Cu A journey of approximately 5,000 nautical miles, whether it was to Tonga Trench or returning to Zhongyun, was neither a big nor small trip to the electric eel. After swimming day and night for five days, the electric eel arrived at the sea near Japan. Chen Fan retrieved his thoughts from the eel and then gave Zhang Xueyang a call, informing him that his ship had reached Japan and the delivery would be done according to the old rules. That evening, the electric eel brought along the three machine tools and continued with its journey. Previously, the eel needed around three days for a return trip to Japan. But now, even with a forty-ton pike, the eel only took two days to reach Zhongyun City. Since he now had an enclosed shipyard specially for loading and unloading goods, Chen Fan did not have to throw the machine tools on some beach anymore. At 4PM, Chen Fan drove to the seaside, opened the main gate of the shipyard and got the "submarine" out before putting the three machine tools in. After making a phone call asking Zhang Xueyang to send people to move the machine tools away, the electric eel moved the whale skin wrapped poison sacs of ghost hair jellyfish, and then dropped them into the sea. In nature, the poison sac of the ghost hair jellyfish had to float to the water''s surface and let sunlight shine on it for a some time before the poison inside would slowly neutralize and turn into the fragrant ghost moon incense, which would eventually attract large amounts of fish to fight over it. Squatting on the stairs, Chen Fan looked at the nine poison sacs floating on the water. The sizes of the nine poison sacs now were significantly smaller than when they had just been obtained, but they were still far from turning into crystals. As the shipyard was enclosed and the dome was laid with colorful steel tiles, the sunlight was unable to shine in. After thinking for a while, Chen Fan opened the main gate of the shipyard again and controlled the eel to swim in with the pike. The eel poked away four pieces of the colorful steel tiles at the top of the shipyard, allowing sunlight to shine onto the poison sacs. However, the shipyard was unlike the sea. Sunlight could only shine in for two hours during noontime, and this undoubtedly would increase the neutralizing time of the poison sacs. After pondering for a moment, Chen Fan shut the gate of the shipyard before driving to the hardware store and bought two sun lamps used for construction sites. Having the light sources were not enough, Chen Fan bought another two high-power fans, like those black fans commonly seen at gaming centers, to imitate sea breeze. After putting the two sun lamps on the back seat, Chen Fan removed the screws of the two fans and supporting bars and stuffed them into the trunk before getting into the driver''s seat. Back at the shipyard, Chen Fan set up the sun lamps on the stairs and plugged them in before placing the two assembled fans side by side on the stairs. He switched them to the maximum power and pointed them at the nine poison sacs. After observing for a while to make sure that everything was fine, Chen Fan locked the gate of the shipyard before getting into the car and drove toward the city. On his way, Chen Fan took out his mobile phone to check the time before calling Yiteng Yun and Yu Lin, instructing them to bring their men to Haitian Restaurant. Of course, Chen Fan wasn''t going there to create trouble. Last afternoon, his two 5,000 ton carriers had already returned to Zhongyun, and the men on both ships had worked hard for almost a month. Therefore, Chen Fan was planning to treat all the crewmen to a meal at the restaurant as a form of reward. Haitian Restaurant was a relatively reputable restaurant situated in the middle section of Shuangxian Road, and it was famous for its squirrel-shaped Mandarin fish. Needless to say, the dish was not made of squirrel and Mandarin fish, but just named after its shape. Chen Fan who drove a BMW was definitely much faster than the rest. Ten minutes later, Chen Fan walked into the main hall of the restaurant and asked at the reception counter if there was any large private dining room available. "Hello Sir, there''s a private room on the fifth floor which has not been reserved. May I know how many of you there are?" The receptionist at the counter stood up and smiled sweetly. Nowadays, it was okay if a restaurant did not have any good dishes, but it wouldn''t do if it didn''t have a pretty receptionist, otherwise it would look like it was a lower level than the others. "Thirty-nine including me!" It fits your requirement!" The receptionist held her ear mic and gave some instructions before handing a business card with gold hot stamping. "Sir, you can call to make a reservation in advance next time!" "Alright!" Chen Fan took over the business card and was led by the waitress to the private room on the fifth floor. The elevator stopped for a while on the second floor, and two strong youngsters walked in. One of them belched as he pressed the fourth floor button, whereas the other one stared straight at Chen Fan''s direction. Hmm, this fella''s taste doesn''t look too good! Chen Fan smacked his lips. The waitress beside him was just passable, but this guy couldn''t shift his eyes away. After reaching the fifth floor, Chen Fan was led by the waitress to the private room on the left. "You Dong? When did your taste become so unique? You''re interested in that kind?" In the elevator, the youngster who pressed the fourth floor button mocked his companion just then. "Interested my foot!" The youngster called You Dong shouted. "I was looking at the man beside her" ... The over 100-square meter private room was considerably luxurious, with an imitation wool carpet laid on the floor and a huge whale skull specimen hanging above the fireplace. The walls, the dining tables, and the crockery were all sunset red. "Excuse me Sir, would you like to order ala-carte dishes or take the set meal?" The waitress took out a menu, pen and paper from the cabinet at the side before walking to Chen Fan and bowed at him. "Let''s go with this set meal!" Chen Fan took a look and then chose three moderately-priced set meals. "Certainly, Sir. I''ll get the kitchen to prepare. Just inform us when all your guests are here!" The waitress smiled as she bowed, and then gently closed the room door. After waiting for the waitress to leave, Chen Fab leaned on the chair and shifted his thoughts to the electric eel. There were nine pieces of treasure in the shipyard, so he had to take a look now and then through the electric eel. It was completely dark at the seaside. Other than the light coming out from the top of the shipyard, there was nothing else suspicious. Looks like I gotta get a blanket to cover the top and wait for it to be sunny during the day before opening it! Chen Fan mumbled inside after observing for a while. After retrieving his thoughts and waiting for around twenty minutes, the door of the private room was opened from the outside. In a single file, a large group of men in their mid-twenties with bulging muscles and stiff expressions came in. They all had identical crew cuts and gave off an air of valiance. "Hello, boss!" The large group of people shouted in a loud and uniform voice when they saw Chen Fan sitting on the chair, like little soldiers seeing their officer. "All of you are here... quickly find yourselves a seat!" Chen Fan stood up from the chair and gestured to everyone not to block the entrance. These thirty-four tough-looking men were the employees on Chen Fan''s two cargo carriers, which included two captains and twenty-one crewmen. They were previously compulsory servicemen on warships for two years before being demobilized. Generally, serving on warships was quite beneficial to getting a job back home after demobilization. Bosses of ocean-going cargo ships were especially fond of hiring demobilized navy personnel. Not only did they have good qualities, but they could also pick up the various jobs on the ships fast. "Hello, boss!" After the group went in, Zhang Lele came in with a young lady in her early twenties and imitated the tone of the crewmen cheekily in front of Chen Fan. "Hello, hello." Chen Fan laughed. "Zhang Lele, you and Zhao Shujie are the only girls. You two go order your own drinks." "Oh, and also inform the waitress outside. Tell them to quickly serve the dishes!" "Yu Lin, Yiteng Yun, you two shall be in charge of one table each. Tell the crewmen to drink all they want!" Chen Fan patted the two on their shoulders. 123 Why Are You Drunk? "Alright, boss!" Yu Lin and Yi Tengyun nodded their heads and told the employees to get to their seats. A total of three tables were placed in the hall. Yu Lin led nine people to sit at a table, Yi Tengyun led another nine people to sit at a table, and Chen Fan led Zhang Lele and seven others to sit at a table. The waiters were very efficient, so it didn''t take long before all kinds of exquisite dishes were served, the favorites being those plates of golden yellow "squirrel-shaped Mandarin fish," which had been fried until it looked like a squirrel''s tail! The most particular things about this dish, besides its shape, were the knife skills and the control of heat that were required to prepare it. As such, only a few chefs dare attempt to create the fine cuisine. All the dishes were served on the table. The waiters then came in with three portions of marinade. One each came to a table and poured the reddish orange marinade on top of the fish. "Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle." A burst of tempting aroma, accompanied by sounds similar to squirrels'' chirping, truly awakened the anticipation of everybody''s taste buds. The golden yellow mandarin fish turned into a delicate red color immediately after the tomato marinade was poured onto it. Sour, sweet, fragrant, crunchy and tender were just a few of the adjectives that were flashing in the minds of those men seated around the table. "Eat it, while it''s hot!" Chen Fan shouted at the two tables next to him. He then took the lead, picking up a pair of chopsticks and diving into the squirrel-shaped Mandarin fish. When the boss spoke, everyone stopped hesitating and raised their chopsticks to joyfully attack the main dish that had just been placed at the center of the table. Including Chen Fan, there were a total of thirty-seven men, all of who were in their twenties, at the feast. So, to say that they each had appetites would be a gross understatement! With a few slight moves of their chopsticks, the three main mandarin fish dishes were left with only three bare fish heads on the plates! "Zhang Lele, tell the waiter to serve another two ''squirrel-shaped Mandarin fish'' on each table!" Chen Fan said to Zhang Lele, who was sipping on a beverage next to him. "Alright, boss!" Zhang Lele put down the cup in her hands and stood up. "Boss, cheers to you!" At Yu Lin''s table, a man in his early thirties stood up and took the glass of wine in his hand. Slurp... His name was Zhou Jun, and he was the captain of one of the container ships. He was 32 years old and had strong features. He was also a guy who had served in the army for several years. "Sit, sit. Do not bother with formalities, as we are all friends here. Don''t you find it inconvenient to keep standing?" Chen Fan stood up, took the glass in his hand and said to the man, before drinking most of what was left in his glass. One person took the lead, while the other employees also made an uproar, clamoring over one another to be the first to toast each other. Even Yu Lin joined in the fun as well. Cough, cough. Chen Fan stood up again and coughed twice. "I can''t afford to toast you all one by one. We don''t have to do the unnecessary and uber-elaborate formalities. Let''s drink six cups together and then find our match." More than 30 men then took turns toasting. Even if Li Bai had come, he would have been dead drunk, not to mention Chen Fan, whose alcohol tolerance level was much lower than the average man''s! Next, a nest of men all stood up mirthfully, quickly downing the drinks in their glasses. Slurp, slurp... Sitting down after one or two more glasses, Chen Fan creased his eyebrows and burped. "Boss, why don''t you drink some milk?" Zhao Shujie, who was sitting beside Chen Fan, picked up the glass next to her and filled it with milk. She then pushed it in front of Chen Fan. Zhao Shujie was the accountant, who was introduced to her job by Zhang Lele. At the age of 22, she had just graduated from school and was very interested in the job, as it paid very well. Hence, she had been very happy to be hired! "Yeah!" Chen Fan nodded and reached for the cup. The expression in his eyes was a little dazed, so instead of taking hold of the cup, he accidentally grabbed Zhao Shujie''s hand! "Boss, boss..." Perhaps her skin was too fair, but a blush quickly spread from Zhao Shujie''s face to her neck. She had a shy look on her face that showed that she wanted to pull back, but did not dare to do so. "Ah, oh." Chen Fan''s eyes returned to their normal alertness at that moment. He released Zhao Shujie''s little hands, then finally reached the cup. Glurp, glurp After a few long gulps, he finished the milk in the cup. It was obvious that, after a few glasses of strong wine, he had gotten a little excited. He was clearly reaching out for the cup, but had somehow ended up grabbing Zhao Shujie''s hands! "Eat, eat." Chen Fan laughed ??to conceal his embarrassment. The saying "alcohol strengthens bravery" definitely fit this situation. After the wine was in their bellies, the group of men were losing control. Their good ole'' days in the military as a "rascal army" seemed to have returned via nostalgia again. They were loosening the buttons on their tops and looking for people to drink with, as if they were hungry wolves hunting their targets. Chen Fan''s table was slightly more restrained. Since he was the boss, when the men drank around him, they would scratch their heads and babble some "toast-worthy words," hoping to show that they were somewhat refined. "Boss, I wish you a prosperous business and a rich flow of money, year after year!" The toast was offered by an employee of Chen Fan, who was about 22 years old. Once he held up his glass, everyone knew that what would follow would be tacky and short toast words! This group of men did not lack anything, except for a bit of literary knowledge. Seeing the few words that they could think of being taken by someone else, they scratched their heads. At the end, after not being able to think of any better words, the rest simply stood up and said the exact same things! "Alright, everyone. Let''s not toast anymore. I am starting to get drunk!" Although the effect of drinking did not show on Chen Fan''s face, it did not mean that he could actually hold his drink. After half a bottle, his head felt like it had been filled with glue, mixed and chaotic. Pretty soon after that, he could not think at all anymore! "Boss, the person who says that he is getting drunk is often not drunk!" Zhang Lele smiled, a small dimple showing on her face. The expression in her eyes was full of glee. Burp! Chen Fan belched, emitting a heavy alcohol smell. "Saysay it again, and I will deduct your pay!" Zhang Lele stick out her pink tongue, quickly pretending that she had not said anything. After exchanging words back and forth, Chen Fan led a large group of men to drink once more... "You Dong, are you sure that is the person who was snatching the ladies away from us on the Princess Cruise last time?" In the elevator, Lei Zhuo was wearing a hat and looking straight ahead, his finger subconsciously swaying the butterfly knife in his hand. His eyes were looking satisfied with himself, as if he has done a good deed. Although it was a few months ago, whenever he remembered the scene from the Princess Cruise, it seemed that something was blocking his heart. As a leader of the Shuangxian Road rascals, he could not tolerate being beaten up like a dog, but he also could not bring himself to take revenge. And, this time, the opportunity had finally come! Just now, Yu Dong called and told him that, he had encountered that man at the Haitian Hotel. He was at this moment heading to the fifth floor, and the man with superb skills was not with him! As he had been ambushed outside for nearly an hour, there were no signs of the guy leaving. He could not stand the burning fire in his anger anymore. He found a hat, put it on, and walked into the hotel. "This hatred must be washed away with his blood!" Lei Zhuo spat. This time, he had only brought two of the best hands of Shuangxian Road, as too many people would only attract attention and make a scene. Ding! After the elevator made a crisp squeak, the door opened. "Lei Ge, there!" Yu Dong recognized the waitress at a glance. "Ok, let''s get this done quickly." Lei Zhuo flipped open his butterfly knife behind his back. "Who are you looking for?" The three waiters, who were waiting at the door, instinctively felt that something was wrong. "I have an appointment with a guest inside!" Lei Zhuo''s face was sullen, the blue veins on his forehead twitching. Regardless of the waiter''s being in his way, Lei Zhuo charged past and pushed open the door to the private room. Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh... Thirty-seven pairs of eyes gave Lei Zhuo a piercing glance, and the bustling, jovial sounds inside the private room stopped suddenly. The atmosphere seemed to condensed into a state of mutual hostility immediately. As he was dressed in black clothes, a hat, and had a sullen face, it was impossible that such an arrogant and aggressive man would not make this group of tipsy men feel irritated, especially when they were so suddenly interrupted at their own party! "Oh my God!" Yu Dong popped his head out from behind Lei Zhuo and stared, opening his eyes as wide as duck eggs. "Who are you looking for?" Chen Fan frowned. He was very upset that he had been so suddenly interrupted. "Sor...sorry...sorsorry I came to the wro.. wrong place..." All of a sudden, Lei Zhuo had gone from having full confidence to feeling smaller than an ant. His palm that was holding on to the dagger was sweating profusely behind him. "Sorry, sor... sorry..." Lei Zhuo''s gloomy expression had already turned into a flattering smile, as he continued to apologize. After backing out and gently closing the door, he immediately ran to the elevator. He was really afraid! "Come, let''s continue drinking!" Chen Fan picked up the glass and shouted at everyone. "Cheers to you, boss!" A group of men quickly stood up and raised their glasses. This meal had cost Chen Fan a pretty penny. The tab for the spirits alone could bankrupt a small country! A group of them swayed out of the hotel door. Their lineup was so strong, the staff, who were standing at the door in preparation to welcome guests, were left trembling. "Boss, let''s send you back!" Zhang Lele carried Chen Fan''s arm and pouted to Zhao Shujie, who sat beside him. He then signalling her to come over and help him with Chen Fan''s other arm. "Yeah... yeah..." Chen Fan said in a slightly slurred voice. Today, he had drank 400 grams of liquor, two bottles of beer, and now, he couldn''t even see clearly. Since the two girls had the intention of helping him, Chen Fan certainly would not refuse the aid. "Boss, slow... slow down!" Zhao Shujie squinted and walked over, gently dragging Chen Fan''s arm. With Zhang Lele accompanying her, her heart felt very much relieved. Jingle... At this time, the phone in Zhang Lele''s pocket rang. "Hello..." Zhang Lele pressed the accept call button, said hello once, then kept silent to listen to the caller. "Shu Jie, can you send the boss back alone? My mother just called me and told me to hurry back, as there is an urgent matter!" "Ah..." Zhao Shujie was shocked. The things that had just happened at the drinking table were still causing her heart to beat like crazy, and now she had to send him back alone... "He lives in the Bolan neighborhood..." It seemed that Zhang Lele''s matter was more urgent than her own, so, after searching the address, she hurriedly hailed a taxi. "Boss, walk slowly!" she then begged, trying to keep up and not let him fall on his face! "Yeah... yeah..." Chen Fan''s brain was so confused, he couldn''t even lift his head. His mouth let out a few more indiscernible words. After the large group of people had dispersed, Zhao Shujie, with all her courage, hailed a taxi and helped Chen Fan into the back seat. Burp, burp... Chen Fan got in the car, leaned against its side, then began to blink his eyes. After drinking so much, although he had yet to reach the point of vomiting, the spirits had caused him to suffer from blurry eyes and a chaotic mind. Luckily, the taxi driver was very understanding. Whenever he saw someone who was drunk, he always drove at a max speed of forty-five miles per hour. He would even try to avoid the sewer manhole covers on the sides of the roads. The taxi stopped at the door of the villa. Zhao Shujie dragged Chen Fan''s arm a bit, a gesture to ask Chen Fan to get up. "Huh?" Chen Fan opened his eyes in confusion, his head stinging. He couldn''t see where he was at all. "Bo...bo...boss, you''ve arrived home," Zhao Shujie''s teeth chattered nervously. No matter what the Hollywood movies showed, it would never be what she hoped for with her boss, apparently, at least not this night. After staggering out from the car, Chen Fan hung his head and slapped himself. "Bo...bo... boss, that... II will leave first!" Zhao Shujie was like a frightened little white rabbit. She did not wait for Chen Fan to answer, but quickly got into the taxi. "I got home?" Still disoriented, Chen Fan swayed. He was only slightly aware that he was touching the white garden iron gate. He clung to it for a long time, until his hand finally reached the key in his hands. He could not open the door, as he looked for the keyhole, but couldn''t find it. The pain in the head and the pulling force of his eyelids hit his nerves, filling him with pain. Since he couldn''t open the door, Chen Fan simply plopped on the ground. He leaned back on the iron gate, determined to just wait until he got a little sober. "Why are you so drunk?" At this moment, Wu Ruoyu, who was wearing a black suit, went over to Chen Fan. She squatted and shook his arm. She had just finished work and gotten home. She then saw her neighbor Chen Fan, leaning against the iron gate like a dead person, the smell of wine on him fully explaining his current state. 124 Where Am I "Chen Fan? Chen Fan? Wake up, you''ll watch a cold sleeping outside!" Wu Ruoyu pushed Chen Fan''s arm gently. It was already late autumn and the temperature outside was only over ten degrees celsius. Coupled with lying on the cold ground, it would be a miracle if one did not land up in a hospital sleeping on it. "Um" Chen Fan frowned and mumbled subconsciously before switching to a comfortable position and continued with his sweet dreams. Anyone who had been drunk before would know that they hated being disturbed when sleeping. "This fella!" Wu Ruoyu stood up and stamped her foot. There was no way she could sit back and do nothing whether it be it because of the giant squid''s beak or as a neighbor. She continued shaking Chen Fan''s arm, but he remained as though he was dead only breathing, not moving. "Forget it." Wu Ruoyu shook her head and pulled the key from Chen Fan''s hand. She lifted Chen Fan''s head with her left hand and moved his body to the side before standing up to open the white metal gate. Creak! After pushing the white metal gate, Wu Ruoyu squatted down and placed Chen Fan''s arms around her neck, wanting to use the strength of her waist to lift him up. It wouldn''t be a problem for a strong man to lift two women up with both hands, but it would be more difficult for a small woman to lift a large man up. Wu Ruoyu groaned as she used all her strength and finally lifted Chen Fan up. With one hand on his waist, Wu Ruoyu dragged him and took small steps toward the courtyard. "Burp!" Although Chen Fan was subconsciously aware that someone was holding onto him, his aching head made him unable to control his footsteps, and he had to passively rely on the strength of others. As she held onto Chen Fan and walked to the stairs in the living room, Wu Ruoyu pulled back her golden hair on her forehead, which was drenched in sweat. She took a deep breath before approaching the stairs as if she were climbing the Himalayas. Even if their positions were to switch, the twenty-two steps could also make an able-bodied, strong man short of breath, let alone a small woman supporting an able-bodied man. Seven...eight....nine Wu Ruoyu counted silently with every step. Huff! At the eleventh step where she had to make a turn, Wu Ruoyu felt that her legs were as heavy as lead, and delicate beads of sweat had appeared all over on her skin. After resting for a while, Wu Ruoyu gritted her teeth and continued to drag Chen Fan up the stairs. Twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two When she held Chen Fan over the last step, Wu Ruoyu''s legs jellied, and she crumpled to the floor. The pain from her calves to her waist made her frown. There was another ten meters left, and Wu Ruoyu''s footsteps were no better than an elderly with one foot in the grave. She looked as if she might collapse any moment. After moving to the side of the bed with much difficulty, Wu Ruoyu heaved a sigh of relief as if she just completed a 25,000-mile long march. Then, she put Chen Fan onto the bed with her arms. Thump! Due to the action of the spring, the two-meter wide Simmons luxury mattress covered with a white silk duvet was pressed down and then shot back cheekily. "Ah!" A clearly repressed voice came from Wu Ruoyu''s delicate throat. Under the colorful lighting, Wu Ruoyu was weighed down by Chen Fan on the soft Simmons mattress. Needless to say, Chen Fan did not do this on purpose. In fact, he didn''t even know where he was right now. His burning head made him lose the ability to receive any communication from the outside world. Wu Ruoyu could only blame it on her own carelessness that such a situation happened. When she let go of Chen Fan, he fell onto the bed, and she was brought down by the impact of the falling force. Chen Fan fell onto her before she could pull her hands back. Burp! Chen Fan burped a breath of strong alcohol right at Wu Ruoyu''s round and smooth earlobe. Wu Ruoyu felt her heart almost pop out, and a flush spread quickly from under her eyes to her neck. "Chen Fan, get up. Chen Fan, can you please get up? Chen Fan" There was a trace of pleading in Wu Ruoyu''s sweet voice. Wu Ruoyu felt that she had suffered extreme injustice. Who would have that thought she would end up like this for being helpful? She had already depleted all her strength just now. She tried to push Chen Fan away with all her might but Chen Fan just didn''t move at all. "Hmm" Chen Fan mumbled unconsciously before moving and pressing his whole body on Wu Ruoyu. After that, he put his left hand around her waist and his right leg over her legs and then slipped into a deep sleep in less than ten seconds. A professional survey organization had once surveyed 50,000 users online and arrived at such a conclusion: ninety percent of people would grab the quilt beside them or clamp it between their legs when they were sleeping because this was the most comfortable position! Gradually, Wu Ruoyu felt her cheeks become hot, and a feeling of numbness spread quickly from her ears downward to her heels. At that moment, all her strength seemed to have been drained. Rapid heartbeat, flushed face, dryness in the mouth, feeling weak all over there were all sorts of symptoms, and it was impossible to describe to others how she really felt. If Wu Ruyu could still squeeze out a little strength to struggle just now, she was now like a little lamb that had its central nervous system cut off and could only murmur. In literary language, this situation could be described as "having vivid facial expressions that convey messages, whose beauty can overthrow a city!" Needless to say, Wu Ruoyu wasn''t feeling such a state of beauty at that moment. She was soft and weak all over, feeling ashamed and lost. The relationship between men and women was a major topic, and many subtopics could be derived from it. Be it spiritual communication or touching of any body parts, they would all result in a series of complex propositions. Even the most knowledgeable master of biology would not be able to sort out this messy relationship. "Uh" As time went by, Wu Ruoyu slowly closed her beautiful eyes, fluttered her eyelashes and curled up her toes. Then, she got a fright by her own delicate voice. Redness seemed to permeate through her skin, like a layer of milk with varied shyness and modesty. ... The morning sun hung lazily in the sky. The birds pecked at the clear water in the forest, and this scene rendered the entire tranquil and beautiful lake into a scroll of ink painting. "Where am I?" Chen Fan rubbed his heavy eyes, lifting his head and looked at his surroundings before he was certain that he was in his bedroom. He was tucked in under a velvet quilt, and the comfort of his bed told him that his shoes had already been taken off by someone. Just when he wanted to find his phone to check the time, Chen Fan saw that there was a cup of brewed tea lying on the side cabinet. "Who helped me?" Chen Fan''s head was in chaos. His last memory of his surroundings was of him sleeping on the floor at the doorstep. "Could it be Zhao Shujie?" Chen Fan mumbled, and then felt that it wasn''t right. She seemed to have left in the cab after sending him to the door. Since he couldn''t figure it out, he decided not to think of this question anymore. Chen Fan held the tea cup and drunk it all up before getting out of bed and walking to the bathroom. He splashed some cold water on his face. After washing up, Chen Fan took a sniff of himself and a strong alcoholic smell pierced through his head. "Eh?" Chen Fan took another sniff, and there seemed to be a touch of a milk-like fragrance. After he took off his clothes and took a bath, Chen Fab changed into clean clothes and walked to the garage as he twirled the car key chain on his index finger. When he reached the garage, a slim figure outside the white fence attracted Chen Fan''s eyesight. "Hello! Good morning!" Chen Fan greeted Wu Ruoyu with a Pidgin English accent. as he walked past her. Wu Ruoyu''s face flushed quickly before she gave a snort and rolled her eyes, and then quickly disappeared from Chen Fan''s sight. "Don''t tell me this girl is feeling horny?" Pursing his lips, Chen Fan slipped into the car and drove toward the shipyard by the sea. 125 The Somali Pirates Halfway down the road, Chen Fan took a detour to the hardware store and bought a few fires resistant blankets and threw them in the trunk. When the electric eel looked around the environment last night, the lights in the shipyard were too obvious, so Chen Fan chose a few impermeable fire blankets to cover the dock. Before coming into the dock, Chen Fan opened the dock gate and drove in with his car. The high power fans and two solar lanterns were still working as the sun in the sky shone from the space above the dockside and was reflected on the nine ghost hair jellyfish poison sacs in the water. Chen Fan turned off the fan and the solar lantern, letting them rest and dissipate heat. The few pieces of poison capsules floating in the water had shrunk a little. One of the largest pieces was at least one meter in diameter when it was first taken out of the ghost hair jellyfish. Now it was only more than 60 cm long. The smallest block was now a little more than 20 cm in length and had a little sign of condensation turning into a crystal. It looked like before long, the electric eel would be able to consume the ghost moon incense. Chen Fan nodded. "The effect is not bad!" Now he could faintly smell the similar aroma of ghost moon incense that flowed in the air. Taking a stick from the side, he moved the poison sacs a little, to let the sun have a better shine on them. Chen Fan did not dare risk the chance of no sun exposure to find out whether the poison sac would become ghost moon incense or not. In order not to take this risk, Chen Fan had to let the poison capsule bask in the sun once in a while. After listening to songs for a while in his car, Chen Fan dusted his palm and got out. He opened the car trunk from the inside and took out three fire blankets. Then he climbed the ladder that was welded to the top of the weighing beam with one hand as he gripped the fire blanket with the other, and opened the iron cover. The steel tile made a cracking sound as he walked on it. He then covered the hole made by the electric eel with the fire blankets. Feeling that the fire blankets would be easily blown off, he went down again and moved up a few stones from the outside to press on them. "The endless ocean, how many people''s dream had you carried?" Gazing at the magnificent sea under his feet, Chen Fan felt a burst of emotions. As he climbed the ladder, Chen Fan opened the electric fan and the solar lamp, locked the gate and was ready to drive to the shipyard. A few days ago, Xia Qingqing called and said that the yacht had been completed with various functions, and he could come to collect it. Chen Fan, however, had been busy catching the ghost hair jellyfish until now. Ring... When he was halfway through his drive, Chen Fan''s mobile phone that was next to him rang. "Hey, Wang Bing, are you back from Australia?" Chen Fan slowed down, and picked up the phone, looked at the number, then answered. The number was Wang Bing''s, and it was his Zhongyun''s phone number, but there was no signal in the sea, so Chen Fan made a conclusion based on the prediction of time. Wang Bing complained on the phone." Yeah boss, this sailing on the sea can really make people feel sick, you wouldn''t know, three days before, we met the gale, the ship was bumpy and I almost vomited my gall out... " "Well, then you can take a taxi to Zhongtian shipyard now and collect the yacht with me, and then I''ll treat you to a delicious treat as a reward." Chen Fan quickly interrupted Wang Bing''s complaint. "Ok!" Wang Bing hung up the phone. When he arrived at Zhongtian shipyard, Chen Fan had just gotten out of the car when he saw Wang Bing get out of the cab. "Boss, don''t let me go with the boat next time. It''s killing me." "The crew was just like a herd of cattle," Wang Bing said. "The boat was bumpy, and they were all able to casually talk and laugh. If I were not a tough guy, I would have to go to the hospital for a drip by now." "Let''s talk about it later." Chen Fan did not care and continued, "Did you see any disobedient crew? If there were any, I would fire him." "No, most of them were retired from the navy. They are very obedient." "Well!" Chen Fan made a phone call to Xia Qingqing, telling her that he was already in front of the office building. In a moment, Xia Qingqing came out of the office building and said hello to Chen Fan. "Hello, Mr. Chen, the yacht you ordered is not far ahead!" Xia Qingqing pointed to the left direction and made a professional "please move ahead" gesture to Chen Fan. "Boss, are you ordering this ship to flirt with girls?" While following behind, Wang Bing stealthy whispered in Chen Fan''s ear, "I always see those rich kids in the Hong Kong films who own yachts, and they take girls for a ride in the sea, sailing 20 to 30 miles away from the land. Then they say that their yacht had broken down, and they felt sorry about it. Next they will say to the girl in the movie that it looks like they have to spend a romantic night in the sea." "Do you think girls nowadays have a pig''s brain?" Chen Fan tossed him an annoyed look. After walking for three minutes, they came to a small pier at the seaside. Xia Qingqing led the two men into the inner circle of the yacht and asked Chen Fan if he was satisfied or was there anything that he wanted to have altered. It seemed as if the yacht had been injected with a noble''s blood of grace and elegance. It was luxurious and extravagant. Inside was a sofa made of African buffalo leather. There was an expensive Emperor Brahman West crystal chandelier. The master bedroom wall was wrapped in gold wallpaper. An abstract drawing from the master painter in Zhongyun was hung on the wall. Resplendent dim light was spread in each room on the yacht. "Satisfied, I''m satisfied!" Chen Fan nodded. No wonder the yacht was also known as "sea villa!" The yacht, in his eyes, was more upscale than his bungalow! "Then I will take you to sign the formalities!" Xia Qingqing smiled broadly. This guy was definitely a big financier. He did not even think twice when he spent the money for these two ships that cost 70 million. After signing several documents, Chen Fan asked Wang Bing to drive the car to the dock first, and then, after half a day of guidance from the technician, he managed to launch the yacht and took it to the seaside dock. The bridge was designed with paved obsidian, and a cushioned seat like a girl''s breast made the yacht feel more powerful than a Rolls-Royce Phantom. The gasoline engine used jet engine technology. As the throttle control lever was pulled to the bottom, the engine''s power roared as its twelve cylinders took it up to a speed of 50 knots, cutting through the waves that were trying to stop it. "F**king great!" It required only twenty minutes to get to the dock, and he jumped off the yacht, opened the dock to the sea, and drove it in. He locked the door, stood outside for more than half an hour, and finally, Wang Bing arrived. "You call and gather the crew on the ship," said Chen Fan to Wang Bing as he got in the car. Then he took out a business card and dialed the "Haitian hotel" reservation telephone number. Again, like the previous time, more than 30 men with Navy style haircuts filled the private dining room. The scene was impressive. The hotel manager tried to be overly friendly to him as he tried to find out what his background was that he could have so many strong, lean men working under him. ... Two days later... The ship named ''Ocean Storm Marine'' was once again filled with coal and headed for the Yanbu city of Saudi Arabia. This time, Chen Fan did not let Wang Bing follow along, but gave the rights to Captain Ren Jiang. The payment was made in Zhongyun city. After listening to Wang Bing, Yiteng Yun and others who reported all kinds of expenses, Chen Fan had known the account status now. During this time, Chen Fan had nothing to do. He was shuttling back and forth between the dock all day, looking at the progress of the jellyfish capsules. This afternoon, Chen Fan crouched in the dock and stared at the brown spherical crystal with a diameter of more than twenty centimeters. After more than ten days of waiting, the smallest of the nine crystals, which had been successfully transformed from a poison sac into ghost moon incense, had been brought up by Chen Fan. He sniffed it. What was surprising was that the electric eel''s desire to devour the incense was felt which proved the value of this ghost moon incense. This time Chen Fan learned to be sly. He directly used oil paper to wrap the ghost moon incense with a small stone, then threw it into the sea to let it sink to the bottom, then he controlled the electric eel to eat it. Today, the electric eel had grown to 70 meters long and directly released the strongest voltage to the peak of 13,000 volts. After it took the ghost moon incense into its mouth, the electric eel licked away the oil paper and stone with its tongue and gulped the ghost moon incense into its mouth. The phagocytic task was completed. Chen Fan drove his car back home, so he could lay down in bed to quietly experience the electric eel''s body changes. But, halfway back home, Chen Fan received a phone call from Zhang Lele who was in the office. "Hey, Lele, what can I do for you?" said Chen Fan as he slowed the car down and stared at the road ahead. "Boss, just now I received a notice from the Maritime Bureau, saying that you should go to the Marine Department for a meeting at 3 PM." "I see!" After hanging up the phone, Chen Fan curled his lips. "What kind of damn meeting?" They like to do stupid stuff. Only two days ago all the companies with ships that were ten thousand tons and above were gathered for a meeting about some "vessel and safety knowledge brief." What were they about to come out with this time? After arriving at the Marine department in Zhongyun city, the conference hall was filled with dozens of plump, big bosses all gathered and having small talk. "Chen, you came too!" Ma Rongtao was in the center of the crowd and reached out his hand to greet Chen Fan. "Boss Chen has arrived early enough." "Chen, you''re doing well today!" A few plump bosses next to them all smiled and greeted Chen Fan. "Well, I just got the notice and rushed here, Uncle Ma. What''s the meeting for this time?" After saying hello to the two bosses next to him, Chen Fan sat down beside Ma Rontao and asked with a puzzled look. "It has something to do with Somali piracy. In recent days, three more international cargo ships have been hijacked." Ma Rongtao pinched his forehead. The Somali pirate activities have been more and more frequent. Many ships without the navy escort no longer dare go to the Gulf of Aden to get to the Suez Canal. "Oh!" Chen Fan nodded his head. Within a half an hour, about a dozen more bosses entered, each looking for a good place to sit. After two minutes, three middle-aged men with dark blue uniforms and white wide brim hats walked onto the podium. "Ahem" The man in the middle who was in his mid-forties who wore spectacles, took the mic and cleared his throat. "Hello, everyone, I think everyone knows the subject of this meeting." "In response to the increasingly rampant piracy from Somalia pirates, I just want to remind any of you who have ships going the Suez Canal that you should strengthen your defenses and do the following work." "First, it is best to go the Suez Canal with the naval escort. The vessels that accept escort ships must follow the convoy''s relevant discipline, obey the unified command of the navy ship, and should not carry out any unauthorized detachment of escort formation." "Second, is that the shipping company should strictly follow the relevant regulations." "Third, the ones who could not reach the point of protection according to the time of the Navy''s announcement, but their ships that needed navy escort protection or ships that have less than 10 knots speed should apply to the ministry of transport nine days in advance..." "Fourth, we should bring in keen attention to the trend of piracy activities and guide ships to do their own defense and rescue work. We will strengthen the monitoring of ships in the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters, and improve the emergency work efficiency of emergencies. " "Hum... Hum... Hum... " He wasn''t sure who this bizarre guy was, but he hadn''t even listened for ten minutes and his head was already leaning backward and was snoring. Chen Fan''s head was hurting from being annoyed. Unable to listen to any content, he turned his face to look at Ma Rongtao whose eyes were narrowed and not paying attention either. Biz...Biz... Just then, there was a vibration from the phone in the pocket of Chen Fan''s jacket. He had set the phone into vibration mode. Chen Fan looked at the phone and saw that it was a strange fifteen digit number. "Which damn place is this number from?" Chen Fan pressed the answer key with a doubtful feeling. "Hello." There was a strange male voice speaking a foreign language with a Mandarin accent on the other end of the telephone. "I am a Somali pirate...your ship...has been hijacked by us. Please prepare 50 million ransom as soon as possible to redeem your ship and your crew!" 126 To The Bitter End with The Pirates The voice of the man on the phone was very loud. Even Ma Rongtao, who was standing on the side, opened his eyes in a suspicious manner and listened. "Somalian pirates?" Chen Fan quickly let the idea wander around in his mind. Is it April Fool''s today? "Oh," Chen Fan said in his joking tone, "Hello, Mr. Pirate. Although I''m very reluctant, I have to say that I''m actually President Trump, so you''ve made the wrong call." There was no sound on the other line for five to six seconds, then a string of familiar voices suddenly were heard. "Boss, I''m Ren Jiang. This morning at 8:45, our ship in the Gulf of Aden was hijacked at thirty-seven nautical miles north of Gandala. The culprits arrived in three armed speed boats, carrying rockets and submachine guns. Then, we were loaded into the boat and brought to a small town in Gandara, Somalia..." Captain Ren Jiang had yet to complete what he was saying, when the voice on the other end of the phone was replaced by a strangely accented male voice. "How''s this? Do you believe me now? If you have doubts, tell me your email address. I''m going to send a series of astonishing photos to you. You have one day to consider our offer, six days to raise the funds, then ten days to get us the money. If we receive no money before this period of time lapses, we''ll kill them all!" The voice continued to list demands. "Right, we''ll also only accept US dollars, or gold of the same value. So, please replace 50 million into those two things! You may call this number at any time, and the we''ll send our special personnel to serve you!" Beep...beep...beep... Realizing that they had hung up, Chen Fan finally hung up the phone, too, with a heavy heart. Somalian pirates? Hearing what Captain Ren Jiang had just said, Chen Fan now believed. On the way to the Arabic Kingdom, they had to pass through the Gulf of Aden and then enter the Red Sea. And, that place had long been listed by the United Nations as the most dangerous sea area in the world! Just last year, more than 100 freighters were hijacked by pirates there, and the various combined economic losses that resulted reached more than 24 billion USD! When Chen Fan''s ship initiated its voyage, he had already applied to the local maritime department to prepare for the confluence of the escort warship "Zhongshan" in the sea area. He had also taken precautions to follow the large forces to cross the dangerous sea area, but he never thought that the ship would be hijacked by pirates! "Chen, Chen," Ma Rongtao gently pushed Chen Fan''s arm, pulling him back from his chaotic thoughts. "The phone call just now..." Ma Rongtao hesitated a moment, then said gently, "after the meeting, come home with me and we''ll discuss it." "Ok," Chen Fan said. Whether it was by paying a ransom or anything else, they had to get their men back as soon as possible. The leader on the stage spoke for more than 20 minutes. Finally, after he drank two sips of tea, the meeting was dismissed. After they left, Ma Rongtao let Chen Fan follow his car, and the driver went straight to his villa at the foot of the green hill. It was a luxurious two-story villa, with a large swimming pool, a parking garage, and lush green landscaping. After they both got out of their cars, Ma Rongtao led Chen Fan directly through the magnificent hall to the reading room on the second floor. "Chen, how do you plan to deal with this matter?" Ma Rongtao gently closed the door and approached Chen Fan, tapping his shoulder. "To tell you the truth, I was hijacked by a freighter two years ago. A group known as Mekar asked for 10 million USD from me. After three days of negotiations, the price was lowered to eight million. When the price was fixed, I immediately sent people with the cash that very night." "Uncle Ma has also encountered this? How did you keep it from becoming public knowledge on the outside?" Chen Fan asked. "I didn''t dare to tell anyone about it, because once the government is made aware of it, they will certainly reject the idea of paying the ransom. They always try instead to find ways to send people for a rescue mission." Ma Rongtao took the opportunity to sit next to Chen Fan, then continued. "Did you know about the notorious robbery last year? The one involving the Ukrainian national arms? Thirty-three main battle tanks, thousands of tons of ammunition. Finally, the Ukrainian government sent helicopters to throw the huge load of ransom onto the boats." "Yeah!" Chen Fan nodded. Even when a national government''s arms and ships were taken, they still had to pay! Uncle Ma, lend me your computer for a moment." Chen Fan took out his mobile phone and dialed the serial number again. "Hello?" "I want to determine the health of my crew. If they are safe, I promise to deliver the ransom to you within ten days," announced Chen Fan. He then reported a list of email addresses. "You can send the photos now, I''m right next to the computer." "Ok, we like to deal with people who are as straightforward as you. Everyone is a businessman, and we understand that peace leads to prosperity. During this period, we guarantee that they are not eating worse than the ship''s crew." Five minutes after they had already hung up, Chen Fan''s inbox prompted a new email notification. Beep beep beep. It was the incoming promised photo, which was very clear. In a big, empty house, Captain Ren Jiang sat in the middle of a group of about thirty familiar faces, all neatly dressed, with no bruises. But, everyone''s faces were full of confusion and bewilderment. There were seven men standing over the group, holding AKs and wearing camouflage uniforms and plaid hoods. "The pirates are very disciplined. Although so many cargo ships had been hijacked in these few years, only two hostages were killed, and that was only when they confronted the army. So, you can rest assured about their safety," the man on the phone said. Ma Rongtao patted Chen Fan''s shoulder. "If you decide to raise money to redeem these people, then you must act quickly. The government must be informed of this after a certain period of time. At that time, this matter will then escalate, becoming an official national issue. Then, through diplomatic means, pressure will be placed on Somalia" Ma Rongtao did not complete his sentence, but Chen Fan instinctively understood that, if that pressure was effective, the Ukrainian government wouldn''t send any money at the end of the day. "Right, Uncle Ma, can you lend me 30 million? I will mortgage my finest field-yellow stones." Chen Fan had come to Ma Rongtao, not to listen to his advice, but for money! Now, Chen Fan''s card had only 29 million in cash on it. He was ready to borrow another 30 million, and the remaining 9 million would have to be tackled by sudden circumstances! Regarding how to solve this problem, Chen Fan already had it all planned, as the ransom must be paid! After all, personnel''s safety is the first priority! But after paying the ransom and redeeming the ship and the people... Somalian pirates? I''ve gotta commit another crime on sea, right? When the time comes, upon seeing any pirate ship, I''ll immediately rush to sink it with my Electric Eel, patrolling 24/7! After all, aren''t they blackmailing 50 million from me?! I wouldn''t demand much, maybe five hundred million would be enough. Otherwise, we''ll see who wins this battle! "If you mortgage your field-yellow stones, and the field-yellow stones are with me, aren''t you trying to make me anxious?" Ma Rongtao then smiled and said, "A mere three million! You don''t have to worry too much. This group of pirates has been committing crimes for so many years, yet their credibility is still there. Just have your dinner here, then go with me to the company. Then, I''ll exchange it for US dollars for you. As for the rest of the money, I''ll keep waiting for it until you have a surplus in your account." "Yep!" Chen Fan nodded. Of course, the sooner the better. The ship had been prepared by the Maritime Safety Administration. There was not much on the table, but the dishes were exquisite. There were only three people sitting at the table, including Ma Rongtao and his daughter. As for his wife, she had returned to her family two days ago. "Ruoxi, this is your brother Chen Fan, who previously worked on the case of your mother''s arm! We should thank the parrot beak of the king squid that he sent!" Ma Rongtao said to a teenage girl sitting on his left. "Hi brother Chen Fan!" Ma Ruoxi stretched out her slender hair that was scattered on her forehead, then greeted him sweetly. "Hello!" Chen Fan''s thoughts were heavy, so he just forced a smile on his face, directly ignoring the powerful lethality that was being emitted from Ma Ruoxi''s sweet smile. "Chen, make yourself at home! Don''t be restrained!" Ma Rongtao picked up a glass filled with red wine and gently placed the glass in front of Chen Fan. Chen Fan didn''t say anything, but smiled slightly and raised the wine glass, finishing the liquid in one gulp. He then used the white napkin next to him to rub his mouth. "Dad, I want to drink, too!" Having just reached puberty, with big eyes and a sharp chin, the little beauty, Ma Ruoxi, always wanted to imitate the actions of the adults. "Okay, two cups to your brother Chen Fan!" Ma Rongtao gave her a glass, filled one-third of the way with wine. At 7:30, after dinner, Ma Rongtao took Chen Fan to the Tianxing Shipping Group office building, got him a cup of tea, then turned and left. Chen Fan had not finished drinking his tea, when Ma Rongtao led two employees into the office. "This is 7.4 million US dollars, which, when converted into RMB, is exactly 50 million!" Ma Rongtao opened the box that the two employees had left on the table, then touched the green banknotes that were placed within it. He said, "It''s more complicated to exchange a large number of dollars. I have ready-made one''s here. You can use this first. When you''re rich, you may then repay me." "Thank you Uncle Chen, I''ll return the money to you as soon as possible!" Chen Fan stood up and took out a blank sheet of paper, then wrote a debt note and added a bit of interest. "Oh," Ma Rongtao shook his head, as he received the debt note. "I asked the staff to help bring it down for you. You have to do this as soon as possible. Otherwise, it would definitely whiten your hair, if the time drags on for too long." "Well, Uncle Ma, I''ll leave first." Chen Fan nodded, then followed the two staff members out. When he arrived home at 8:30, Chen Fan dialled Xia Qingqing''s number directly. "Hey, Mr. Chen? Is there any problem with the yacht?" "The yacht is very good. No problem at all." Chen Fan sat on the sofa. "I wanted to request your help in customizing one thing. It''s urgent, so please get it done as soon as possible." "What do you want to order?" Xia Qingqing asked in confusion. "A two-meter-long, fully-sealed speedboat model. It should be able to withstand a water pressure of 200 meters deep. The sinking and floating system do not need to be made, and the same goes for the power system. As long as there''s a rough appearance to it." "Sealed speedboat? What kind of water tank door do you want to design? If it''s a valve type, it''s more difficult. After all, the water pressure is 200 meters deep." "Whatever you like. I just want you to do as fast as you can. If possible, I hope you could inform the workers to start the work now," said Chen Fan. "No problem. If you just want water pressure resistance, we would use a steel plate of a higher strength. Now, if we start immediately, it will take about seven or eight hours." "Okay. When it''s done, just load it up and send it over. I''m in desperate need of it." Chen Fan gave him an address, then hung up. Turning on the computer, Chen Fan then calculated the distance from the location told to him by Ren Jiang to Zhongyun. The Gulf of Aden was 6,000 nautical miles from Zhongyun. If the ship sailed at 60 knots, that would be a hundred hours. That meant that the shortest possible arrival time would be in six days, accounting for the shortest possible breaks for the electric eel. Six days... Lying in bed, Chen Fan forced himself to fall asleep, considering that there wouldn''t be much time for rest in the next few days. At five in the morning, Chen Fan was awakened by a phone call. The call was placed by a middle-aged man, saying he was an employee of the Zhongtian Shipyard. "Your customized items have been delivered to the designated location. Do you want to collect them now?" Hanging up the phone, Chen Fan immediately got up from the bed. Without even thinking of showering, he drove to the seaside dock. As it was only five in the morning, there were barely any other cars on the road. As such, it took a mere 20 minutes for him to get to the beach. The delivery was a green Cummins pickup truck, with three people in the carriage and two people in the cab! "Carry it to the front of the dock!" Chen Fan tossed a cigarette to each of them and pointed to the concrete pier in front of the dock. "Okay!" These blue-collar workers were so happy at the sight of cigarettes, they grinned instantly. After carefully pinching them behind their ears, they transported the gray-and-white iron boat to the designated place. When the people walked away, Chen Fan took out two large boxes, filled with US dollars, from the trunk. He then came to the iron boat. The waterproof door could fit one person through it. Chen Fan stuffed multiple stacks of banknotes into it, then turned the door valve hard. When the valve was turned to its limit, he pushed it with both hands, causing it to drop from the platform into the sea. Splash! Clapping his hands, Chen Fan quickly got into the car and transferred his consciousness to the Electric Eel. He then controlled the Electric Eel to seize the boat with its front claws. It took a few swings for it to reach the deep sea, and then, with a 30-meter spear, it was sent to the southwest direction at maximum speed. You Somalian pirates... While Chen Fan controlled the moving Electric Eel, he grit his teeth, thinking to himself... Once my employees are out of danger, I''ll get you yet! 127 I’ll Give You Two Choices It took six days to travel one thousand miles. Chen Fan stayed in the car and put down the driver''s seat and laid down on it until 12 noon. Then he let the electric eel stop and rest. While the eel rested, he drove his car to the fast-food restaurant nearby, and grabbed something to eat before heading home. When he got home, Chen Fan immediately continued to control the electric eel and make a rapid voyage to the Gulf of Aden. It just devoured a ghost moon incense the day before. After it had been fully digested, the eel demonstrated the strongest power yet which was like the after effect of taking a drug. After he continued to sail near to Vietnam, Chen Fan could not bear the tired feeling in his mind anymore. He set the alarm clock to ring six hours later, then hugged his pillow and slept. Vietnam. A total of fifteen hundred miles from the Zhongyun city. That was to say, the electric eel had almost no rest over the last 24 hours. When Chen Fan was awakened by the alarm clock, he ate something as quickly as possible and then continued his journey to the Gulf of Aden. ... Five days later at 3 PM local time! After struggling hard for nearly six days, the electric eel finally reached the location 120 nautical miles north of the region of Somalia [Candala]. Lying on the sofa, Chen Fan once again dialed the bunch of foreign numbers! "Hello," It was still the man with the strange accent who answered the phone. "My men have arrived near Candal and the ransom is ready, and it is in the right amount. Can you call someone to pick it up?" Chen Fan''s voice was emotionless. "Very well, the ransom has been delivered in just seven days. We like to deal with such merchants as you." "The next time you have a cargo ship hijacked by us, we will offer you a preferential price and you could have it due in ten days, and the hostage situation will be upgraded. Of course, it''s all based on after we got the ransoms!" F**k you! Chen Fan cursed secretly in his heart, then took two deep breaths, made himself calm down, and said, "You could say a place, and then I''ll throw the ransom into any region of the sea. Of course, your crew can''t be there!" "Afraid that we''ll hijack your boat again? Rest assured, we pirates do also have a good reputation if we say we would release your crew, we would do so." "But you must understand one thing. If you work with the government ships to hijack our people, then I can most assure you that by this evening, you can hold a memorial for them!" "I am a businessman. I only want money and peace, you don''t worry!" Chen Fan vigorously rubbed his chin. "You give me a coordinate. There is no place as reference in the boundless sea. In two hours the ransom will be delivered on time." "OK, I''ll ask my men to call you in half an hour." "Damn you! Giving me a discount next time? You all are going to cry and beg me in no time!" Chen Fan hung up the phone angrily. Before he could wait for two minutes, the phone rang again, and Chen Fan looked at the number, it was Ma Rongtao. "Hey, Uncle Ma, what can I do for you?" "Chen, when will the money be delivered? If there is no redemption in two days, the Maritime Bureau will surely ask you why the ships haven''t joined the convoy now?" Ma Rongtao hesitated, and said, "If this matter is not settled within two days, let me know in advance. I''ll let my ships pretend to be your ship''s radio frequency and inform the escort ships that the ship''s wheel is broken and had to be repaired and that we have to delay for a few days." "Thank you, Uncle Ma. My people had arrived this afternoon, and they will be able to release them tomorrow." Chen Fan smiled bitterly twice. The ship was hijacked, but he had to conceal this information. "That''s good, once they are released, call me." "Sure, goodbye, uncle." Chen Fan agreed and hung up the phone. ... Eleven o''clock, east longitude, forty-nine point five two! In the Candala district, a compound of more than 2,000 square meters. As one of the least developed countries in the world, and located in Africa, it is a miracle to be able to see buildings no less than the Zhongyun city. At the age of 27, Bertrand, the Somali Marine corps chief executive of the Candala division was the man who called Chen. As part of the largest pirate gang in Somalia, though he was not part of the ammunition ship that was hijacked, he had seized the world''s second-largest oil tanker, the Sirius. Bertrand was sincerely proud of his accomplishments. He was poor in his early years and could only learn to speak Mandarin fluently while working in a shop opened by a Chinese businessman. But since the incident of the September 11 attack on the United States, the government had been overthrown by a foreign power dominated by the Americans which caused him to live a dog''s life on the streets. Ever since he joined the Somali pirates, he had been on the rise, not only owning a villa, but also a brand-new Audi. And the girls were enthusiastic, like fire, and even more desperate to enter his house. Opening the front door of his Villa, he was excited as he entered the room where the hostages were kept. In no time another deal would be done. As commander in chief of this incident, he would be sure to be awarded at least one million. "Great and mighty Mohammed!" Bertrand piously held both his hands together, and made a prayer. "May you bless me and make this deal so Leader Abadi will transfer me to the Erigavo headquarters to work!" "Greetings, Sir!" Several pirates armed with AK''s saw the arrival of the officer and immediately saluted as standard protocol. "Well!" Bertrand nodded, and then walked into the middle of the group of the hostages. After touring a lap, he said, "Dear friends, your boss has sent the ransom to Candala, and as soon as I get the money, after verifying the number, I''ll immediately release you." "And our ship? Would you let it go too?" Captain Ren Jiang sat on the concrete floor and asked the black man in a white suit in a friendly tone.. "Of course. Your boss is paying 50 million as a ransom. Why would we make things difficult for you?" Bertrand showed his white teeth. "About half an hour, my men will be able to collect the money. After I get the money, you could sail away." On hearing the promise, Ren Jiang, including all the crew, was greatly relieved. This thing had caused the boss to lose 50 million. If they can''t sail the ship back, they would be embarrassed to go back to Zhongyun. A blue pickup truck came a half an hour later and inside it were three black man sitting with AK''s beside them. There was also the two-meter-long iron shell yacht that Chen Fan booked from Xia Qingqing. With a choking dust, the blue pickup came to a stop in the yard, and the black men on the bus darted off. "Sir, we have received the goods at sea." A black man in his twenties with a five-star beret ran up to Bertrand and saluted. "Very good, very good... go ask the finance official to verify at once." Bertrand clapped his hands. "You see, the money has arrived, and you will be free once the number is verified." "Yes, sir!" The black man came out of the compound and shouted to several companions telling them to carry the iron boat down to a nearby building. Twenty minutes later, the black man returned to Bertrand. "Report sir...there are no counterfeit notes and there was an extra thirty thousand dollars." "Then give the boys a thousand dollars each!" Bertrand pulled the cigar from his white suit pocket, lit it in his mouth, and said to Ren Jiang, "Congratulations, you are free. My men will take you to the beach and wish you a pleasant journey." ... Wang Zhi, who was pushed into a pickup van, sat in it and whispered to Ren Jiang. "Captain, this gang of pirates are so good to deal with. Are they pulling us into the sea to shoot us?" "I don''t think so. There was nothing like this reported in the news." Ren Jiang glanced at the black man next to him. "We can''t escape from this disaster, but if we really were to encounter it, we''ll just have to surrender and not do anything." After a while, Ren Jiang and the others could clearly see the spire of their ten thousand ton ship on the sea. There was no one on board and only the two front chains could be seen sinking into the sea, gently shaking with the sea breeze. Cruck CruckCruck Seven pickup trucks rolled up a cloud of dust and simultaneously put on their brakes. When everyone got out of the car, the black man with the five star beret hat came up to him and pointed to the wooden pier, which was built with a wooden stake. He pointed to the three-meter-long rotten wooden boat, which was tied to the dock, and the person said a bunch of words that they didn''t understand. With that, the man in the five-star beret did not even bid farewell. He got into the driver''s seat and then the seven pickup trucks that carried the dozen pirates drove away. "Captain, what the hell are they doing?" Wang Zhi looked puzzled. "I think they were telling us that we should row ourselves to the big wheel!" Ren Jiang looked at the distance between the two ships which was about a kilometer. "This boat can take six people at a time so we will have to come back and forth six or seven times. Wang Zhi, you take three of our brothers on the boat first and then bring the rubber raft on the ship to pick us up." "Ok!" Wang Zhi was not melodramatic. He ordered three strong men, and rowed the boat with all their might towards the ship. Half an hour later, two orange rubber boats sped up to the beach, and Wang Zhi jumped down and ran to Ren Jiang. "Let''s hurry, captain!" On the big ship, Ren Jiang immediately rushed to the cabin, without a second thought, and picked up the maritime satellite phone and called Chen Fan. ... Ring... Chen Fan, who was sitting on the sofa and rubbing his nose, immediately picked up the phone when he heard the ringtone. "Boss, I''m Ren Jiang. The pirates have set us free. We''re all on board now." On the other end of the telephone came the panicked voice of Ren Jiang. "Great!" Chen Fan clicked his fingers and clapped his legs then sat up on the sofa. "What about the crew? Did anyone get hurt?" "No, all is good...no one''s hurt..." After speaking for a while, Ren Jiang said with a weeping tone as he whined, "Boss, we are sorry. If we were more careful, you would not have lost fifty million for no reason and have had to take such a big risk to ask someone to send the money over." "You''re a man...why are you crying? And plus you are a former soldier? Act like a man!" Chen Fan finally felt relieved and smiled gratefully. "As long as you all are safe, money can be earned again. Hurry and set sail. Then use the wireless to contact the navy ships in the Gulf of Aden. Call me when you meet the ships." "Ok, sure." Ren Jiang inhaled and choked with sobs. "Boss, I can not thank you enough! From now on, even if you ask me to kill, I, Ren Jiang will take the order without hesitation!" "Don''t mention it. When the ship comes back, I''ll give you a good catch!" "Right!" Chen Fan quickly added. "About this incident, do not tell the military, otherwise, there will be a lot of trouble." "No problem boss!" Hanging up the phone, Chen Fan took a deep breath of relief, then dialed Ma Rongtao''s number to tell him that everything was fine now. "Pirates... pirate..." Chen Fan walked to the balcony of the 3rd floor and looked at the sapphire blue lake in front that was in the forest. His heart felt a temporary unknown feeling. After a few minutes of fresh air, Chen Fan went to the second-floor bedroom. He had not slept for a whole day and needed to have a good night''s sleep. He did have a good sleep that night and rubbed his eyes as he woke up the next morning with the gentle sunshine on his face. Soon after breakfast, Chen Fan received a satellite phone call from Ren Jiang. "Boss, it''s 3 a.m. local time and we are with the Zhongshan convoy fleet following the big troops to the red sea!" "Well, very good, very good!" Chen Fan smiled. "After you get to Saudi Arabia, don''t rush back. Go to the city to relax. All the expenses are on me!" Hanging up the phone, Chen Fan smiled insidiously, then dialed that bunch of foreign numbers! "Hello! My dear honored guest, would you like to buy me a drink?" Bertrand squeezed the little girl''s breast beside him a few times, and the black girl on his other side was breathing heavy. Just now, the leader, Abadi had called to tell him that he would be able to work in the Erigavo headquarters in three days, so Bertrand was in a very good mood today. "Haha, not to talk about drinking." "I''m here to tell you something you don''t want to hear!" said Chen Fan, as he picked a piece of watermelon with a toothpick and put it in his mouth. "My dear guest, what is it?" Bertrand, like Chen Fan, had a carefree expression as he sat on the sofa in his villa. The only difference, was that beside Bertrand were two ladies who were dressed very sexy, while Chen Fan only had a plate of freshly cut watermelon next to him. "You''ve got the money, but I bet you''ll regret it. Because of what happens next, you will not like it very much!" The expression on Chen Fan''s face was extremely insidious. "Remember, you will dislike it immensely!" "Oh great and all mighty Muhammad, I am threatened, I am afraid!" Bertrand laughed. "Haha" Chen Fan smiled. "Now, I solemnly declare, you have only two choices!" "First, immediately return all the dollars, and then... and then quietly give me an extra seven thousand three hundred dollars. That is 500 million RMB, and those things that you will dislike will not happen.The second way: things that you dislike will happen again and again, and you will end up crying and screaming and give my money back! " "Sure, I know you''re going to choose the second route. We have an old saying here: "refuse to be convinced until one is faced with grim reality." It is normally used to describe people like you. For the moment, with your poor wisdom, you cannot understand such a profound proverb! But as time goes by, it will eventually be explained to you by the facts of the meaning of this sentence!" 128 A Black Clipper Ship "Take all the time you want to explain. I''m gonna sleep with two beauties now!" Bertrand let out shrill laughter. "Bye!" "I''ll see how long you can laugh." Chen Fan snorted and hung up the phone. The electric eel did not leave immediately after Chen Fan delivered the money at sea yesterday, but lurked around and waited for the black men in the speedboat to collect the it. Then he followed them quietly to a pier by the sea. There were two 500-ton black clipper ships and five seven-meter long white speedboats. "Not give up until one reaches the Yellow River, not shed a tear until one sees a coffin?" Bertrand kept repeating this sentence. With his Chinese language ability, he really couldn''t understand what this sentence meant. However, this did not stop him from ridiculing the ignorance and arrogance of this Asian kid! Bertrand slapped the buttocks of the two girls and had them wait for him in the bedroom after they washed themselves up. Then, he held the 1.2 million USD beside him and walked toward the courtyard. The division of the Somalia Marine in Gandara had a total of sixty members. Out of the 7.4 million USD that they had gotten this time, 5 million USD was paid to the headquarters, 1.2 million USD was for the subordinates, and the remaining naturally went into his own pocket. ... After having a good time the entire night in bed with the two hot girls, Bertrand crawled out of bed with an aching belly at 12 noon. By then, the two girls had already prepared lunch and laid the food on the white dining table, and were lovingly waiting for Bertrand''s arrival. "My two beauties, did you have a good time last night?" After sitting down, Bertrand kissed each of the two girls on the lips. Lunch was stew beef with potato, and corn burritos. To celebrate his upcoming promotion, Bertrand even took out the bottle of Poisie-Nigg brandy he had gotten from a French cargo ship and poured himself a full glass. As he was enjoying his wine, the satellite phone at the side suddenly rang. Seeing the familiar number, Bertrand''s eyes stopped for a moment before he pressed the answer key. "Hello, my dear guest, are you thinking that the amount you sent yesterday was too little and you wanna send another few million?" Bertrand raised his head and laughed loudly. Was this Asian kid kicked in the head by a rhino? Otherwise, why does he keep calling every now and then? This place was so poverty-stricken that he had to go to the capital of Mogadishu to get a satellite phone card, and each card cost 500 USD. Therefore, Bertrand did not intend to change a new card after every kidnap. Of course, as a member of a pirate''s organization of resounding fame in the world, he could totally ignore any pressure from the government unless other countries dared to attack the al-Qaeda and run the risk of "interference in internal affairs." If this was really the case, it couldn''t be avoided by just changing a phone card. "I don''t have the intention of sending money yet, but I have a question for you." Chen Fan''s tone was full of ridicule. "Do you have a black iron shell clipper sailing at latitude eleven degrees north and longitude forty-nine degrees east? Oh, it may be difficult for you to understand latitudes and longitudes. I''ve checked that you locals like to call it Teluk Elat. Also, there are seven black men in camouflage clothing, and one of them has a white scarf. Oh, the ship is also pulling a speedboat in the back." "How did you know?" Bertrand could not laugh out this time. Could there be a spy in the organization? No, it can''t be. If the other party was really so resourceful, that cargo ship wouldn''t even be hijacked! "Not only do I know the exact location of the ship" Chen Fab dragged his voice on purpose and kept Bertrand in suspense. "I also know that, this ship will sink exactly five minutes from now!" "Oh, really?" Bertrand wiped the sweat off his forehead. "Let me tell you, as long as my ship doesn''t initiate the attack, your country won''t have any reason to sink my ship. Otherwise, this would involve political issues, and your country will be thrown into passivity." Bertrand had now started to understand vaguely that this Asian kid must have great power and skills in his country, otherwise it would be impossible for him to trace his subordinates'' activities. And the most possible way of doing this was through military observation satellites, or floating periscopes on submarines. "No no no, of course I won''t leave behind anything for you to use against me if I want to sink your ship." Chen Fan sounded extremely confident. "There''s four minutes and thirty seconds left. You can inform your partners to quickly go to that area to save your crewmen who are about to fall into the water!" "What a joke!" Bertrand moved his eyeballs around. "I wanna see what kind of power you have backing you up, that made you sound so confident!" "Of course it''s your great and almighty Muhammad!" Chen Fan laughed. "Remember to quickly get your men to save the people in the water. Don''t blame me for not reminding you if they get eaten up by sharks!" Beep beep beep... A series of busy tones came from the satellite phone. After hanging up, Bertrand felt alarmed. Could the other party really have such powerful skills to send a warship or a submarine to sink the pirate ship? After thinking for half a minute, Bertrand got through the satellite phone of the pirate ship sailing at Teluk Elat. "Hello, turn the ship around immediately!" "What happened, Captain?" Thomas who was wearing a white headscarf was seated in the control room and observed the surrounding sea with the telescope to see if there was any target. "Just do as I say and reverse the course! And, maintain five minutes of call time." "Yes, sir!" Thomas put down the telescope and walked to the helmsman to convey the captain''s message. There were three and a half minutes left. Bertrand stared at the mechanical watch on his wrist without moving and counted the time silently. Three minutes left Two minutes left "Hey, go take a look at the surrounding sea to see if there are other vessels around." "Captain, there are no vessels at all!" One minute left Fifty seconds.... "Get everyone to stay on alert, inform me immediately if there''s any suspicious vessels." Thirty seconds "Captain, what happened?" Thomas''s eyes swept around the surroundings like radar. "There''s not even a bird here, let alone a vessel?" Ten seconds Bertrand counted the seconds silently! "I''ll tell you guys when you''re back. Don''t talk, and observe the surrounding sea." "Yes, captain!" Time''s up! Bertrand felt that his heart almost popped out of his chest! Just after the indicator on his watch completed five minutes, a bomb-like explosion suddenly came from the phone beside Bertrand''s ear, and it was followed closely by miserable cries all around. "Ah" "Help" "Torpedo" "Oh my goodness" All these cries shot right at Bertrand''s heart like sniper bullets. "Tell me, what happened?" Bertrand''s eyes turned bloodshot immediately. "Tell me quick" However, only the phone''s busy tone replied Bertrand. "Julian, Julian!" Bertrand rushed out from the villa and shouted. "Here!" An almost two-meter tall, strong black man put down the wooden box in his hands and quickly ran to Bertrand. "Quickly bring seven people and rush to the sea area where Thomas is. His ship was attacked by a torpedo." "Ah! Attacked by a torpedo?" As if he was given steroids, the black man rushed to the pickup parked in the yard, not even bothering to pick up the hat he dropped. "Torpedo, torpedo, where did the torpedo come from?" Bertrand paced around in a straight line, looking as if he was possessed by a husband waiting for his wife to deliver. One hour later, Bertrand received a call from the black man, informing him that everyone had been saved on the ship, and they were on the way to the pier. "Phew" Bertrand wiped the sweat of his face, as he finally got the load off his mind. Ringgg! At that moment, the number that was like the devil''s whisper called again. "Hello...hello" Bertrand''s legs cramped, and even his voice trembled. "Hello!" Chen Fan''s cunning greeting came from the phone. "I think I saw another black clipper ship sailing at that sea area?" "And it seems like there are more people this time, a good eleven of them!" "Mmm...well...well" Chen Fan said apologetically. "Although I hate to say this, but I gotta tell you that your clipper ship will still sink in exactly five minutes!" 129 The Pirate King "You... You... What do you want?" Bertrand''s tone was not as calm as it had been, and there was only constant fear. He did not expect that this opponent had the ability to use a submarine to attack them. How much power was behind this man? "My request is very simple. Yesterday, I had already stated everything clearly on the phone. I don''t want to repeat it a second time! Of course, this pain would not cause you to make the decision to hand back the fortune you had gotten, but I''ll still say the same thing. Time will disclose everything to you." Chen Fan''s tone was very calm, as if he was just discussing what to eat for lunch. "Bullsh*t" Bertrand was irritated and was swearing. "Only us pirates ever blackmail others. Absolutely no one dares to blackmail us pirates. Even the Ukrainian government paid their ransom. They dared not even utter a word. I don''t believe you have more ability than the Ukrainian government." "Ukraine?" Chen Fan laughed. "Don''t always flaunt your past glories. I recognize that you are a very good organization and a leader in the world of piracy. But you''ll soon find out that you''re facing a very, very, dreadful opponent, who would definitely make you have sleepless nights unless you don''t go out to sea or behave and follow my terms." Du... du... du... The satellite telephone again was cut off with a busy tone! "The devil it is definitely the devil!" Bertrand shuddered and called Thomas on the telephone. "Sir!" Thomas couldn''t help to make a standard salute when he got the call. It had to be said that although they were the largest pirate gang in Somalia they still adhered to their strict training, even while stationed in remote areas. Bertrand said something that made Thomas confused. "There are still three minutes and twenty seconds. Pray that you will be spared in this disaster!" "What do you mean, Sir?" Thomas was driving the clipper. "Hold the line!" Thomas sat down on the steps with his eyes fixed on his watch. ... Five, four, three, two, one! Rumble... There was a big banging sound that came again from Bertrand''s cell phone and then a scream for help. "Ah..." Bertrand held his head with both his hands and howled, "The great Mohammad, I made a fatal mistake, I should have ordered the killing of the crew..." If Chen Fan could see Bertrand''s angry face, he would be happy. Lounging on the sofa, Chen Fan again dialed Bertrand''s telephone. "That was just a small appetizer. What you have done to me had hurt my heart so much that I not only had trouble sleeping for a week, but I am saddled with huge debts. The good thing is that I have a good heart, and I like to leave room for maneuver. So, you can have people save your crew, and this time I won''t do it again. But as soon as you go out to sea again, it will happen again and again." Five minutes later... Bertrand, who had arranged his dialogue in his heart for some time, shivered while he dialed a series of number. On the screen of the mobile phone, it showed the letters that spelled "Leader Abadi." Abadi, now 31 years old, was recognized as one of the world''s leading pirate leaders. Young as he was, he had more "glory" than Bill Gates. At the age of twelve, he was captured by warlords to become an army slave, and he killed the leader at the age of 21 and got the crown. After the first month of his rights, Abadi turned his sights to the sea, or specifically to the Gulf of Aden, where 48,000 ships passed each year. After several years of struggle, Abadi successfully climbed the throne of the world''s first pirates. He not only constructed his own hometown of Erigavo Village to become a pirate stronghold, but he also took a lot of cash to build ports, power stations, schools, hospitals, and other public facilities. He also built many villas there to provide homes for pirates with credit. He even established a unique pirate way of business. Under Mr. Abadi, not only did he have special press releases, but he regularly released his latest results to the world. Every time a ship was successfully hijacked, he would let his men sail the ship to the port and then let a well-dressed negotiator negotiate the ransom price. The captured crew, not only could buy alcohol, tobacco, groceries in special stores, but a special hostage was supplied with all kinds of food in restaurants that were slightly more expensive than the ones in Zhongyun''s airport. By now, Mr. Abadi had been charged with warrants issued in forty-seven countries. One hundred and twenty-three local courts had prosecuted subpoenas which had only been used in vain to add to his reputation. ... "Abadi Abadi..." Sitting in front of the TV, Chen Fan repeated the name twice. Just then, the news channel reported the latest news. "At three o''clock in the morning, Somalia sailors successfully seized two ten-thousand ton Japanese ships, and the ransom was directly increased to forty million." After watching TV, Chen Fan went into the bathroom and filled the bathtub with hot water. "Lalala,lalala, Abadi!" Chen Fan squeezed the shampoo on his head while humming a tune. Ring... At that moment, the phone that was placed by the side rang again. "Is this guy calling to promise to pay the compensation?" Chen Fan wiped his two ears with his right hand, then rinsed them with water, washing away the foam before answering the phone. "Hello..." Chen Fan''s accent sounded strange. "Hey, son! I''m with your mother and the little girl, and now, we''re at Zhongyun airport." "What?" Chen Fan suddenly opened his eyes. "Didn''t you just called me three days ago? You said you were going to take her to Sanya to travel. Isn''t that so?" "Well, the little girl is rather haggard lately, and we don''t want her to run around, so we came back early." "Then I''ll come and pick you up now!" He hung up the phone and rushed to clean off the shampoo. He changed his clothes, and drove the car to the Zhongyun airport. Not knowing why, but just now, Chen Fan''s heart suddenly felt a little tremor. He was going to meet her soon, and this meant that he was about to fulfill a responsibility that may accompany his lifetime. After more than 20 years of life, apart from in kindergarten where he traded his first kiss with a little girl for two milk-flavored candy bars, he had not had any intimate contact with the opposite sex. This could be said to be a great failure in life. He decided that he was thinking too much and threw this thought out of his mind and quickly concentrated on driving. Forty minutes later, Chen Fan came to the airport lounge, walked two laps back and forth and was finally noticed by his mother. "Son!" Chen Fan''s mother stood up and shouted to Chen Fan''s back. In the words of a philosopher: "In the instant that Chen Fan had turned his head, a man and a woman, seven meters apart, had two series of indelible changes in their hearts". Chen Fan did not answer but subconsciously looked at the timid looking little girl that was sitting next to his mother. She was nervously clutching his mother''s arm, trying hard to hide her little face. "Hello!" Chen Fan said casually as he stepped forward. Although Chen Fan''s expression was like a warmhearted brother, his heart was already filled with concussion, shock, and convulsion. She deserved to be named the Miao girl who had the beautiful name of "flower dress and silver decoration." Her face was glittering and translucent. The color of her skin was as white as snow. It was as if God fabricated the oval face and inlaid it with a pair of sad eyes. Soft hair like tassels hung on her delicate neck across her perfect curve. On her chest was a silver locket that made a beautiful hook shape. "H... Hi..." Her voice was as sweet as Haagen-Dazs, like a clear spring, gently washing his heart. At this time, Chen Fan''s mother smiled at the Miao girl and made the introduction. "Meng Er, this is your brother, Chen Fan." "Well, let''s hurry home!" The father stood up, rudely breaking the awkwardness. Carrying two bags of luggage and walking on the left, Chen Fan looked at the helpless weak figure as an indescribable feeling entered his heart. Helplessness, bewilderment, sorrow, and a little dependence were written clearly on her face which expressed the heartbreak and compassion she must have felt. Chen Fan seemed to understand her state of mind. A seventeen-year-old girl suddenly lost her only family and became helpless. How could she carry the burden of her future on weak shoulders in a society full of lust? Chen Fan could not imagine what would have happened to her in the years to come if his parents had not adopted her. To be honest, the original intention of the parents was a little selfish, but Chen Fan had decided to take care of her, protect her and make her happy, no matter what steps he took in the future. Walking out of the airport hall, Chen Fan packed the few pieces of luggage into the trunk of the car and slowly moved downtown. The little girl, named Meng Er, was curled up in the middle of his parents, her little face resting on Chen Fan''s mother''s arms, watching the unfamiliar surroundings quietly. "Meng Er, this is your home now. Although the environment is not as beautiful as what you''re used to, there is a magnificent sea here. After two days, I will take you to the seaside." Mother Chen gently stroked her hair. "Ok!" Meng Er, who was curled up in her arms, nodded. "Dad, Mom!" Chen Fan paused for a few seconds, then he said, "I want to tell you something. "What is it?" Chen Fan''s father raised his head and looked at him. "I bought a 500 square meter mansion in Bolan Garden not long ago, and we are able to move in now." "Five hundred square meter?" Chen Fan''s father frowned. "How much is the down payment?" "Five million, two million down payment, and sixty thousand per month." "Two million. Where did you get all that money? Didn''t you just buy a ship with ten million? Why do you have extra money to buy a villa? Just two months and you had earned two million?" "Made more than a million, and then borrowed hundreds of thousands from that partner! The ship is coming back from Saudi Arabia, and I can make a few hundred thousand more, just to pay back the money I owed," Chen Fan said. "Why didn''t you discuss this with us, boy?" Chen Fan''s mother scolded. "Shipping is a very risky field. You should only buy a house in about two years after you have made a profit..." "He had already bought it. He can''t return it, can he?" His father interrupted her nagging. "We won''t interrupt your decision. As long as you know what you are doing. You are no longer young. You don''t need us to teach you what to do." "Ok !" Chen Fan nodded. A half an hour later, the black BMW returned to the garden. Chen Fan parked the car and brought out the luggage from the trunk. The little girl''s luggage was so little that he could hardly feel any weight in his hands. There were four bedrooms upstairs, one master bedroom and three side bedrooms. He helped the little girl choose the bedroom facing the lake, and then Chen Fan was dragged by his mother to buy some daily necessities. "Son, help Meng Er arrange her school. Your father and I will continue to travel. We will leave some space for both of you to familiarize with each other." Chen Fan''s mother threw a few toiletries in the cart and quipped at Chen Fan who was nearby. "Go with the flow. I am now considered a diamond bachelor. Would I still worry that there is no woman interested in me?" Chen Fan crumpled his lips. "Diamond bachelor, are you sure?" Chen Fan''s mother flipped his forehead as a little punishment and said, "If you meet someone you like outside, then you can treat her like a sister. If you do not find one, then marry her. The girl is so pitiful. You should not bully her no matter what, or I''ll never forgive you." "Yes, you''ve said it a hundred times; even a pig can remember it." "You got the second-lowest score in your high school, isn''t that a pig''s brain?" Chen Fan''s mother shook her head. "Poor girl. How nice it would be if she was born into our family. So much less to suffer!" When they carried all the groceries home, Chen Fan''s father was sitting in the living room watching the football match, while the little girl was sleeping in the bedroom. A moment before dinner, Chen Fan had retreated to his room, closed the door, and was ready to shift his mind to the electric eel to see if the few yachts were still in the pirate''s dock. If they were there, he would control the electric eel and bring them down with a spear. Then, he would blame it on the Erigavo camp. At the local time, it was nine o''clock in the evening, and the dock was empty, with no signs of any boats. He took two laps around the neighborhood and saw no suspicious targets that were likely to have been hauled ashore by the pirates. Ring... The cell phone on the bar was ringing, pulling Chen Fan''s mind back from the electric eel. "Hi, who are you?" It was an unknown number. "Boy, you are very capable, and you are the first "fat sheep" that I, Abadi, have contacted." On the other end of the line came a blunt Chinese accent. "You speak Mandarin too?" Chen Fan had a weird expression on his face because he was going to find trouble with him tomorrow, yet he contacted him. "I am his translator, speaking in accordance with his original translation!" "Oh!" Chen Fan revealed an expression of understanding, "Again, I trouble you to translate my original words as original as possible." "Abadi, you can now go to Alibaba and look for other ways to make money, because from tomorrow onward, your pirate business is coming to an end!" 130 Please Give Me a Reasonable Explanation "I sincerely hope that your strength is as sharp as your tongue. And let me say this first; we pirates dislike scoundrels who talk big and make empty promises." "Whoa...your Chinese is quite good, huh? You even know how to use the word "scoundrel?" Chen Fan laughed and tugged his ear with one hand. "You really think that you''re al-Qaida terrorists and can launch terrorist attacks at my side?" "Your cargo is called Ocean Storm Marine, huh?" The other end of the phone did not wait for Chen Fan to reply. "Although our strength is not able to penetrate into your country, and it''s also not very possible for us to send someone to assassinate you... but every lion has his own territory. Your country is your territory, and likewise, under the enlightenment of the great Muhammad, there are still many of our warriors in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. As long as your ship is close to the shore, I guarantee that they will forever lose the right to leave this place. You''re pulled up on the shore of Jeza Port in Yanbu City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This is the information that I got when your crewmen were kidnapped." "Very good, excellent!" Chen Fan suddenly laughed, and his laughter was extremely joyous. "You know what? What you''ve just said has gone beyond my bottom line. So, I''ve decided to adjust the compensation. I''m asking from you...500 million USD. Although this amount might be a little painful for you, you''re still able to handle it. But...within this period, your indirect loss may go up to 10 million USD!" "Let time test our agreement then!" Erigavo was a coastal town that stood by the sea. Compared to its surroundings, it enjoyed prosperity that was almost abnormal. Luxury cars drove past from time to time on the spacious concrete roads. The people of Zhongyun, who were used to seeing nice cars would look at these cars with admiration, but no one in this town was even phased by them. At the center of the town was a conical building cast with white marble. Inside its main hall, Abadi was sitting on the leopard skin lounger, with two long, cream-colored elephant tusks that were crisscrossed on the Sikkim wall behind him. "Akers, leave for Jeza Port in Saudi''s Yanbu City tonight. Wait for that "Ocean Storm Marine" to arrive, and kill everyone on it immediately!" Abadi waved his hand furiously. "Yes, chief!" A man in a black suit beside him bowed and quickly pushed open the gold gilded door decorated with agate. After the man left, Abadi stood up angrily and walked toward the office on the right. According to his subordinates, there were no vessels at all on the surface of the sea, or any flying objects either. The only possibility was an underwater attack. However, the thing that puzzled him was that his subordinates reported that the two ships did not look like they were attacked by torpedos because the wreckage did not have any sign of having been bombed. It looked more like they had been hit by a submarine or torpedo. Could the other party really have the ability to mobilize a submarine? Abadi definitely did not believe this. Only nuclear-powered submarines could cruise their way here. There was no way conventional submarines could run for 6,000 nautical miles. Even Obama''s son-in-law would not have the ability to make the government take such a big risk by sending a submarine to attack the ship. Moreover, if the other party really had such power, their ship wouldn''t even have been hijacked. So what connections did the other party have? Some member from a powerful family who bribed the armies of the surrounding war-torn countries, and then got them to send the submarine to attack? Abadi pondered over this for a while. ... At the same time, Chen Fan quickly dialed the number of the ocean-going ship. "Hello, boss!" Ren Jiang''s voice came from the phone. "How much longer before you guys reach Saudi Arabia?" Chen Fan took a breath before asking. "We can reach there tomorrow around noon if nothing goes wrong." "Um, there''s no need for you to go there anymore. Follow the escort fleet closely until they turn back. Leave the Gulf of Aden area and sail toward Zhongyun!" Chen Fan kept pinching his nose bridge as he sat on the chair. He believed that Abadi wasn''t making an empty threat. In fact, things had come to the point where both parties could not co-exist, and one side had to collapse. They kidnapped Chen Fan''s employees and cargo ship, and extorted a 50 million RMB ransom. There was no way Chen Fan could take this lying down. However, this wasn''t the case in the eyes of the pirates. They felt that it was entirely justified for them to blackmail Chen Fan. But Chen Fan actually retaliated and sunk two of their pirate ships. As the world''s largest pirate organization, how were they supposed to face the world? There was no way they could hold their heads up high in front of the other pirates if they did not take revenge. "Why, boss? We''ll be able to reach there tomorrow. Wouldn''t we be wasting a lot of money on the fuel if we turn back now?" Ren Jiang was totally confused. "It''s the decision of the traders here. They said that the Saudis went back on their word, but they would still be paying the agreed transportation fees." "Oh, alright. I''ll just follow behind the escort fleet then." Ren Jiang readily agreed as long as it wasn''t a wasted trip. After contacting Ren Jiang, Chen Fan heaved a sigh and then dialed the number of the coal merchant. After hearing Chen Fan say that they were turning back halfway, the merchant immediately blew his top and uttered a lot of nonsense; like liquidated damages, reputation, and losses, which made Chen Fan all confused and disoriented. "Damn it, my ship got hijacked by those as*hole pirates transporting your crappy goods, and I even lost 50 million of ransom." Chen Fan exploded with anger. "F*ck them...they called me again shortly after I gave the ransom money and said that they were going to Saudi to kill my crewmen. What the f*ck do you want me to do? Get my men to risk their lives to deliver your goods?" "Ah...ah" The other end of the phone suddenly went silent and regained its signal only after half a minute. "Bro Chen, Bro Chen...cool down, cool down first" "It''s my fault, it''s all my fault, alright?" Well...let''s not talk about the liquidated damages, h-how about you get your ship to Sri Lanka, I-I''ll change over the goods from there and get another ship to deliver them...what do you think?"" "Up to you, do whatever you wish!" Chen Fan tossed and turned on the bed, feeling anger pent-up inside him. Abadi actually dared to threaten to kill his thirty employees to vent his hatred? You wanna vent your hatred? Then I''ll make you cry first! "Abadi!" Chen Fan sat up and said each word with emphasis. "Tonight, I am going to let you experience your most unforgettable night!" ... The dark sky, like endless sand, covered the ocean like a veil. On the pier''s watchtower, Boly was focused on turning the powerful searchlight and inspecting the ocean ahead. Since joining the pirate organization the previous month, he immediately went from being penniless and without even having a house, to being surrounded by numerous matchmakers. They all wanted to introduce girls to him, and the girls were getting prettier! "Pirate...it''s my childhood dream" Boly mumbled as he inspected the surface of the ocean. "Eh?" Boly suddenly stopped turning the searchlight and rubbed his eyes hard. When he slowly started moving the searchlight again, it locked in on the 500-ton pirate ship equipped with the latest rocket launcher. "How is this possible? There''s no one on that ship!" Bang! The blue pirate ship broke off from the arm thick rope that was connected to the pier, and then quickly sailed a great distance away. "What''s going on?" Boly was scared out of his wits. Could a hostage have gotten onto the ship and tried to escape with it? In just ten seconds, the blue pirate ship disappeared from the range of the searchlight, and Boly didn''t even have the chance to set up a machine gun to fire. "Officer, something bad happened! Some hostages hijacked the pirate ship and escaped!" Boly shouted madly into the interphone. "What? Why didn''t you keep watch over them?" An angry roar came from the phone. Five minutes later, a man in camouflage clothing charged into Abadi''s residence and woke him up from his sleep. ... Latitude 12.05 north, longitude 47.52 east, local time 2AM. On USA''s guided missile destroyer, Igren. Brock, the radar technician, was drinking coffee as he sat in front of the radar screen monitor looking despondent. He felt that cruising in the Gulf of Aden to escort warships was extremely redundant. Other than throwing their weight around all day to the passing warships to show their country''s power, there was no other pleasure. What about the pirates? Come on! Brock scoffed. The strength of the United States was enough to make the whole world shake at the same time. Other than a few illiterate, indigenous people who hijacked a ship last year, the other pirates, who at least had a little good judgment, could only salute with their eyes when they saw the American flag flying. Despite complaining, Brock did not forget his duties, as he stared at the radar screen and drank his coffee. The radar system on the guided missile destroyer was the most advanced equipment in the United States and also the world. It could even capture a whale jumping to the water surface. "Buddy, any new discovery?" The active sonar monitor technician beside him patted his shoulder and yawned. "I''ve finished my coffee, can I borrow yours?" "In the drawer, get it yourself." "There are only seven ships sailing within the vicinity of ten nautical miles." Brock spread out his hands. "You''re having a good time. The active sonar system has shut down for more than a month, and you don''t have to stare at the screen all the time." The active sonar monitor technician sighed and grumbled, "But I still gotta be on duty, I''m not any better than you." Beep beep beep. Suddenly, a shrill alarm sound came from the radar intelligence monitoring system. The screen showed a small green dot which was sailing slowly beside the warship. It suddenly increased its speed and charged toward the direction of the warship. "Oh my God, what is this fellow doing?" Brock stared at the data on the screen in disbelief. According to the radar monitoring, the green dot would hit the left side of the warship in fifty seconds at its current speed. "Combat duty, combat duty!" Brock shouted at the call receiver in front. "At fifteen degrees off the port, a ship which was sailing normally, suddenly increased speed and sailed toward the warship. Please be prepared, please be prepared!" "Roger, roger!" Swish swish swish! Seven ultra-high-power automatic searchlights shone at the blue pirate ship at once. "Alert, alert! The vessel in front, stop immediately, stop immediately!" The roaring sound of the horn came from the surface of the sea. The blue clipper ship continued on its way, charging toward the warship. Also, the eight rocket launchers at its bow came into the view of the searchlights. Dah dah dah dah dah! With the electric motor turning, two GAU-12 Vulcan Gatling guns, which were fitted together with five artillery shells and able to fire five-thousand 25mm artillery shells per minute, turned madly. The artillery shells shot out from the barrels, creating brilliant tracks in the dark sky which converged into a fiery dragon clearly visible to the naked eye. With the anger of the god of death, it hit toward the blue pirate ship with rage. Bang bang bang! There were numerous flames on the surface on the pirate ship. All kinds of debris sputtered out. With a thunderous roar, the pirate ship which was loaded with five tons of fuel erupted with a flash of brilliant fireworks before sinking into the sea fifteen meters away from the warship. Ten seconds after the pirate ship sank, the powerful intelligence system and identification system of the United States displayed their amazing efficiency. In less than ten minutes, after scanning and contrasting with the photographs of the various registered pirate ships, the identity of the ship''s owner was determined. ... "Have you found out which hostage escaped?" Abadi sat on the chair in the office, shouting angrily at the subordinate beside him. "Leader, we''ve already counted all the holding cells one by one, and there was no hostage who escaped." "Don''t tell me it''s the locals?" Abadi grabbed the handle of the chair. "Unlikely. We deployed eleven patrols around the pier. It''s impossible for ordinary residents to get around the patrols." "Get those in charge of the patrols here!" "Yes!" The black man in a suit and leather shoes took a bow before leaving. Ringg! Ringgg! "Hello." Abadi grabbed the phone on the office desk. Those who knew this number were mostly powerful organizations, hence Abadi calmed himself down and quickly answered the phone. "Hello, Abadi!" "I''m Colonel Nenheim Baird, deputy commander of the operational headquarters of the U.S. Fifth Fleet. Please give me a reasonable explanation for what happened at sea just now." 131 Give You Two More Days Deadline "America''s fifth fleet, Colonel Nenheim Baird?" Mr. Abadi''s head was in a fog as he tried to understand. He wasn''t brave enough to rob an American freighter, and it was late at night, and no one was at sea. "What happened at sea? Can you explain the details?" Abadi did not dare rob an American freighter, but that did not mean he would pretend to be a coward in front of an American. Twenty minutes ago, north latitude and twelve point zero five east longitude forty-seven point five seconds, your blue pirate ship, unexpectedly collided with a cruise missile destroyer; the Eagle Aaron that was cruising in that area. But the pirate ship was sunk by us." "The blue pirate ship?" Abadi was suddenly enlightened. "I know what is going on. Not long ago, when the ship was anchored at the dock, someone took the opportunity to rob it. But who would have the guts to hit a missile destroyer?" "Are you asking me?" Nenheim Baird was furious at the end of the phone. "No matter if it was a deliberate act, or if there was something wrong with the ship...all I know is that this incident has brought indelible psychological damage the entire crew of the Eagle Aaron." "Three days...I will give you only three days...you must give a proper explanation...or be ready to bear the wrath of the Eagle," said Nenheim Baird with an unassailable tone. Du... du... du... "Ah..." "My boat has sunk, and you ask me for an explanation?" Abadi was furious and suddenly sat up from his chair. The veins on his head were bursting. "It was a big joke that a destroyer would be enduring indelible shock from the fright of a pirate ship that doesn''t even have protective armor? If you want to blackmail me, just say it. You don''t have to beat around the bush." ... After the anger, Abadi forced himself to calm down and carefully analyze the incident. It wasn''t any of the hostages or any of their men. The people nearby might have stolen the boat, but they wouldn''t want to crash it into a destroyer even if they wanted to commit suicide. "Was it the Asian kid? He had the ability to deploy submarines to attack my ships. " Abadi thought about it carefully, but he didn''t think it was possible. The pirate ship needed at least three people to sail. Whoever had the guts to strike the American destroyer must have been someone who was not afraid of death. American artillery shells were not like Red Cross needles, and even if the person who drove the boat jumped off and into the sea, he would never be able to escape from the destroyer. Sending three people to crash into the destroyer was suicide. Abadi didn''t think the Asian boy would be so crazy. And if he was that cold-blooded then he wouldn''t have paid a ransom at all! After thinking for a long time, Abadi clenched his teeth tight and dialed the financial officer''s phone. "Well, prepare thirty million dollars, and send it tomorrow to the American destroyer that''s cruising around." ... "What madness!" Chen Fan recalled the scene just now, and still felt a lingering fear in his heart. When the electric eel dove 30 meters underwater with the spear, (which it used to cause the pirate ship to collide with the navy cruiser), it did not need to worry about any bullets shooting at it. But the crossfire that came over from the carrier was full of powerful 25 mm diameter shells Some of it attacked the weak parts of the pirate ship and with a "swish", shot into the sea for a depth of about ten meters until the kinetic energy finally stopped. ... Knock...Knock...Knock... "Come out to have dinner, son!" Chen Fan''s father gently knocked the door. "Coming, coming!" "Wait till tomorrow, I''ll be back for revenge!" With a murmur, Chen Fan opened the door. This dinner was very sumptuous. There was not only Chen Fan''s favorite, which was onion fragrant fried clam, but also dried bacilli specially brought from Yunnan. It was boiled with rice to make the delicious mushroom porridge. Chen Fan''s father put a spoonful of porridge into his mouth and said, "Son, in a couple days, let''s go to your former school, Boai High School, to help Meng Er go through the school transfer procedure. The old English teacher who taught you... isn''t her husband the Vice President of Yucai middle school? Let''s go and see him." "Dad, don''t you know...even if I passed her on the street, I wouldn''t want to see her. I am angry with her, and you want me to find her?" Chen Fan shook his head. "It would just cost money to transfer schools. Why do we need to find her?" "Boy, didn''t she just always call you into the office to recite English vocabulary? It''s all for your own good!" His father put down his spoon. "Now it is nearly three months until the beginning of school. If we do not entrust some type of relationship, do you think you can pay money to enter?" Chen Fan turned his head and said to Yunmeng who sat next to his mother drinking the porridge with her small mouth, "Yunmeng, how old were you when you dropped out?". Meng Er''s original name was Kanidonglibaojiujiang. Since the Qing Dynasty implemented the resettlement of the Miao people, who became naturalized and had their households registered, they gradually changed and transplanted the Han surname. At present, the household ethnic name of Miao was the registered Chinese surname. Only the elders went by their original name. Her Han name was Yunmeng and her nickname was Meng Er. However, Chen Fan felt it was awkward to call her Meng Er and that calling her by her full name sounded better. Meng Er raised her face and reflected in her extremely big eyes was still a little fear and shyness. She said in a hardly audible little voice, "Up to the third year of middle school. Grandpa had broken his leg because of herb gathering in the mountain, then...and then I dropped out of school." "Third year of middle school..." Chen Fan thought for a moment with his hand touching his chin. Now she is seventeen, and she was supposed to be in the third year of high school! "So, Dad, I''ll call my business partner and ask him if he has any way to help her get into school." As he said it, he took out his phone and called Zhang Xueyang. "Hey, bro, are you here to invite me to dinner? But it''s a little late, I''m eating now!" "I''ll treat you some other day!" Chen Fan casually said, "I have a relative. I want to transfer her to Yucai High School. Do you have any pull in this area?" "God... How do you survive in this field. You can''t even settle such small matter?"Zhang Xueyang''s tone was exaggerated. "As a smuggler, isn''t this a failure?" "Don''t patronize me, do you have any way?" Chen Fan was not polite to this guy. Anyway, they were peers, and they didn''t need formality between each other. "No! But my father has a way," Zhang Xueyang replied. " I would fix it for you tonight, and then you can bring your relative with you to register at any time." "Oh, thanks!" "Wait, wait, wait ..." Zhang Xueyang noticed that Chen Fan had meant to hang up the phone, and he hurriedly shouted, "You always say you will treat me to a meal and you''ve procrastinated until now. When will you do it?" "Don''t you have food every day? Besides, two men going to dinner together...won''t you feel strange?" "Damn man, you could bring along two beautiful ladies, right?" Zhang Xueyang said playfully, "I''ll stop joking the fifteenth is my birthday. I wanted to let you know in a few days but since you called, I''m telling you now!" "Ok, Bye!" Chen Fan hung up the phone. "He has a way, and said that I could bring Yunmeng to register anytime. What grade do you want to study, Yunmeng?" said Chen Fan in a garbled voice while swallowing a clam. Yunmeng seemed to be a little afraid of Chen Fan. She just sat there with her white, tender forefinger pinching the spoon. She couldn''t make up her mind and after a long time, she looked forward and said, "I... I want to go to the third year in high school, but I''m afraid I can''t keep up with my grades. " "Don''t worry about that! Devotion, piety, and honesty is the motto of Yucai High School. But there is nothing about good grades in it. I had the second lowest average in my class... the last hundred in the whole grade, and there was no pressure either." Chen Fan said with experienced tone of voice. "That is you being thick-skinned! Meng Er, don''t listen to him. When you first arrive at school, you definitely won''t be able to keep up with the class, but just take your time," Chen Fan''s father said, adding a clam into Yunmeng''s bowl. "If you do not understand, ask Chen Fan to help you search on the Internet. Wait for this semester to lay a good foundation and next semester your grades will gradually improve." "Good grades don''t decide whether we can be fed!" Chen Fan crumpled his lips and muttered to himself. The lights were on! In the bedroom, Yunmeng curled up her body and gently stroked the beautiful silver locket on her chest. She thought it was dazzling. She was an orphan, though grandpa always said she was his own granddaughter. But Yunmeng knows that he picked her up from the mountain and raised her up with goat''s milk and rice porridge. When she was young, she used to ask her grandpa with an anxious look, where her parents were. The way her grandpa would prevaricate, had always planted a seed of doubt in her heart! With the gradual increase of age and maturity of mind, the seed, called "doubt", was also watered by all kinds of gossip, and gradually grew into a towering tree. At the age of thirteen, when her grandfather lost his words after drunkenness, he finally let the "big tree" in Yunmeng''s heart produce a fruit called "affirmation." And after her grandfather''s murmur before he died, he gently plucked the ripened "fruit" off the tree. Now, she had followed this uncle and aunt to a completely unfamiliar environment. Life here was carefree for her, and it was not necessary for her to go up the hill at five o''clock in the morning to pick the fruit that could only be only sold at a low price for a day''s expenses. From now on, she wouldn''t need to worry every day that her grandpa may be left alone if she encountered danger on the mountain. Here, she not only had the uncle and aunt who treated her like their daughter, but she also had a school that she had been dreaming of for countless times... But in Yunmeng''s head, most of them were filled with confusion... ... What a night! The next morning, the parents asked Chen Fan to take Yunmeng to see the blue sea, but Chen Fan did not agree and had them take her instead. When his parents left, Chen Fan laid on the sofa and transferred his mind to the electric eel. The electric eel was hiding in the village of Erigavo, near the harbor in the sea, which was filled with many cargo ships of different sizes and more than 70 pirate ships. About 1 pm, Chen Fan''s time, the whole dock was filled with pedestrians and boats. The people, who didn''t know the real reason for this prosperity, would have been absolutely surprised that such a poor country had such a busy port. There were great ships which weighed at least ten thousand tons. There were eleven of them, and they were all from a variety of different nationalities. "Hey, Abadi, is my 500 million ransom ready?" After observing the enemy for half a day, Chen Fan took out his mobile phone and dialed the number that had called him the other day. "I am his translator. You are not qualified to know his number!" There was a calm voice on the other end of the telephone. "Oh, translator?" Chen Fan sat straight up. "Is that guy Abadi in? Quickly convey my message to him." Du...du...du... A busy tone was heard on the phone! "Hang up my call?" Chen Fan was mad and continued to press the redial button. The phone was cut off by the person on the other end three times in a row, but somehow the other person didn''t choose to turn his phone off. "Damn!" Chen Fan walked into his bedroom, pulled out a dozen unopened new SIM cards from the drawer, and picked one. Sure enough, after he changed to a new number, the other side answered the phone after two rings. "Ahem..." Chen Fan cleared his throat and said seriously, "Interpreter, you''d better not make a reckless move like you did just now, otherwise you will be severely punished by the Abadi guy." "You again?" The person on the other end paused for three seconds. "Please show respect to our great leader! If you have anything to say, I will pass on your message." "Okay, Okay! But please translate my message without any change to it. You tell him I''ll give him another day to think about it, and one more day to pay the ransom." Chen Fan arranged his words in his mind and said, "But unfortunately, your pirate ship will sink halfway after twenty minutes. And if I don''t hear from you tomorrow... the other half will go down. And in the days to come, as long as any ship is active in the sea, I will sink those ships too." "Haha." The person on the other end of the phone burst out into a huge criticizing laugh. "Rest assured, I will convey your words to our leader and I''ll look forward to your warning." "Well, by the way, there''s another message. I want to pass it to you." "Say it!" Chen Fan took a breath and cried out, "Go and eat shit!" Du... du... du... The translator stared at the phone. The expression on his face was as if he was pinched by the nose and was forced to swallow hundreds of green flies! 132 I Accede to Your Reques "Tell him, I''ll give him one more day to consider. Also, in the coming days, as long as there''s a ship on the sea" Inside a room decorated with all sorts of expensive, wild animal parts such as ivory utensils and a rhinoceros horn, the interpreter officer in a suit and leather shoes translated what Chen Fan said word for word. "Is this really what he said?" Abadi''s eyebrows jumped as he sat on the chair. "Yes, leader!" The interpreter officer looked at his watch and said, "He said he would execute this strike in twenty minutes. Seven minutes have already passed." "Thirteen minutes" Abadi knocked gently on the quartz table. "Bertrand told me previously that the time he says is right on the dot" Sinking more than thirty pirate ships docked at the port in one go? If this was really the case, the other party would need at least three submarines. "Impossible..impossible." Abadi did not believe that the other party had such great abilities. If the other party had the power to control three submarines, why would he need to do shipping? "Leader, what should we do?" The interpreter officer stood at the side. Although he sounded arrogant over the phone, he was no fool. The previous incident of the sinking of the two pirate ships had caused him to feel terrified. Abadi stood up and said with agitation, "Inform all the sailors immediately. Get them to sail all the pirate ships out of the port to anywhere. Just don''t gather at the same place." The fastest speed that a submarine can go underwater is just twenty knots, but the slowest pirate ship can travel at thirty knots. He wanted to see how many submarines the other party had to corner the pirate ships. "Yes, leader!" Five minutes later, the quiet Erigavo Port suddenly turned chaotic. Two to three hundred fierce-looking black men gathered from all over, as they ran onto the pirate ships for their lives. The pirate ships of various sizes were accompanied by black smoke and a roaring sound that reverberated through the entire port. They took action so fast? The electric eel watched the "great escape" of the pirate ships in a daze as he hid in the sea one thousand meters away. I gotta strike immediately, or else it would be much more difficult after the pirate ships disperse. The electric eel held the pike and quietly followed a white 300-ton pirate ship. The speed of the ship was thirty-five knots. Chen Fan waited for it to travel out for more than two kilometers before controlling the electric eel to slip to the front of the ship. With a few moves, he raised the pike so that the pirate ship would hit right onto the pike at a speed of seventeen meters per second. Bang! The thirty-meter long pirate ship suddenly jumped up, as if it had hit a mountain peak on the sea, before landing heavily on the water surface, splashing huge waves. A five-meter long huge crack formed at the bottom of the pirate ship, and seawater rushed in madly because of the pressure. "Headquarters, headquarters, we hit an underwater reef, we hit an underwater reef. Quickly send people to help, the ship''s gonna sink in one minute" Looking terrified, the captain of the pirate ship grabbed the radio and shouted. "Headquarters, quickly send help" "Roger, roger. Report your location immediately and get your life jackets on. I''ll get the ship nearby to save you!" On the left side of Erigavo Village, inside a 5,000 square meter, four-story white building, Brock, the radio liaison, immediately located the nearest vessel according to the satellite positioning system on the screen. After connecting to the ship''s radio frequency, he shouted, "Ship Number Twenty-Seven cruising at latitude 11.18.29 north and longitude 48.17.16 east has hit an underwater reef. Please rush to its rescue, please rush to its rescue" Buzz"This is Ship Number Thirteen, roger, roger, we will arrive in around five minutes." "How could there be underwater reefs?" Brock pulled the sea chart and tagged the location quickly with the use of calipers, but the chart clearly showed that there was no symbol for an underwater reef. After less than a minute, a terrified cry came from the radio again. "This is ship number thirteen...this is ship number thirteen. We also hit an underwater reef, please quickly send help" "Report your exact location!" Brock shouted into the radio. After using satellite positioning and getting the nearest ship to rush over to help, Brock grabbed the phone at his side and dialed thirteen numbers in three seconds. "Leader, something bad''s happened" Brock shouted madly. "Our ships...two of our ships hit a reef within five minutes." "What?" Abadi jumped up from the chair immediately. "I''ll be there in ten minutes." Ten minutes later Another ship cruising at twelve nautical miles away gave out a loud roar, and a huge crack appeared at the bottom of its cabin, as if it was chopped by an axe. "Headquarters, headquarters, our ship hit an underwater reef at latitude 11.32.45 north and longitude 48.53 east. Please send help immediately, please send help immediately" "Ah" Brock was dumbstruck. Although he didn''t know about Chen Fan''s threat, he knew that it was definitely not a coincidence. It was impossible for three ships to hit a reef consecutively within fifteen minutes. There must be an unknown reason behind this. Bang! The red door of the control room was knocked open, and Abadi walked in with a grim poker face. "Leader, leader" Brock pointed at the screen of the satellite positioning with his trembling finger. "Just a moment ago, another ship met with a mishap!" "I got it. Get the nearby ship to rush over to help" Abadi stood behind him with his hands on his back. It must be that Asian kid. It must be that Asian kid! Abadi''s face was extremely gloomy, but he couldn''t figure out how the kid was able to damage the ships without making them sink immediately. Could it be done by launching uncharged torpedoes? Abadi could only come up with this possibility after thinking for a long while. Although he didn''t have the ability to get high grade goods like torpedoes, he was no stranger to having knowledge in this area. A torpedo traveling at fifty to sixty knots and hitting the bottom of a small ton ship that is twelve-millimeters thick would cause the ship to sink within a short period. As a matter of fact, Abadi couldn''t be blamed for focusing his guess on torpedoes. Beneath the surface of the sea, only torpedoes and anti-ship missiles could cause this situation. However, it would be too far-fetched to say that it was an anti-ship missile attack, because the cost of one anti-ship missile was the same as a small size submarine. No idiot would burn his money this way, even if he was a rich American. Although his guess was totally unrelated to the truth, even if he got high on one kilogram of heroin, Abadi would never think that the culprit was a seventy-meter-long electric eel holding a forty ton pike. After all, this was a world of materialism. Even if Abadi saw the electric eel with his own eyes, he would just think of it as a humongous sea creature, instead of someone''s "criminal tool". Just as Abadi was steeped in fantasy, the thrilling shout from the radio brought his thoughts back to reality. "Headquarters, headquarters, this is Ship Number Three, this is Ship Number Three. We''ve also hit an underwater reef, please send help immediately" As he listened to the heart-wrenching voice in the radio, Abadi felt a flame burning from under his feet which shot all the way up to his skull. "Adjust the frequency to public waveband." The joints of Abadi''s hands gave out a cracking noise. After a series of disorderly sound waves, Abadi grabbed the voice transmitter of the radio. "Hello, this is Abadi. Listen up everyone. Take an S-shaped route at maximum speed immediately. If there''s anything unusual, send a sailor to watch the surface of the sea and make a detour immediately." "Yes, sir!" Dozens of replies came together from the speaker. However, when the handmade Cuban cigar in Abadi''s mouth was smoked halfway, the radio gave out a depressing sound again. Bang! Abadi pounded his fist angrily on the table, and sent everyone in the room trembling. "Interpreter officer, come over here!" Abadi took out his mobile phone and pressed a few numbers. When the interpreter officer rushed over, there were already thirteen ships that suffered the same fate. Damn it! How many submarines did he need to do this? Abadi had initially thought that the other party could only have three submarines at the most, but now it seemed like this figure was way too conservative. ... Over seventy pirate ships were sailing in all different directions. After destroying thirteen of them, the electric eel''s search became more difficult. After searching for around five minutes at its speed limit of eighty knots and not seeing anything suspicious, Chen Fan controlled the eel to gradually slow down its speed to sixty knots. It was too tiring to swim at that speed. Just like the case of a sprinter, although the explosive speed is very fast, it can not be maintained for long. Ring!! The mobile phone on the cabinet rang non-stop. At over thirty meters deep, the electric eel looked from a distance away and saw that there were no vessels for the time being. Therefore, Chen Fan retrieved his thoughts and answered the phone. "Hello, Mister Interpreter Officer, your leader changed his view so fast?" Chen Fan bantered. "I''m Abadi!" The interpreter officer translated word for word, and even his tone was exactly the same. "Hey, what''s up?" "I would like you to put a stop to this immediately!" Abadi took a deep breath. "As for the compensation, we can discuss it." "500 million, there''s no room for discussion!" Chen Fan sounded calm. "Didn''t you kidnap my crewmen and even threatened to kill them? I''m one who bears grudges." Abadi frowned deeply, and he was on the verge of collapse. What exactly was the background of the other party that he had such abilities? "The most I can do is return you the ransom money, and pay you another 50 million USD!" Among all those who had been blackmailed by him, Chen Fan was probably the only one who could make Abadi say something like this. "You seem to have overlooked one thing." Chen Fan''s voice was still very calm. "You''re not in the position to bargain with me at all. As long as you''re still in the pirate trade, I''ll be able to target your Achilles heel. So, I think you better get the amount ready that I requested. Although this amount is painful to you, your loss will only get bigger if you don''t do this." "In the end, you will realize that you don''t have any ships to sail out to sea. This means that all the pirates under you can only sit back and watch all the cargo ships at sea which represent "money" and not be able to do anything." The other end of the phone was silent for half a minute. "Alright, 500 million!" Abadi finally said as he gritted his teeth. "I''ll raise 500 million within three days, but you have to stop the attack on my ships during this period." 133 Brother Chen Fan "No problem, we are both businessmen, as long as you don''t intrude on my affairs in the future, and we both mind our own business, I will never disturb you again!" Chen Fan touched his chin. "When you have prepared the five 500 million, put the money in a sealed iron ship, and then I will give you the coordinates. And just send the iron ship there." "Okay!" Abadi was furious. "What goes around, comes around." This was the best way to describe Abadi''s feeling at this time. Of his kidnapped crew, the vast majority of people would immediately pay the ransom, not because of how valuable the goods on the ship were. In fact, even if he kept the crew, and only returned the cargo, Abadi would still get the ransom. Abadi finally tasted the feeling of the businessmen who he had blackmailed. In just half an hour he had lost 13 pirate ships. As long as this goes on, the submarines would make the pirates that fell into the sea panic, and they would probably leave, so Abadi had to agree with Chen Fan''s deal. ... "This is the consequence for blackmailing me." Sitting on the sofa, Chen Fan was filled with emotions. What would happen if he didn''t have this electric eel avatar? If he didn''t, this trip to the Gulf of Aden would make the small cargo ship merchants panic! It would take three days to get the money, and Chen Fan controlled the electric eel to a place more than 30 miles northeast, lurking in a deep hole in the bottom of the sea, as a temporary shelter. "Five hundred million." At the current exchange rate, that translated to 4.13 billion RMB. Nearly 4.5 billion, what an enormous number. "When I get the money, I have to renovate a villa with stat-of-the art updates, preferably by the seaside, and then another villa on the small island near the electric eel''s cave. Thus, with the electric eel, a sea monster''s protection, even if it could not make the ships and submarine sink, it could at least help Chen Fan to flee through the sea. When the electric eel was settled, Chen Fan went to the second-floor window and looked at the lake in front of him and mumbled. The reason for doing so was simple, and while Chen Fan knew that the chances of his opponent getting revenge were small, it was always right to guard against it. But Chen Fan never regretted that he did so. There would always be resentment just because people couldn''t forget and forgive, and it didn''t matter about right and wrong. Or it could be said as: even if you know it''s going to get worse and worse, you still go into it, because you''re not a coward! For example, the pirates had taken the ship and more than 30 employees to ransom for $50 million. If Chen Fan did not have the ability to retaliate, he could only bear it and swallow his anger and could not even report it to the police. But on the contrary, Chen Fan not only had the ability to retaliate, he also had the nerve to ask himself if he should just be a coward or fight back? Besides, as long as Abadi is not crazy, he would not dare to get into trouble with Chen Fan again. In just over half an hour, he had sunk 13 of Abadi''s pirate ships. Abadi is probably now terrified to death! Revenge is also to measure the strength of the other party first. Chen Fan has an electric eel, and can unscrupulously attack the ships. But what does Abadi have? Send some pirates to assassinate him? Come on! Regardless if they asked the crew for Chen Fan''s phone number, beyond finding Chen Fan''s location using his phone number, he would need to send someone to China, and then search the company''s internal system, according to the received signal to calculate the signal tower mobile location. Everyone knows the meaning of the proverb, cut the weeds and dig up the roots, and from the fact that Chen Fan could destroy his 13 ships in half an hour, if there were not a large military force in it, it was weird! Abadi is not a fool. Even if he knew Chen Fan''s location, he also had to consider that today''s scene could repeat itself, unless he was sure to get rid of the "submarine" and the power behind the "submarine." "Abadi, I''m sure you don''t want to know the taste of your whole army annihilated." Shaking his head, Chen Fan walked into the living room. ... At about 11 o''clock in the morning, his parents came back from the sea with Yun Meng, and there was still the excitement of seeing the sea on the little face of Yun Meng. The endless ocean. Even Chen Fan, who dealt with it every day, from time to time had to sigh about the magnificence of the ocean, not to mention a person like her who had never seen the sea before. On the lunch table, Chen Fan''s mother received a phone call from his youngest uncle in the Ganba district, saying that they would move to the new house tomorrow, and they were inviting Chen Fan and his family to gather with them. "Son, you don''t go tomorrow, take care of Meng Er at home!" Chen Fan''s mother said to Chen Fan after talking on the phone. "Okay!" Chen Fan was eating rice out of a bowl and did not look up. His youngest uncle was 25 years old that year, just got married less than seven months before, and his wife gave birth to a chubby baby boy. It was a typical example of a shotgun marriage. He probably made a fortune doing business over the past two years, just bought a car not long ago, and was ready to move into a new house. At eight o''clock the next morning, after his parents had said a few words to him, they left for Ganba district that was more than 70 miles away. Since he had nothing to do that day, Chen Fan sat on the sofa and watched the news channel. As for the Yun Meng, she stayed in the room and did not know what to do! "Brother Chen Can you take me to sign up now?" Yunmeng timidly came to the sofa, fidgeting with the corner of her shirt and said. She knew Chen Fan for only a short period and could not be as close as with her aunt. "Sign up now?" Chen Fan put down the remote control and looked at her questioningly. "Not planning to play a few days more? You know, going to school is like going to jail, and then you will have no freedom, and you have to do your homework every day." Yun Meng was stunned and silently looked at Chen Fan with her eyes wide open, not knowing what to say. According to her, if she can learn every day, it would be the happiest thing in life. She couldn''t imagine that there were people who thought that school was like going to jail. "Well, don''t look at me with that strange look!" Chen Fan spread out his hands. "I just said my opinion. If you want to go to school earlier, I will contact them for you now." "Okay," Yun Meng said with a soft tone. "Thank you brother Chen Fan!" "Welcome." Chen Fan turned off the TV and stood up. "Do you have your household register? It seems to require a household register for the procedure." "I have it. I''ll get it now!" "Then you go and get the household register first. I''ll make a call to my friend," Chen Fan said as he took out the phone and called Zhang Xueyang. "Hey, what''s the matter?" "Are you free now? I''m going to take my relative to register. What did they say? You have to go with me, or I have to find the person in charge? "Wait a minute, I''ll ask my dad. I''ve no idea on this matter!" The sound of climbing stairs came from the phone. After about a minute, the silence in the line was broken by Zhang Xueyang. "My dad said, you go straight to that Huang... Huang..." Zhang Xueyang turned again asked his father, and said, "is the principal Huang Guangyu. You go to his office and say you are Chen Fan. My dad has informed him about you. You won''t even need to pay the procedure fee. You will only need to pay the tuition fee." "Thanks!" "Why all the manners? We are bros, right?" Zhang Xueyang said with a tone filled with brotherhood, "Wait for my birthday on the 15th next week. You can send me a Bugatti Voyage!" "I''ll give you an F22 Raptor!" ... On the way to Yucai High School, Yun Meng held her household register like she was holding a gold bar and was looking at Chen Fan who was driving and about to say something but stopped. It took a long time to gather up the courage, and Yun Meng was hesitant to speak out. "Chen... Brother Chen, can... can you take me to buy a bag first?" "What, a school bag?" Chen Fan turned his head in surprise and looked at Yun Meng as if he were looking at an alien. "Those aren''t even used by kindergarteners now. It would be a pain to carry big and small bags to school every day." "Then... Then..." Yun Meng asked in a doubtful tone, "Then how will I carry my books?" In fact, Yun Meng could not be blamed for asking this. Remote areas and coastal developed cities, not only their own way of life, even students'' study habits were very different. In their place, if you go to school and don''t carry a backpack, your seen as the bad student. Even in poor families, they would use a school bag even it was made out of a rag. "Well... " Chen Fan spent a long time thinking. It seemed that none of his classmates had carried their school bags. They just threw two books into the bicycle basket, while the female classmates... "Well," Chen Fan said, looking over his shoulder. "I''ll help you buy one, that... that type of satchel. You only need to bring back some of the books you need each day." In silence, the car quickly reached the Yucai High School, which had eight words that meant filial piety and honesty written in Chinese on the tall high school building that was glistening in the bright sunlight. "Yucai High School." Chen Fan looked at the eight flash typed words on the building, and his heart was mixed with feelings. This was Chen Fan''s former middle school and high school, the best high school in Zhongyun City. With Chen Fan''s achievement, it had been a big miracle for him to have gotten a place there. As a matter of fact, Chen Fan''s grades were always in the top 10 of the class when he was in primary school. But when English became a master class, Chen Fan soon found himself in tragedy. In his memory, he had scored more than 60 points in English in the first month of the exam, and all the other examinations had never exceeded 40. The damn school also arranged the students in the examination room according to their results, which caused Chen Fan to give up after trying to copy the answers from the next table. His English teacher, the head teacher, brought him into the office every day to memorize vocabulary words. It took him at least half a day to memorize them. His endurance and perseverance were absolutely touching, for a full two years. This made Chen Fan completely disgusted with the psychology of learning. And then online gaming came along, consuming all the youngsters. So, like many bad students, Chen Fan was slowly depraved by all kinds of factors. Chen Fan didn''t drive his car into school, even though the doorman had pushed the remote door to the limit. He parked the car at the gate of the school. Under the doubtful look from the guard, he took Yun Meng and entered the school, a familiar and unfamiliar school for him. "Eh? Lao Wang, look at this man, doesn''t he look like the person a few years ago, that... that... " "That person who, in three months, six times in a row, pulled out the teacher''s bicycle valve, and then was caught by us." The man who was called Lao Wang was drinking cheap tea and staring at Chen Fan''s back. 134 Money Laundering Walking around the campus, looking at the familiar grass and trees, Chen Fan could not help but sigh and shake his head. Chen Fan led Yun Meng through a road of bluestones, pine trees, and green bamboo bushes to the Octagonal Building. Knock Knock... Chen Fan tapped on the door of the principal''s office. "The door is unlocked. Come in!" As the banging on the door continued, a loud voice came from the room, issuing an invitation for Chen Fan to enter. Pushing open the door, Chen Fan stepped into the room. "You are?" The voice of inquiry came from behind a pile of documents on the table, where a man in his forties with a square face was peering out at him. "Principal Huang, my name is Chen Fan," Chen Fan waved at Yun Meng, who stood outside the door. "It''s Uncle Zhang, the one who asked me to come to you" "Oh, I see!" Principal Huang rose from his chair with a smile. "Mr.Chen is very young! When Zhang Aiguo spoke of you to me, he said that you were his business partner. You are so young to have reached such success!" "Not at all," Chen Fan smiled, answering him humbly. He felt awkward in his heart. It turned out that this guy was Huang Guangyu! He used to quarrel with him at the school assemblies! Chen Fan could tell that he did not recognize him. "Mr Chen, which grade will she be joining?" Principal Huang drew an application form from the desk and handed it to Chen Fan. "Grade 12!" "Ok, then, if it''s grade 12.." Principal Huang knocked on the table in front of him. "I shall assign her to Class One, which is the key class for the third year. The teacher for this class has three teachers, who have all won the title of ''Senior teacher.''" "Thank you, Principal Huang." Chen Fan was a former student of this school, so he knew that he was telling the truth. "As for the fees, the book expenses for half a semester, plus other expenses, come to a total of five thousand and eight hundred!" Principal Huang drew out a receipt and wrote a note. "Take the note to get the book first, and I will introduce you to the teacher in Class One." "Ah" Yun Meng, who was standing behind Chen Fan, was stunned, her little face full of surprise. Pulling out a stack of cash from the chest pocket of his jacket, Chen Fan passed some to Principal Huang. He then took the note, ready to go to the Academic Affairs Office to get the books. "Chen Fan, you have been cheated by that man! Five thousand eight hundred is too much!" As soon as they were out of the principal''s office, Yun Meng refused to hold back her comments, as he hurried forward to pull Chen Fan''s arm. Just now, in the principal''s office, she had even tried to interrupt Chen Fan several times, but she knew in her heart that it would only have made the situation awkward, so she had waited to approach Chen Fan with her concerns. "This guy didn''t lie to me," Chen Fan grinned. "When I was in school, it was only a few hundred dollars cheaper than this fee. In fact, the fees here are all like this." "After six years of school, that would be more than 60,000." Yun Meng was completely stunned. ... The number of books assigned in grade 12 was more than 20, before even counting the review material texts! "Go to class first, then I will buy you a satchel and wait for you at the school gate," Chen Fan instructed, while walking in the corridor of the white teaching building. "According to my experience, most of the grade 12 courses are to consolidate your knowledge from before, so as long as you take your time, you should be able to catch up gradually." "Okay" Yun Meng replied absent-mindedly. This would be the first time that she had entered a classroom in three years. Obviously, she was pretty nervous. The door of the classroom was ajar, and the students could be heard being given a mathematics equation that gave even Chen Fan a headache! Chen Fan carried the books to the green door. He coughed twice and interrupted the female teacher mid-speech. Hearing someone coughing outside her door, the old woman turned her face and shot Chen Fan a suspicious look. This.This. Isn''t he too old? He seems to be in his twenties, so surely he can''t be entering a grade 12 class?! Although the teacher was surprised at how old this person was, this arrangement had been made by the principal, so she did not have any right to refuse it. "Class, let''s welcome our new student with a big round of applause." The female teacher smiled at Chen Fan. "New student, would you please introduce yourself at the podium?" Clap...clap... There were more than 40 pairs of curious eyes, staring up at Chen Fan. "What!?" Chen Fan quickly turned his head to look for Yun Meng, only to find that she was shrinking into the corner of a wall at the back of the classroom, staring nervously at him. The expression on her face was the same as that of Chen Fan''s, when he had first started kindergarten! "Go!" Chen Fan encouraged her. Hiss... "Okay..." As Yun Meng timidly walked to the front of the classroom, the whole class, including the teacher, issued a jointly amazed gasp. "Hello, everyone." Yun Meng started, still very nervous, "My name...is.Yun Meng." Clap clap clap... Under the invisible pressure, Chen Fan put a thick pile of books in the empty seat, completely ignoring Yun Meng''s helpless signals to him. He then left the classroom quickly. "This is not a nice place to stay," Chen Fan mumbled to himself, while walking out of the classroom and ruthlessly loosening his collar. At that time, the mindset of Yun Meng was no better than Chen Fan''s, as she sat there alone in a vacant seat. The contents of the teacher''s lecture, for her, was no less than the scripture from the wizards. She didn''t understand a thing! Fortunately, after five minutes, there was a nice chiming sound that came from outside the window, which caused the female teacher to stop teaching and walk out of the classroom with her lesson plan. "The class is over?" Yun Meng looked around in confusion. "Where are you from, young lady? How old are you?" At this time, a beautiful lady sat down beside Yun Meng, and before Yun Meng could even answer, the lady added, "Who was that man with you just now?" "He..is..my..brother." "Your brother? I don''t think so." The young girl touched Yun Meng''s shoulder with her left hand, then lifted her scattered hair on her forehead with her right hand. "My name is Ma Ruoxi. If anyone dares to bully you, just say my name!" ... "Boss, how much is this thing?" Chen Fan asked, as he pointed to a satchel with a rabbit''s face on it. "One hundred and twenty-seven." the tall and thin shopkeeper ran up and pointed to the satchel. "This is the latest style, which just came out last week, and the shops around the school are selling them like crazy." "Then, give me two." Chen Fan took out three bills from his wallet. After buying two satchels, Chen Fan walked into a mobile store and chose a relatively small Nokia phone. These days, even the children in elementary school all carried mobile phones. By giving Yun Meng a mobile phone, Yun Meng could contact him if anything happened. "School is over at 11:50" Sitting in the car, Chen Fan looked at the watch, seeing that today''s class had two and a half hours to go. With some time to kill, Chen Fan drove to the seaside pier. Since the first poisonous sac became Ghost Moon Incense, it was eaten by the electric eel. So far, there were nine cysts, six of which had achieved a successful metamorphosis, while the remaining three were left by the umbrella-body ghost jellyfish. However, their metamorphosis'' are estimated to be soon! Opening the dock''s gate, Chen Fan turned off two electric fans and solar lights, then climbed onto the roof and uncovered the fire blanket, allowing some natural light to reach the remaining three crystal surfaces. The other five Ghost Moon Incense had been picked up by Chen Fan for the eels to consume when they returned. These three poisonous sacs, which had not yet completely metamorphosed, had gradually begun to exude a charming scent. Whenever Chen Fan smelled it, the electric eel body in his mind would accelerate the secretion of the adrenal gland. The strong desire to devour it, brought the intention to immediately jump in the water and consume one. "Oh, my Ghost Moon Incense." Chen Fan stared at the three gray-white spheres that had now become the size of a washbasin. These days, Chen Fan had been looking for information on the Internet to see if he could find out more about the big cave in the Tonga. But, the results had been disappointing. Not only was there no information about the cave, but not even a single word could he find about the species of the ghost hair jellyfish! Although Chen Fan did not know much about the ocean, he understood how strange the cave was, not only because of its huge space, but also because it could breed so many strange creatures within it! "Don''t reproduce something like Godzilla." Chen Fan muttered to himself, the corner of his mouth twitching as he sighed. Chen Fan straightened up and moved his legs, then turned on the electric fan and the sun lamp, covered the fire blanket, and drove in the direction of Yu Chai Middle School. At the gate of the middle school, Chen Fan looked at the time. He still had 10 minutes left before school ended. After he turned on the car''s radio and listened to three songs, the school''s door slowly opened. Stepping off his car, Chen Fan came to the side of the electric gate and stretched out his head to look inside, trying to find Yun Meng. After waiting about two minutes, Chen Fan saw a lady elf standing amid the countless sea of students, holding a stack of books in her arms. "Hey?" Chen Fan was stunned. Wasn''t that the little girl who had walked with Yun Meng, Ma Rongtao''s daughter, Ma Ruoxi? Why is she at this school? At this time, Yun Meng rushed towards Chen Fan, passing through countless people to get to him. In this completely strange, completely confused environment, Chen Fan was her only consistent thing. Hence, she really depended on him. In fact, if Chen Fan did not wait for her at the school gate, she would not have even known how to get home! "Greetings, Big Brother Chen Fan." Ma Ruoxi saw Chen Fan, then followed Yun Meng to say hello. "Are you in the same class with Yun Meng?" Chen Fan quickly looked for a topic to talk about casually. "Yeah." Ma Ruoxi raised her eyebrows at Chen Fan. "Put your trust in me! I can guarantee, no boys will hit on her at school." This promise directly turned Yun Meng into a ripe persimmon, as a touch of red spread under her eyes, quickly travelling towards her neck. It was a deep, shy blush indeed! A bashful face always strikes a man''s heartstrings, especially one that belongs to a pretty girl with a pretty face. So, seeing her, Chen Fan was naturally shaken. But, luckily, Chen Fan was a man who knew to bind his instincts with propriety and integrity! "You." Chen Fan shook his head. When he was eating at Ma Rongtao''s house, Chen Fan had thought that she was very quiet and ladylike, but the truth that he had ultimately found was disappointing... "Goodbye Big Brother Chen Fan! My ride is waiting for me at the gate!" Ma Ruoxi pushed Yun Meng towards Chen Fan, then stuck out her tongue and ran away. "Well, did you understand the stuff the teacher said today?" Chen Fan led her to the left side of the car, while curbing his desire to replace the word stuff with "sh*t." "I didn''t understand" Yun Meng looked at Chen Fan, confused by him. She felt a lot of pressure lately, regarding her new schooling. "It doesn''t matter if you know it or not, as you will probably forget it anyway!" Chen Fan handed her the cell phone in his pocket and said, "I bought you this phone. It contains my phone number and my parents'' number. If anything happens, please call us immediately." After hesitating for a long time, Yun Meng accepted the mobile phone, trying not to blush. In her heart, she already regarded Chen Fan as her future husband. "Chen Fan, my teacher said that every student must wear a school uniform" Yun Meng held the satchel that Chen Fan had bought for her, as she whispered the words. "Well!" Chen Fan took some money of his pocket and handed it to her. "After paying the school uniform fee, keep the rest to buy some food and other things. Tell me if you need more." Back at home, Yun Meng put down the satchel and went to the kitchen, saying that she wanted to have lunch. But, she didn''t know how to use the modern kitchen, so she had to ask Chen Fan for help. Chen Fan tried to teach her how to cook, but ended up just ordering two takeout meals instead. At the dinner table, neither of them were that comfortable or familiar with each other''s interests, so there were no topics to talk about. After Chen Fan finished his meal, he went into the bedroom. After Yun Meng cleaned up the table, she went to her bedroom to study. Back in his bedroom, Chen Fan turned on the computer and continued searching for information. This time, he was not looking for the cave in the Tonga, but rather was researching a high-tech criminal activity that he started yesterday...Money laundering! The sum that Chen Fan was dealing with was about $500 million USD! If it was just a small amount, and a little bit of spending, or involved only using the company''s accounts and slowly spending it, that would be fine. But, Chen Fan knew that he couldn''t leave the nearly full truckload of dollar bills at home and change it day by day. At that rate, he would not finish ever, even by the time that he died! So, it was very necessary for him to study how to launder money correctly and secretly. When he searched the Internet, there was a lot of information that he found online, some of which was very lively. Other than data on antiques, the stock market, casinos, securities and overseas companies, there were other detailed steps regarding operations also provided. There were even various websites that popped up, which shed some light on specific companies connected to that niche. But, Chen wouldn''t be stupid enough to find or deal with those companies, as he knew that there were all kinds of illegal businesses on the Internet, 99 percent of which were utterly fraudulent! 135 At 12 Midnigh Money laundering. This was a game with the government. No comprehensive plan and various countermeasures; it was easy to fail. But Chen Fan looked at the things written by these people online, and their way was clear and specific, as if by just doing what they wrote, a huge amount of property would be cleaned up right away. But he knew that if he did this, the difficulties would not be little. In 1920, a Chicago Mafia financial expert bought a coin-operated washing machine, calculated the laundry revenue each night when, combined the money with the illegal income, and then reported and paid taxes. After deducting the taxes, the illegally obtained money became his legal income, which was the earliest history of "money laundering." Now the money laundering method has been developed into a variety of methods. It could be called money laundering even if a roadside kiosk could do the job! But 500 million dollars... Chen Fan scratched his head. It would be easy if it were RMB, but 500 million dollars he had to find a way to convert it to RMB. "More headaches with more money." Chen Fan shook his head and stood up from his chair after watching the time at the bottom of the screen. Walking to Yun Meng''s bedroom, Chen Fan found that the door was not locked. Then he gently knocked twice and with a creaking sound opened the door. "Yun Meng, there''s only a half hour before the class begins. I''ll take you to school!" "Okay." With a soft reply, Yun Meng rose from her desk and loaded the book into the rabbit-pattern satchel. The electronic odometer of the car showed the distance from the Bolan Garden to Yucai High School was three kilometers. When they were about to reach the school gate, Chen Fan turned to Yun Meng and said, "I''ll take you a few times and after you are familiar with the route, I''ll buy you an electromobile. Then you can take it to and from school every day." School started at 7 o''clock every morning and ended at 9:30 p.m. If Chen Fan had to pick her up all the time, he would immediately ask Yun Meng to quit. "Just buy a bike. I don''t know how to use an electromobile," Yun Meng said with her slender fingers twisted. "A bike is too difficult for a three-kilometer journey, and high school classes are demanding. Your schedule will be tight." Chen Fan pointed to an electromobile on the sidewalk to the right and said, "It''s very simple. It will drive automatically if you don''t loosen the right handle. I''ll get it for you, and you can practice." After he had dropped off Yun Meng, Chen Fan made a u-turn with his car and went back to his house to continue studying about "money laundering." To tell the truth, it was a bit early for Chen Fan to study these things. It was like buying baby supplies before he even had a wife. But Chen Fan did not worry that Abadi would dare to be bold because Chen Fan is slyer than he! It was about four o''clock in the afternoon, and the sky outside was getting dark, and the dark clouds seemed to be enveloping the whole earth. "Looks like a storm is coming." Chen Fan went to the window and looked at the view. The depressed sky was overwhelming. Living near a coastal city, Chen Fan has long been accustomed to this kind of weather. If there were anything to destroy humanity and cause destruction to social stability and prosperity, the government would surely give a warning. Rumble... As he just finished his thought, in the distant dark cloud, suddenly a flash of lightning struck. Five seconds later, a roar of thunder reached Chen Fan ears. "Pour, just pour," said Chen Fan, standing in front of the window. "Let the storm come more violently!" Men, especially heartless, savage men, love to see these frightening natural wonders. Ring. A ringing interrupted Chen Fan''s cheers and pulled his gaze back from the distance. "Hey, Dad, what''s up?" Chen Fan looked at the number and pressed the answer key. "Son, I can''t go home with your mother tonight. I just sat in your little uncle''s car. It was raining cats and dogs outside, and I couldn''t see the roads most of the time. So tonight we''re going to stay at his house and wait for the rain to stop." "It''s going to rain here, but it doesn''t look like it''s going to be as heavy as where you are." Chen Fan looked out the window and predicted. "Then you take good care of Meng Er at home!" "Okay!" Chen Fan agreed. Hanging up the phone, Chen Fan looked at the time. Yun Meng should be having her lunchtime now. He dialed her number. It was about 20 seconds before she answered. "Hey, Yun Meng, after school, go down to the shop and have something to eat. I''m picking you up tonight." "Okay," Yun Meng answered softly. On the first floor of every Yucai High School, there is a shop that sells snacks and food, that way no one would be afraid of being caught in the rain. After shutting all the windows upstairs and down, Chen Fan continued to sit in front of the computer and search for the information he wanted. Many people would immediately turn off and unplug the TV, computer, and other appliances when it was thundering, afraid that the lightning would strike close enough to burn up anything plugged in. But Chen Fan didn''t think it was necessary. The speed of the sound in air was about 340 meters away. When you see lightning, then hear the thunder, as long as there is a three-second delay between them, there''s no problem. After about half an hour, the whole sky was fading into the darkness, and even a single ray of sunlight could not penetrate the clouds. And the lightning, as thick as a water bucket, struck over and over in the sky above the city of Zhongyun. "Lightning!" Chen Fan looked out of the window without moving his eyes. If the electric eel could unleash the fury of nature, how wonderful would it be? Lightning''s temperature can reach 17,000 to 28,000 degrees. The temperature is three to five times that of the sun''s surface and at the moment it released voltage, it could reach 100 million to one billion volts, and its current would be 20,000 to 40,000 amperes. And some lightning can be dozens of times more powerful than that. What is the concept? If the electric eel could continue to release the equivalent voltage as the lightning energy intensity, not to mention the submarine that was made of steel, even if the Ultraman came into a five-meter range of the electric eel, he would be dead. "Huh." With a sigh, Chen Fan shook his head and shook off his fantasy in his head. Then he ied down and shifted his mind to the electric eel and continued to strengthen its watermelon-sized pituitary. ...... At about six o''clock, a shrill ringtone from the mobile phone rang, jolting Chen Fan from the electric eel thousands of miles away. When his mind was back, the sky outside the window was completely dark, and crackling raindrops were hitting the window. "Hey, Yun Meng, what''s the matter?" "Brother Chen Fan, because of the heavy rain today, the school is not planning to let us study late. Could... Could you come and pick me up? " "Okay, stay in the classroom. I''ll be there in 20 minutes." Hanging up the phone, Chen Fan got up from his bed and looked around for an umbrella. After searching for a long time, Chen Fan found a sunblock umbrella in a corner downstairs that had been brought back with his mother from her travels. The rain outside was not very thrilling, but the lightning was a little frightening, and there was no sign of it stopping. Three kilometers... Chen Fan twisted the car''s rain blower into the fast gear, and it took 15 minutes to drive to the gate of Yucai High School. It was crowded and there was no sign of space. Looking at the door that was filled with people with umbrellas, Chen Fan was frustrated. There was no place for him to park, and he would have to walk in the heavy rain. After looking for space for a long time, Chen Fan finally parked his car in front of a store dozens of meters away. With the silver umbrella, he cursed the rain god and quickly ran to the school. Holding his umbrella high, he finally managed to get through the crowd to the building. Near the stairs, Chen Fan could see Yun Meng standing on the landing trembling in fear, her rabbit bag slung over her shoulder, her hands holding a stack of unopened school uniforms. When Yun Meng saw Chen Fan coming from the stairs, the butterflies in her heart faded! A free umbrella! It was too small to cover two people, and the distance from the building to the car was more than 400 meters. Chen Fan was a little heartless, but when it came to being a man, he was never hesitant. The raindrops, which were the size of the beans, hit half of Chen Fan''s body from time to time, and he got a lot of rainwater on his face. Yun Meng felt sorry, whenever she saw Chen Fan''s appearance, her body could not help but move outside of the umbrella. "Don''t move and stay under it!" Chen Fan frowned and said something unkind. The sun umbrella could not hold two people, and if there must be a person caught in the rain, Chen Fan was definitely a more suitable choice. Of course, if it was Wang Bing who was with him, Chen Fan would take the umbrella all for himself. It was almost November, and the rain was still a bit cold. But he was feistier than a bull, and even if he spent half an hour in the sea during winter, he would be able to climb up again. The worst that could happen was that he would feel uncomfortable under the rain. Yun Meng was also trying to be a gentleman? This made Chen Fan very uncomfortable. Once Chen Fan spoke out, Yun Meng immediately obediently carried the backpack and school uniform and came close next to the side of Chen Fan''s body. When they got home, Chen Fan walked to the second-floor bedroom, stroking his hair back with his hands, then quickly took off his clothes that were half wet, wearing only shorts. He then found a clean shirt to put on. There was not only crackling rain outside, but the lightning was still striking. Chen Fan changed his mind on calling delivery. He let Yun Meng show her cooking skills instead. Dinner was simple. Master Kang''s instant noodles with mountain mushrooms and eggs! It''s not that Yun Meng can''t cook. In fact, before her grandpa broke his leg, she was in charge of the three meals a day at home. Even stupid people could make something edible, and it would be no problem because she was not stupid. It''s just that Chen Fan always settled his hunger with food delivery, and the fridge had little in it to eat. Master Kang''s instant noodles with the mushroom really tasted good. Yun Meng ate the food and almost ate the plate too. "Go to bed early this evening, but keep studying!" Chen Fan looked at Yun Meng carrying her bag into the bedroom, and hurriedly gave the advice. "I''m telling you, that is half the key to success, but I don''t want you to hurt your eyesight." "I know. I''ll go to bed at 10!" Yun Meng was playing with the little bunny hanging from the bag. In fact, she would like to say: "Brother Chen Fan, you are confused. It''s not half the key. It''s the whole key to success." Of course, Chen Fan did not know that he had used the wrong idiom, and he went into his bedroom after he had told her to rest early. At twelve o''clock midnight... No long after he was playing the War of Lords and attacked his own kind, Chen Fan got a phone call from an unknown number. "Hello. I''m Mr. Abadi''s translator. He asked me to convey to you that 500 million dollars has been raised and can be sent tomorrow." On the other end of the telephone came a fierce male voice. "Hey!" Chen Fan giggled while pinching his nose, and said with a strange accent, "My dear pirate, Sir, why it''s one day before the appointed day, did you blackmail any big fat sheep again?" "You will tell me the address tomorrow, and I will send the money at once." The translator suppressed his anger then snapped off the phone. "Huh!" Chen Fan gave an annoyed look, then pressed the off button. "Five hundred million... 500 million..." Chen Fan was lying on the bed with hands behind his head, looking at the white ceiling above and said to himself, "And it is god damn 500 million dollars." The last time the electric eel took up to six days to rush to the Gulf of Aden. After he took the money, according to the normal speed, it would be here in about a week. That was to say, there in a week, he was going to be the richest man in Zhongyun City. "One month to exceed the Zhongyun City, half a year out of the provincial capital, a year to rush out of the country, two years from Asia, and three years to be the world''s richest man." Chen Fan calculated one by one with his fingers. After fantasizing about his good life in the future, Chen Fan got out of bed and went to the bathroom, filled the tub with warm water, and then stripped naked and got into it. He was ready to take a bath and get good sleep, leaving his spirit to deal with the big deal tomorrow. Washing his body, especially the lower part, he then squeezed some of the Head and Shoulders brand shampoo on his head, rinsed it out, and dried his body with a towel. Chen Fan only wore a pair of boxer shorts since he was about to go to bed and went to his bedroom with a pile of clothes. It was already twelve o''clock midnight. The rain outside was still going on, and from time to time the thunder and lightning made the whole sky shine like the day. "Ah... " Just as Chen Fan was about to close the bedroom door, all of a sudden, from the next room, there was a shrill scream from Yun Meng. Chen Fan was shocked by the shrill scream that broke the silent night. After he regained his senses, he threw down the clothes he was holding, wearing only a pair of drawers, and opened her bedroom door. Luckily, the door of Yun Meng''s room was not locked. 136 Eerie Cries It was impossible to see anything inside the dark bedroom. Chen Fan slapped his right hand on the wall and the incandescent lamp brightened up the entire room. Yun Meng was curled up on the bed and holding onto the quilt with a pale face filled with horror. Her trembling slender finger pointed at the darkness outside the window as her teeth chattered like a hardworking woodpecker. "Out...o-outside" "Don''t panic, what exactly happened?" Chen Fan quickly walked to the window and looked outside. Other than the pattering raindrops, there was only the occasional lightning in the darkness outside the window. Chen Fan observed for a long while near the window and did not see anything suspicious. The district''s security system was very good, so there shouldn''t be any ignorant or loathsome pests here committing crimes. "I heard... I heard a woman howling." With bare shoulders, Yun Meng trembled as she curled inside the white silk quilt. "A woman howling?" Chen Fan''s first reaction was a stray cat in heat. He had been frightened by one before when he was young. That sound was indeed terrifying, and Chen Fan had even been frightened to tears. Therefore, he naturally thought that Yun Meng mistook the sound of a cat in heat as a woman howling. Just as Chen Fan wanted to console Yun Meng, what Yun Meng said suddenly made Chen Fan''s hair stand. "No, it''s not a cat''s scream." Yun Meng''s big pretty eyes were so filled with fear, that she didn''t even notice that Chen Fan was only in his boxers. "Cats usually only make calling sounds in spring. It''s late autumn now, and that sound was not from a cat." Yun Meng who had been living in remote areas for over 10 years had greater understanding on habits and sounds of animals than Chen Fan. In fact, Yun Meng could even tell the gender of the cat just by listening to it''s calling sound when in heat. Eerrr...ahhh...yaahhh Suddenly, a series of sharp screaming sounds pierced through the glass barrier and exploded in Chen Fan and Yun Meng''s eardrums! What kind of sound was it exactly? It was as if there was a demoness in a deep valley sending out desperate and shrilling yells. "Ah!" The terrified Yun Meng screamed again, hiding her head in her arms and trembling all over. Anyone who saw her would definitely think that she saw a demon. "Don''t be scared, don''t be scared." Although Chen Fan was also frightened, as a man he could only grit his teeth and suppress the fear inside him. Chen Fan now also understood that it was definitely not the calling sound of a cat. It was impossible for a cat to produce this kind of shrill cry, which could overshadow the sound of raindrops outside and pierce through the glass barrier, and could be heard clearly in the bedroom. Moreover, judging from its tone and frequency, the sound definitely surpassed the limits of the sounds a cat could make. Seeing the way Yun Meng was trembling, Chen Fan rushed out immediately and grabbed the Kunwu dagger from under his pillow. Clang! He withdrew the blade, which had an air of swiftness and ferocity. "This must be someone''s mischief. Don''t be scared, don''t be scared." After rushing back into Yun Meng''s bedroom, Chen Fan pulled her into his arms and stroked the back of her head with his left hand, as though he was stroking a kitten. His calm and composed look made the shaken Yun Meng gradually regain her cool. There was a saying that artefacts can ward off evil. Although Chen Fan did not believe in supernatural beings, he definitely felt much more confident with an artefact in his hand. "What... what''s that?" Yun Meng curled up in Chen Fan''s arms and did not even dare to open her eyes. "I''ll go out and take a look. You stay here and don''t move!" Chen Fan said solemnly as he stared outside the window with dagger eyes. "No" Yun Meng grabbed Chen Fan''s arm tightly, and her shiny black hair shook rapidly. Eerrr...ahhh...yaahhh Another shrilling howl came, and Yun Meng wished she could embed her delicate body on Chen Fan''s chest. The surrounding air seemed to stand still. Chen Fan stared outside the window without moving at all, his right hand grabbing the dagger in front of his chest, and his left hand stroking the back of Yun Meng''s head. What the f*ck is it exactly? Chen Fan cursed silently. It sounded so mournful as if the throat was stuffed with glass, yet it was so sharp and loud. It was definitely not from a human being. The most terrible thing was that the sound came from the bottom of the window. "Lion...tiger...wolf...leopard" Chen Fan eliminated the large beasts he could think of one by one. As for supernatural beings, Chen Fan felt that there wasn''t such a possibility. "Yun Meng, be good, let go of me. I''ll go outside to take a look." Thinking that this couldn''t go on, Chen Fan gently shook his left arm and moved his chin close to Yun Meng''s exposed ear. "No...no" Yun Meng almost cried out. She was like a drowning person grabbing onto a life-saving straw, unwilling to let go of Chen Fan''s arm no matter how many times he repeated. Eerrr...ahhh...yaahhh The shrilling cry came almost every 30 seconds, sending shivers down Chen Fan''s spine, not to mention Yun Meng''s. There was lightning and thunder outside, in addition to the pouring rain. Chen Fan did not carry any hope that the security outside could hear the eerie cries. In fact, even when Chen Fan passed by the door just now, he didn''t hear the cries from the bottom of the bedroom due to the rumbling thunder, let alone the security guards who were probably somewhere hiding from the rain. After a series of deafening rumbles of thunder, the light in the bedroom suddenly went off, and Chen Fan''s heart suddenly clamped. It was past midnight, with lightning and thunder, plus the ghostly cries. He would be lying if he said that he wasn''t scared. If Yun Meng wasn''t there, Chen Fan would definitely quickly put on his clothes and run out. "Brother Chen Fan, why... why did the light go off?" Yun Meng felt a change in brightness in her closed eyelids. Trembling, she quickly opened her eyes and then shut them again. "The Power Supply Bureau probably cut off the electricity!" Chen Fan forced out a laugh as he felt the delicate body separated by a layer of velvet quilt in his trembling arms. "When there is lightning at close-range over here, the Power Supply Bureau will cut off the electricity supply of many districts after twelve midnight to prevent the lightning from damaging the entire circuit network. Eerrr...ahhh...yaahhh The creepy howling sound came again. Yun Meng didn''t say anything, but coiled her whole body on half of Chen Fan''s body and buried her head into Chen Fan''s arms. Now that there was no more lighting, Chen Fan didn''t dare to go out to check anymore. He could only hypnotize himself by repeating, "It''s not a ghost, it''s not a ghost" -------- It was midnight during late autumn, and there was a thunderstorm outside, so the room temperature was very low, around 13 degrees. Chen Fan had just showered and was not wearing much, therefore, his skin, which was exposed to the air, gradually turned cold. With Chen Fan''s current physique, he might not necessarily catch a cold, but the feeling of cold was unavoidable. Yun Meng''s entire body including her head was curled inside the quilt, but her exposed arm which was on Chen Fan could feel the temperature of his skin very well. After struggling with the idea for two minutes, Yun Meng finally mustered her courage and did something she never dared to imagine! Withdrawing the hand on Chen Fan, Yun Meng held a corner of the quilt and quickly pulled it over Chen Fan before cuddling herself into Chen Fan''s arms like a kitten. There was a rumbling of thunder, and a flash of lightning shone on Chen Fan''s astonished face. Eerrr...ahhh...yaahhh At that moment, Yun Meng''s strong fear was temporarily driven off by endless shyness. A dreamy color of rouge spread to a large area from Yun Meng''s slender neck, quickly covering a pair of elegant ears. Chen Fan''s actions were extremely straightforward. Letting go of the Kunwu dagger in his right hand, which was outside, his palm went past Yun Meng''s waist and gently laid on her burning tummy. That wasn''t all. Chen Fan''s left arm went over Yun Meng''s neck so that her face rested in the crook of his arm, and his right leg stretched across her slender legs. At that moment, the surrounding air seemed to be sweet-smelling. Chen Fan had just bathed, and even used "Head & Shoulders" plus "Johnson''s Baby Wash." Because of her shyness, Yun Meng''s burning body kept exuding a sweet creamy scent. Chen Fan was in his boxers, and Yun Meng was only wearing white cotton shorts and a white tube top. At that moment, the sounds of raindrops, thunder, and howling seemed to be suddenly isolated from the beautifully embroidered velvet quilt. Yun Meng''s eyes were bright and clear, and her ears seemed to be temporarily deaf. She couldn''t sense any external noise, feeling only endless bashfulness! Yun Meng''s smooth skin seemed to possess countless strong electric charges, greatly stimulating Chen Fan''s nerve endings. Within two seconds, Chen Fan had a physiological reaction, and even the breathing sound in his throat gradually became heavy. Suddenly, intricate expressions such as blushing, disbelief, and sheer fantasy flashed across Yun Meng''s face one after another. Her pupils dilated to the extreme, and her body was stiff like Venus casted in marble. The culprit of all these wasn''t Chen Fan''s physiological reaction, but because Chen Fan''s palm which was on her burning tummy gradually moved to her chest. Her heart became the territory of Russia''s fragmentation, breaking, restructuring, and then breaking into pieces again. Her tensed body slowly, unconsciously became pliant and weak. 137 Taking The Goods Today Chen Fan''s palm gently crept into the tightly bounded garment, felt a smooth texture under his hand, and the hand seemed to be stuck in it. It was even more softer than the good silk. Yun Meng''s eyes opened, and she gave out a whimper like a cat and slowly closed her eyes again. MEEEE AAAAAAA EEEEE The shrill howling voice, which came from the window, was still loud and fierce. The dark bedroom could only illuminate Chen Fan''s face when the lightning struck, while Yun Meng''s face was buried under the quilt. She was very ashamed and afraid. Better to not study Chen Fan''s thoughts at that moment, as they were very superficial and straightforward. Anyone could guess what they were. While Yun Meng''s brain was buzzing, her mind bubbled like boiling milk. Since she''d never encountered a situation like that before, how could she have the ability to think. She only knew that she subconsciously held on to Chen Fan''s hand, while her body was now as soft as noodles. Almost every woman thinks that a man, on a particular occasion, will be transformed into an animal that thinks with his lower body, even if he is usually such a gentleman. On that issue, their male counterparts could not deny it! To paraphrase the old ancestor''s words: to pour the evil fire in the mind that can not be suppressed no matter what. In keeping with that, Chen Fan, who was in his 20s and virile, could not control the devil fire would definitely melt away most of his rational thought. Breathing slowly, his palms slowly move downward, gently covering the crotch of Yun Meng. This time, Yun Meng''s soul was almost launched out of her body. Her soft legs suddenly huddled together, and she felt as though she was shocked by electricity. ...... However, just as Chen Fan wanted to do more, suddenly he felt a chill running from head to toe. Every hair on his body stood up, and the muscles under his skin involuntarily beat. Chen Fan sprang up, and his eyes were filled with shock. Screech...KadakHeehee! A burst of sound that would give anyone a chill down their spine and have cold sweats bursting with fear came from the window. It sounded as if the devil''s claws were rubbing against bone. "Ah!" Yun Meng shrieked, and then quickly wrapped herself tightly in the white silk quilt, leaving Chen Fan alone outside. Chen Fan jumped up from the bed, not caring to comfort Yun Meng, and during a flash of lightning, grabbed the Kunwu dagger, which had fallen on the ground, and rushed to the window. "Hua!" He pushed open the window with his left hand. With the veins on his forehead pumping, the rain blew in to splash on his face and chest. Chen Fan pointed his right hand in front of the anti-theft window, his eyes scanning back and forth across the dark courtyards. The terrifying sound came into Chen Fan''s ears in beats of two tones per second. Without the glass blocking the noise, Chen Fan became aware that there was something with claws continuously scratching across the door of the sitting room downstairs. "Who the hell is that?" shouted Chen Fan. Rumble. A bolt of lightning lit up the sky. To Chen Fan''s horror, in the courtyard, he actually saw a pool of a pale red blood washed by the rain, and the direction of the blood flow was toward the front of the villa''s inner door. Creak! Chen Fan''s teeth shattered. "Just do it!" After hesitating for five seconds, Chen Fan''s face twisted, and he roared, leaving Yun Meng alone and ran to the stairway. In the dark villa, there was no sight of anything, and Chen Fan, with his left hand on the wooden handrail, ran downstairs blindly. Thump...thump...thump... Chen Fan came to the living room with bare feet and fixed his eyes on the red anti-theft door after he had looked around. "There is no ghost in this world. There is no ghost in this world." Chen Fan tried to convince himself, then tried hard not to listen to the terrible noise and walked step by step to the door. Touching the handle of the security door, Chen Fan yanked it open with a swish, and immediately thump...thump...thump... three steps back. "God! What the hell is this?!" For a moment, Chen Fan''s calf was trembling. The guts had disappeared. On the white granite surface outside the door was a tiger or leopard-like creature about 1.3-meter crawling. It was covered with brown and black striped hair. And on the left side in the abdomen of the monster, there was a 30-centimeter long cut dripping with blood. Its human adult-skull-sized head stared at Chen Fan, and it kept giving out a sharp roar. Rumble The sky once again heaved a bucket of thick lightning, and the monster''s eyes were illuminated by the dark green light. "Ah!" Chen Fan cried strangely, then took two steps backward hurriedly. "What is it?" Chen Fan''s teeth were chattering. It was not a dog, not a cat, not a leopard, and there was a long, white beard, like an old man''s, on the jaw of the monster. Rumble... The monster stopped the sharp howling and splashed Chen Fan, but the huge pool of blood on the ground seized most of its strength and it could only stand up, trembling. Bang!, Chen Fan took up the ashtray from the nearby tea table and smash it on the belly of this monster. Chen Fan''s strength was great and with the monster suffering from severe injuries and unable to escape, the heavy ashtray abruptly caused its ribs to sag. "Damn you, you little animal!" As soon as he saw that the thing was lying on the ground and could not get up, he made two steps in front of him at once, and held up the Kunwu dagger that was a foot long and stabbed its head. Swish! With a slicing sound, the monster instantly split, blood spattered, and the blood spraying from the neck wound, sprinkled on Chen Fan''s face a little. "Try to scare me?!" Chen Fan said, with his teeth clenched, lifting his right foot to kick its stomach. Bang! He kicked it three to four meters away, and it hit the white gate with a clang! Yun Meng was wrapped in a quilt with her face was against the anti-theft window. Her eyes were wide with astonishment as she looked onto the courtyard and asked anxiously, "Brother Chen... Chen Fan What... what... what is it?" From her point of view, she could see the monster that had been kicked to the gate by Chen Fan. "It''s supposed to be a big cat," Chen Fan said with a bright smile on his face after wiping the blood off it. "Ah!" Yun Meng covered her small mouth with a scream and immediately slammed the window because Chen Fan''s appearance was too scary. "Damn!" Chen Fan squatted on the ground to gasp, to calm his tense mood. It was damn scary. In the middle of the night, there had been an injured monster at the door. After a few minutes, Chen Fan touched and found his way to the kitchen and found a snakeskin bag for rice. Then he walked under the heavy rain, picked up the monster''s head, and stuffed the body in. There was no electricity, and he couldn''t get a bath, so Chen Fan stood in his boxer shorts and let the pouring rain wash away the blood. The monster was too big, and after he had cut its legs off with a dagger, he forced it into the bag. Carrying the corpse of the monster, Chen Fan sneaked to the front of the lake, then stuffed a dozen pebbles into the bag and tied it with a rope. With a splash, he threw it a distance away. "How did this thing come in the yard?" Chen Fan said to himself as he shuddered on his way back. The blood in the yard has been washed away by the heavy rain, and there was no sign that there had been a terrible massacre there. After finding a towel to dry, Chen Fan was ready to rediscover his way to Yun Meng''s bedroom. "Hey!" Chen Fan shook the handle gently. She had locked it from inside. "This ...This ...This" Chen Fan was standing outside, constantly scratching his head, trying to knock... but did not know what to do after knocking on the door. Surely he couldn''t say to Yun Meng, "I destroyed the monster, now let me into your bed." Just before, Yun Meng had been in a state of shock, so Chen Fan had had the opportunity to take advantage. But there was no longer an atmosphere of terror, which had been the key factor, and to climb into the bed of a girl he had only known a few days seemed to be "Not very likely." Chen Fan got up and thought for a long time, and, in the end, he could only walk back to his bedroom. That night, Chen Fan slept in miserably, while Yun Meng was curled up in the quilt, experiencing complete insomnia. ..................... The next morning, when he rubbed his eyes and woke up, he found that the weather outside the window had cleared up, and the warmth of the sun was shining brightly through the glass. From the bed, Chen Fan suddenly remembered that he had not taken Yun Meng to school yet. He quickly felt the phone and looked at it. It was a quarter past eight. "Damn!" Chen Fan grabbed his clothes and went out of the living room. He found that the bedroom was open and empty. "Brother Chen Fan, I took a taxi to school." Chen Fan squeezed the little piece of paper taped to the door and read every single word on it. "Since when does she know how to take a taxi to school?" Chen Fan scratched his scalp. After washing, Chen Fan sat in front of the computer and studied the Google satellite map for half a day. Then he dialed the foreign number that called him yesterday. The other party said that they could deliver it today, and Chen Fan, of course, felt that the faster he got it, the better. As soon as the call went through, there came the cold voice from the translator. "Hello. The money has been put into a sealed tin. You can give me the coordinates!" "Haha. How efficient!" Chen Fan laughed twice. "North latitude 11.23.24, east longitude 49.12.45." "You can go now, but I warn you, don''t take anything for granted or play tricks with me, or the consequences will be serious!" The site, which Chen Fan chose, took about four hours from the pirate''s nest, and according to the local time, it would be night. Du ...du...du.. The other end hung up the phone directly! Three and a half hours later, Chen Fan turned off his computer monitor and leaned on the sofa, then shifted his mind to the electric eel in the Gulf of Aden. 138 The Hulk’s Transformation Solution The sea area which Chen Fan chose to "receive goods" was over 300 meters deep, and there were few vessels in the surrounding area, thus making it an ideal place for transacting. It was around 8 p.m. local time. The electric eel which was waiting at a water level of 100 meters heard the roaring sound from a propeller. Shortly after, there was a huge vessel gradually sailing toward the intended location. It was a blue 5,000-ton container ship. Its empty deck had only a 15-meter-long, five-meter-wide and two-meter-tall black aerodynamically-shaped ironclad. At the tail of the ironclad was an enclosed hatch with a rubber gasket added to it. There were two methods pirates used to collect ransom money: one was making the cash cow send a helicopter to deliver it somewhere, and the other one was making the cash cow load it onto a speedboat and then discard it at a designated place. This time, they finally got a taste of their own medicine. After the blue container ship arrived, the heavy boom on the deck slowly started moving, raising the ironclad and lowering it to the water''s surface before releasing the hook. Thump! The huge waves caused by the ironclad threw the six black men on the deck onto the floor, almost washing them into the sea. One minute later, Chen Fan received a call from the interpreter officer again. "We''ve already dropped the USD at the designated place. You can send people to receive the goods." The interpreter sounded like someone in his family died, as if the 500 million USD was from his pocket. "My men have already informed me. You can tell the blue container ship to get lost now." Chen Fan was sitting on the couch and sounded a little annoyed. Chen Fan really didn''t like his attitude. It''s your problem if you feel pain in your heart over the money. Why do you have to vent it out on me? Doo...doo...doo The interpreter officer hung up the phone. "Whoa...how arrogant!" Chen Fan looked at his mobile phone and pursed his lips. Two minutes later, the blue container ship slowly left the sea area. Within five minutes, it couldn''t be seen anymore. Fifteen meters was a piece of cake to the electric eel. With a few moves, it swam to the bottom of the ironclad which was almost submerged in water. After grabbing the center portion with its two back claws, the eel dived straight into the sea. Chen Fan wasn''t afraid of anyone keeping watch nearby or using observation means such as taking photos. In the middle of the night, one could only observe up to a distance of around 600 meters even with night vision equipment. As for thermal imaging equipment, it would be useless as long as there was a water barrier, because the heat from the eel''s body could not transmit to the water''s surface at all. After getting the money, Chen Fan gave a sinister smile before pressing the redial key on his mobile phone. "Hello?" The interpreter officer still sounded like a jerk. "I''ve already gotten the stuff, but I''m not in the best of moods now....so I''d like you to do something to cheer me up!" The interpreter suddenly had a bad feeling. Just when he was about to speak, Chen Fan cut him off. "Give yourself two tight slaps!" Chen Fan sat casually on the couch with his legs crossed. "I''ll give you five seconds to consider!" "What?" The interpreter was dumbstruck. What is this? Slap myself? "Uh-huh." Chen Fan''s lips curled upwards. "One, two, three, four" Pah! Pah! After counting to four, two slapping sounds came from the phone. Who knew if they were real. Doo...doo...doo It was Chen Fan who hung up the phone this time. At the same time, the electric eel which was hiding at the Gulf of Aden suddenly opened its eyes. Bringing along the pike and the ironclad, it quickly swam toward the direction of Zhongyun. -------- At 11:30 a.m., Chen Fan drove to the school to pick Yun Meng before bringing her to the nearby supermarket for shopping. At the supermarket, Chen Fan suddenly stopped and then walked two steps back with a weird expression on his face. Then, he kept staring at a poster on the telephone pole. "Brother Chen Fan, what''s wrong?" Yun Meng followed Chen Fan''s gaze curiously before giving out an "ah" and covering her mouth. "Missing." "I''m a resident at Second Floor of Block C, Bolan District. I lost a pet yesterday; its scientific name is North American Lynx. It has gray fur with dense black spots all over and long white fur at the chin. Anyone who provides useful information will be rewarded 1,000 RMB. The person who helps to find the pet will be rewarded 5,000 RMB. Attached: my contact number and photo of the pet." The animal on the clear colored photo was exactly the same as the creature Chen Fan killed the night before. "This...this" Chen Fan touched his chin awkwardly and then pulled Yun Meng''s hand. "Stop looking. Let''s get out of here quick! We''ll be dead if the owner discovers us." Swoosh! Two patches of red began to spread to the cheeks from under the ears before extending toward the neck. After trying to struggle free unsuccessfully, Yun Meng could only follow Chen Fan''s footsteps passively. Lunch was a little perplexing. Yun Meng secretly glanced at Chen Fan from time to time, but when he looked at her, she quickly looked away and bit her chopsticks, feeling all confused. Of course, the relationship between men and women was an extremely complicated geometric equation. Not only would it branch out to many vexing wrong calculations, there were also no solutions in the end. -------- At 6 p.m. Zhongyun time, the electric eel arrived at the sea south of Oman territory. It planned to rest for a while before continuing toward the Arabian Sea and then go all the way to Sri Lanka''s territorial waters the next day. Just as Chen Fan was feeling bored and controlling the electric eel to chase an 11-meter long baleen whale, his parents'' voices came from downstairs. "Isn''t it better to go to Jiuzhaigou? The scenery there is definitely superb. Why do you have to go to the Wudang Mountains?" Chen Fan''s mother looked at her husband as she walked up the stairs. "You don''t have an ex-lover in the Wudang Mountains. What do you wanna go there for?" "As you wish. I''m not gonna argue with you alright?" Chen Fan''s father took of his jacket and placed it over his shoulders. After seeing Chen Fan sitting on the couch upstairs and looking into the bedroom he asked, "Son, where''s Meng Er? Why don''t I see he upstairs or downstairs?" "She went to school." Chen Fan stood up to stretch himself. "I took her for registration yesterday!" "This child is a little autistic. It''s good to let her go to school so that she can interact with new classmates." Chen Fan''s mother let out a sigh and walked to the front of the coffee table. "Son, your dad and I will be setting off tomorrow. You have to take good care of Meng Er and don''t bully her!" "Do I look like I will?" Chen Fan pointed at his own nose, looking as if he had been greatly wronged. "I didn''t even let her cook, and I still ordered takeout at noon." Chen Fan''s mother gave him a contemptuous look. "I don''t know what you did, but your cousins all run away whenever they see you." "That''s because they were mischievous. I gotta teach them a lesson before they get out of hand." Chen Fan placed the remote control on the coffee table in her hand. "I''m going in to play on the computer." The next morning, Chen Fan''s parents gave him a few winks with deep hidden meaning before getting onto the tour bus with two bags of luggage. -------- Six days later, the electric eel, which had crossed the territory of two continents, finally returned to Zhongyun City after half a month. Chen Fan did not rush to deliver the money to the shipyard, but controlled the eel to the 20-meter long and 100-meter deep hole which it had dug among the reefs. After throwing the pike into the hole, the eel then carried the ironclad and swam toward the shipyard. As there was a speedboat inside the shipyard; Chen Fan had to drive it to the side so that it leaned close to the cement stairs. After waiting until 10 p.m., he opened the main gate of the shipyard and let the electric eel secretly bring the ironclad inside. At its current length of over 70 meters, the electric eel had to expose half of its body to enter the shipyard. As the shipyard was only a little over 50 meters long, its tail had to stay outside. Thump! The electric eel, with half of its black back exposed, forcefully raised the black aerodynamic head and threw the ironclad onto the steps with its two-meter long shiny claws. If a novelist had witnessed this scene, he would definitely exclaim the birth of a "sea dragon" before using a whole load of flowery words to describe this huge creature which could only be found in fairytales. "This is even more eye-catching than a sea dragon!" Chen Fan exclaimed while squatting on the steps. "Not only can this big fella of mine release electricity, but it can also use electromagnetic induction to strengthen its pituitary gland. Can a sea dragon do that?" After fantasizing for a while, Chen Fan walked to the front of the ironclad thrown up the shore. With his two hands on the rotating disk, he turned it toward the left forcefully. Creak, creak, creak. After the rotating disk hit the bottom, the hatched suddenly opened by a huge force, and countless brightly-colored hundred dollar bills printed with the head portrait of Franklin gushed out like a burst in a dam, covering Chen Fan''s calves. How much is 500 million USD? Chen Fan remembered he had previously seen on the internet a photo of 200 million USD hidden by a Mexican drug trafficker. Like everyone else, he was stunned by the heaps of banknotes at that time. However, what he was seeing with his own eyes now and belonged to him was two and a half times that in the photo. Five hundred million USD! This wasn''t a simple Arabic numeral, but the world''s strongest currency which could fill up an entire bedroom. Looking at a large portion of the bills inside the hatch which had not flowed out, Chen Fan felt his heart almost popping out. No wonder there had been reports of people winning 500 million and then dying of heart attack. This was because the visual impact was simply too huge! After half an hour, Chen Fan finally struggled out of his mania. Although the US dollars were a huge sum, he couldn''t use them yet as they had to be "laundered" clean first. Therefore, Chen Fan decided to feed the electric eel with the eight pieces of crystals which had already turned into ghost moon incense. He wanted to see if the eel would be like the hulk after drinking the transformation solution, increasing its strength, endurance, and explosiveness by more than a level! 139 The Evolution Of Electric Eel The money was not a thing that he could rush about, and it took Chen Fan more than half an hour to put the dollar bills on the ground into the cabin and then tighten the door. Patting his hands that were covered with copper fragrance of the money, Chen Fan jumped onto the yacht. The three ghost hair jellyfish''s poison sacs, through this period of metamorphosis, had become ghost moon incense. Now Chen Fan kept them in the metal box in the yacht with the other five-piece. Just as he opened the big aluminum alloy box, an extremely strong scent immediately dashed into Chen Fan''s nostrils, then the electric eel in the water subconsciously jittered, as if it had taken drugs and was desperate to devour all of them including the box. Eight pieces; five pieces were light grey, 20 centimeters in size, and three egg size crystals. "According to the time taken by the last two ghost moon incense to digest, the eight pieces, if taken one at a time, would take about 13 days to fully digest," Chen Fan said, wiping the saliva drooling from his mouth, forcing himself to suppress the desire to eat. After five seconds of thinking, Chen Fan decided to give all eight ghost moon incenses to the electric eel in one go. After all, 13 days was too long, and Chen Fan didn''t think that the electric eel could endure the desire for so many days. Controlling the electric eel''s mouth to open wide, Chen Fan squatted on the steps, throwing the ghost moon incense into the mouth of the electric eel. The electric eel swallowed it as if it were fairy''s meat and immediately backed out of the dockyard with half a billion dollars and swam between the coral reefs and the cave. It took 10 minutes to reach the cave that was 100 meters deep, and Chen Fan was lying in the driver''s seat of the car with his eyes closed and carefully felt the feeling of being inside the electric eel''s body. Eight ghost moon incenses, the combination of all them didn''t amount to the size of a bucket in the electric eel''s super-large stomach. It would not even cause a wave. Slowly, the white crystals, which were melted by the gastric juice, began to enter the intestines and were then surrounded and absorbed by the capillaries that were attached to the intestines and were eventually transferred into the bloodstream. Warm... Just like the warmness in the hot spring, and the whole body felt lazy. He was even too lazy to open his eyes. About half an hour later, Chen Fan was almost comfortable enough to snore. Now the electric eel was not just lazy, even the muscles and the bones were beginning to feel flaky if it were the feeling of a hot spring. The feeling at this moment was like a drug addict who has just come out of a compulsory rehab, and then he is invited to a hot spring and is taking a high degree of pure opium. So comfortable! "Would the electric eel become addicted like being addicted to smoking?" Chen Fan thought maliciously in his heart. For the time being, there was nothing unusual about the electric eel. Chen Fan decided to go back to the house and stay back to see what had happened to the electric eel. Back home, Chen Fan took a bath, then dumped himself into the bed. The electric eel was still the same, too lazy to move. Chen Fan observed it for a few minutes, and then he couldn''t help but fall asleep. ........... At six in the morning, Chen Fan was awakened by a strong sense of hunger, not from his own belly but from the electric eel''s. It''s hard to describe the feeling. The hunger was so strong that it felt like eating its own claws. The crystals in the electric eel''s stomach still hadn''t been digested fully. It felt lazy and hungry at the same time. Chen Fan had to transfer his mind to the electric eel, and with hungry eyes began searching for a huge school of fish nearby. Within two or three miles, a large group of fish could not be found, but there was a large number of fried mackerel. Boom... A strong bluish-white electric light spread like a virus to a 700-meter diameter around the electric eel. The mackerels, which were originally vigorously moving, were immediately stunned. Roar... The electric eel opened its mouth wide and dashed to the whole group of fish like a tornado. The electric eel gobbled up more than 30,000 mackerel. Except for a few that had escaped, they all went into the electric eel''s belly. As its belly had expanded into a ball, the electric eel felt too lazy to go back to the cave. So, it simply lay down on the bottom of the sea, quietly digesting the food. What shocked Chen Fan was that it was only three hours after the electric eel had digested the food, and the strong hunger had returned. Shaking his head, Chen Fan had to continue dragging its lazy body to find fish to eat. .......... At half-past two in the afternoon, Chen Fan found something strange. Under electromagnetic induction, a layer of cellular tissue beneath the electric eel''s skin began to divide and change gradually into a new cellular tissue. And, the cells of the original cells were slowly engulfed by a protein catalyzed and released by the new cells. "What is this?" Chen Fan was confused. The first two times it devoured the ghost moon incense, this situation did not appear. Was it because it swallowed too much at once, so it produced a variation in the quality? The new cells gobbled up so quickly that they consumed the nutrients in the skin cells of the electric eel in less than an hour. And the electric eel''s dark, shiny skin, which had lost its nourishment, grew dimmer, and the same thing occurred with the four claws, too. "Is the electric eel shedding its skin?" Chen Fan looked at the electric eel''s old cuticle, separated from the new cell layer and wondered in confusion. The newborn skin layer was still dark but was much more exquisite than the old skin layer. Under the conditions of magnified by 10 times electromagnetic induction, he could actually see there were fine scales, like the electric eel''s four claws. By five o''clock in the evening, the crystals in the electric eel''s stomach had already digested by half, and the skin felt like it was being tickled by a goose feather. The four claws of the electric eel rubbed against each other, grinding away the original dead skin, but he could only sigh about the itchiness on the back. But this situation was quickly overcome by Chen Fan. There was a more than 70-meter long terrorist monster at the coral reef near a cave, unexpectedly rubbing on a big rock to and fro, making the whole area of seawater stir and became muddy. The dead skin surface, which was worn away by the electric eel in large chunks, revealed a fine, silk-like scale skin. "Is it possible that a large number of ghost moon incense will also lead to the evolution of the electric eel?" Chen Fan stared at the black scale of the electric eel. Under the pressure of survival, the genetic makeup of a biological group will change with time and lead to the corresponding phenotypic changes. But does the electric eel have pressure for survival? It has good food to eat and was more comfortable than any living thing in the sea. It was lucky enough to have a genetic chain of its body that won''t degenerate. How could it still be evolving? The only possibility was that ghost moon incense has the power to optimize the genetic chain. And from the skin of the electric eel, the perfect part of the whole skin was the four claws on it, and there were dark, thin scales there. So when the gene was optimized, the gene chain on the claw was selected first for replication. The new scales were a little tender, but the defense force on the skin was several times better than before. And when electric eel violently discharged electricity, there would be a bluish-white wavy light projected on the skin, like a 3D holographic projector, which made the scales beautiful. Half of the crystals were still not digested. Chen Fan didn''t know how many volts the final voltage could reach, but if in accordance with the present growth rate calculation, it should not be a problem for it to increase 35,000 volts. More than doubled. "Cool!" ......... The next day. Waking up from the hunger, when transferring his mind to the electric eel Chen Fan was suddenly startled. Ten meters below the electric eel''s head in the body cavity there was a long, tank-sized globule. The electric eel rubbed its claws across its belly. It was still sleek and smooth, without any bumps, as if it was destined to be there. Under the detection of electromagnetic induction, Chen Fan was speechless. The huge globule, wrapped in a strong white connective tissue, was the same as the poison capsule that had been removed from the body of the ghost hair jellyfish, full of light green venom. In addition, the white mustard tissue was also covered with neat venom glands, which eventually coalesced into a 50-centimeter-thick hollow white mustard pipe connected to the mouth of the electric eel. Like a cobra. Chen Fan didn''t have to try it. He knew that the electric eel could easily squirt the light green venom out of the water 20 meters away. It was just from in the ocean. If the electric eel''s head were out of the water, Chen Fan would be able to spray it at least 50 meters. If the electric eel shed its skin, Chen Fan could find out the reason for it; the extra poison sac, Chen Fan couldn''t find any reason for it. The electric eel can''t doesn''t have a tendency to evolve like a cobra, right? That''s bullshit. It''s totally two different species. Bang... When the electric eel''s mouth was opened, a light green liquid, half a meter in diameter was squirted out from the poison sac by the strong muscle in the abdomen, penetrated through 20 meters of water, and scattered. What struck Chen Fan was that this light green poison had an unexpected glow in the dark liquid. In the sea of more than 300 meters deep, it sent out bright clean light like moonlight. However, its poison, like its color, was completely for decoration. Within the range of the venom''s spread, only the small fish died among all the fish in the surrounding area. However, the thresher shark that was nearby only floundered like a shrimp when it contacted with the poison that was neutralized by the sea water. Half a minute passed, and it was still alive. "No value. No value at all." Chen Fan shook his head, seeming to temporarily have no use for the electric eel. The electric eel was afraid to eat the poisoned fish. And the venom that had just been sprayed, took half of the storage capacity in the poison sac, not to mention that the quantity was little and the thing was useless. "It is useless for sure!" Now the ghost moon incense in the electric eel''s belly had completely dissolved, and the electric eel''s lazy feeling had disappeared. Now he only felt excited, as if he was injected with 100 percent pure stimulant. Moving the electric eel''s muscle discharge organization, Chen Fan wanted to see if the evolution of the electric eel could achieve an improvement. Boom... The electric eel gave out a fantastic flash. A deep and remote blue light with a speed difficult to capture with the naked eye spread around in a circular shape to the scope of a kilometer and just disappeared. It was almost similar to what Chen Fan had estimated. The electric eel''s full discharge was capable of reaching 35,000 volts. With a swish, the electric eel, with a 150 knots per hour speed limit, shot to the Shimen Trench that was at a distance. The streamlined body swung quickly, like a dark elf with a shuttle in the ocean. "Let''s see if the electric eel can reach the depths of more than 4,000 meters." 140 Bomb In The Deep Sea Shimen Trench was 32 nautical miles away from the hole among the reefs. The electric eel only took 13 minutes to arrive at the bottom of the huge ravine. The deepest point of Shimen Trench was said to be over 4,500 meters, and the eel could now dive to a depth of 3,000 meters. After taking a deep breath and with its head facing downward, the electric eel quickly dove down along the gentle slope of the trench. Upon the eel reaching the 1,000-meter point, Chen Fan discovered something that made him rejoice. Previously when the eel reached this depth, it would need to use electromagnetic induction to sense the surrounding, but now it could actually see the scenery within 2,000 meters clearly. What did this imply? It implied that when the quantity of the ghost moon incense increased, there would be changes in its quality. The previous time when the electric eel consumed the two pieces of ghost moon incense, although the strengthening effect was very obvious, it was nothing compared to this time. Strengthening could no longer be used to describe the eel, it was going through an evolution, an earth-shaking evolution. When the electric eel dived to 2,000 meters and arrived at the location where it had previously gotten the treasure box filled with jadeite and larderite, the visibility of the surrounding decreased to around 1,500 meters, but it did not feel any pressure or cold. The gentle slope below was within the eel''s sight. It was still extending downward at an angle of 45 degrees, and there were no cliffs or other landforms. Upon reaching 3,500 meters, the electric eel finally felt slight water pressure, but that feeling did not affect the eel''s movements at all. As for its vision, the eel could only observe up to around 1,000 meters. What puzzled Chen Fan was how the electric eel''s vision did not change since reaching a depth of 3,000 meters. The depth had increased another 500 meters, but its vision remained the same and did not decrease with the depth of the seawater. At that moment, within the eel''s vision was vast whiteness. Even the small fish on the gentle slope were snow-white throughout, and it was not possible to tell where their eyes and noses were. After stopping for over 10 seconds at this position, the electric eel took a deep breath before moving its tail, preparing to dive to the bottom at one go. As it got closer to the bottom of the trench, the pressure on the eel''s body increased. When it reached the bottom of the trench, which had the water pressure of over 4,000 meters deep, the eel felt a little out of breath. However, it could still manage to hang on, so it was estimated that there was at least another 700 to 800 meters to the eel''s diving limit. The electric eel''s diving limit should be around 5,200 meters. Chen Fan came up with such a conclusion according to the feel of the eel''s body. The scenery of the deep sea was not as colorful and gorgeous as the shallow waters. Due to the lack of sunlight shining there, the surroundings were as lifeless as desolate land. -------- After controlling the electric eel to swim aimlessly on the seabed for a few minutes, Chen Fan gradually felt some changes to the temperature of the seawater nearby when he wanted to float up to the shallow waters. It seemed to be getting hotter! Right! It was getting hotter, although the seawater was still around the range of zero degrees Celsius just now... After swimming for a few hundred meters in the direction that the temperature of the seawater was increasing, the electric eel suddenly sensed a pungent smell of sulfur. There was actually an oceanic volcano around 500 meters in front of the electric eel, and black plumes of smoke were spewing out of it. No wonder it''s so hot! Chen Fan came to the realization. The temperature at the vent of an oceanic volcano can usually reach 300 to 400 degrees Celsius, but the electric eel was still over 600 meters away from this 500-meter tall oceanic volcano, so it didn''t feel too hot. Nonetheless, the smell of sulfur in the surrounding area was suffocating. Although the electric eel couldn''t stand the suffocating sulfur smell, that didn''t mean that it was harmful to all living things. In fact, there were countless fish, prawns and crabs near the vent of the volcano, which was over 400 degrees Celsius. They were swallowing mouthfuls of these volcanic ashes, rich in bioactivity to replenish the nutrients in their bodies. Nature was really amazing sometimes. The seawater at over 300 degrees Celsius was even more powerful than a high-pressure cooker. There were different creatures living happily at this type of extreme temperature, which was no less than the temperature on Mars? As Chen Fan was reveling in the spectacular view of nature, a large whitefish, around 28 meters in length and white all over, swam from the left side of the electric eel. It was a large fish which looked like a grooved razorfish. It had a flat body, and its mouth was especially protruded in a tubular shape, which was very similar to that of a dolphin. The huge fish swam near to the vent of the volcano, opened its big long mouth and inhaled the burning black smoke into its stomach. The electric eel gasped. Volcanic smoke! Don''t tell me its stomach has some powerful, large refrigeration equipment? After inhaling for a good five minutes, the large, grooved razorfish finally swam toward the left of the electric eel, burping. At a length of 28 meters, other than its sharp mouth, it didn''t have any obvious means of attack. As for the two huge flaps of fish belly, Chen Fan felt that they were just unpalatable food. "Little fish, where are you running to?" Chen Fan roared and controlled the electric eel to make a few moves toward the front of the grooved razorfish, blocking its way. Chen Fan''s idea was very simple. The electric eel had just completed its evolution and still did not know specifically how much its fight coefficient had increased. Therefore, he wanted to catch this grooved razorfish to test it. Although the 28-meter long grooved razorfish was considered huge in this sea area, it was like the difference between an adult and a baby when it was in front of the 76-meter long electric eel. What made it more chilling for the razorfish was that this "adult" wasn''t a human being, but a "wild monkey" with four metal-like sharp claws. Some living creatures are bold while some are timid, and the grooved razorfish apparently belonged to the latter. When it saw a scaled monster blocking the way, it immediately moved its tail and wanted to slip through from below. Pah! The electric eel thrust its tail and hit the belly of the razorfish, smashing it all the way to the seabed more than 20 meters away. It was a heavy blow. The razorfish struggled for a long while to get up before widening its eyes, giving the eel a fierce stare, and then slipping toward the left again. The razorfish''s speed was around 40 knots, and wasn''t too far from the electric eel. After catching up with a few moves, the electric eel threw its claw on the body of the razorfish, and blood splattered. The injured razorfish turned its head and poked its five-meter long tubular mouth toward the electric eel''s belly. It was welcomed by the electric eel''s huge opened mouth followed by a flow of pale green poisonous fluid which shot toward the razorfish like an arrow. However, Chen Fan seemed to have overlooked one thing. This fella could even inhale the extremely high temperature thick volcanic ash into its stomach, so the small amount of poison from the electric eel had no effect on it at all. After it was surrounded by the poisonous fluid, it actually opened its mouth and took two mouthfuls of it as if it was opium. Boom! The electric eel''s shiny scales suddenly shone, and a bolt of 3,500-volt pale blue electric ray suddenly swept across a radius of 1,000 meters -------- Something strange happened. Under the attack by the strong current, the pale green poisonous fluid surrounding the grooved razorfish suddenly burned like gasoline, looking like an oceanic volcano eruption. What was the effect when a fluid suddenly burned under a strong water pressure at 4,500 meters? Without a doubt, the huge seawater pressure which could flatten an enclosed army tank would form a natural enclosed space around the flame, and the flame would instantly generate an atmospheric pressure of up to 1,300 internally. The atmospheric pressure was three times that of the external, so the flame would explode like a hand grenade! An earth-shaking noise and fire came, shrinking instantly before the flame exploded and tore the razorfish into an unrecognizable lump of flesh. Chen Fan was totally stunned, and he did not even feel the rushing current hitting on the eel''s body. He had thought that the poisonous fluid was rubbish and of no use, but this thought totally dissipated with the sweeping of the electric current, and was replaced by: so the electric eel''s poisonous fluid was actually powerful. The fluid inside the poison sac could actually burn. It wasn''t rare that the fluid inside an animal''s body could burn. Even the fats inside a human being''s body can burn after a simple refining process, and Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty had been refined this way by the Jin people previously. In fact, when the electric eel''s discharge was more than 5,000 volts, it could already use the discharge to ignite the oxygen and hydrogen from its mouth. However, this required the eel to release the discharge intensively to break down the water in its body into hydrogen and oxygen which are flammable gases. Therefore, it was a lousy self-damaging method of killing an enemy. However, that wasn''t the case for the poison sac. The electric eel did not have to release discharge intensively, but only needed to consume some food, and it would automatically be stored in the poison sac without any effort. The only drawback was the size of the poison sac was too small, and it could only support the electric eel''s discharge 2 ? times a day. But why did this matter? This stuff was much better than using all its strength to release a discharge. It was just like a deep sea bomb, and Chen Fan would be more than happy even if he could only use it once every two days! After struggling out from his shock, Chen Fan looked sympathetically at the razorfish which had more than half of its skeleton scattered out before floating toward the water''s surface. After the eel returned to the hole among the reefs, Chen Fan started to fantasize. After swallowing eight pieces of ghost moon incense the day before, the electric eel''s fighting skills and external appearance went through earth-shaking changes. However, all this was due to the ghost hair jellyfish from the Tonga Trench. If he wanted to further improve the strength of the electric eel to escalate it to the king of the ocean, which could punch and kick submarines and aircraft carriers, he had to continue finding more ghost moon incense. The next time, the electric eel could probably enter the mysterious cave to check it out! With the electric eel''s current average speed of 120 knots, it could reach Tonga Trench again in 40 hours without any rest. Oh nature, just how many unsolved mysterious did you leave behind for mankind? Chen Fan climbed out of bed. "After I settle those secular issues, I better make a trip to that huge cave." 141 The Virgin Islands Of The Caribbean Sea People living a secular life were subject to the mundane, such as Chen Fan, who owed Ma Rongtao 50 million cash and could now repay him. Drawing back his mind from the electric eel, Chen Fan looked at the time and found that it was 10 o''clock. After paying back the money he owed, he should be able to come back for lunch. Driving the car to the dock, Chen Fan controlled the electric eel to open the door and brought in the iron shell ship containing the money. Then the electric eel''s head filled of black scales popped out of the water, pulled the steel vessel with its front claws, and carried it to the shore. Fifty million. With 10,000 in a pile, he would need 739, 755 with interest. The box he used to keep the ghost month incense was too small, so Chen Fan had to pull two sacks from the corner of the wall and put them in the trunk of the car. After having the electric eel take the iron boat away, he departed to Ma Rongtao''s company. "Is your President Ma in?" When he arrived at the reception hall of the Star Shipping Group, Chen Fan knocked on the black crystal front desk and pulled the female receptionist who was playing QQ farm back to reality from the virtual network. "Hello, Sir. Our chairman is in the office. Would you like me to inform him?" Although the receptionist didn''t know what Chen Fan''s name was, she knew that, even though the young man looked very young, several times he had walked and chatted with the President. "As long as he is around, I will go up and find him myself." Chen Fan nodded with a smile and walked to the elevator. "Wait a minute..." Just as the elevator was about to close, there was a clear, sweet voice coming from outside. Waiting for Chen Fan to push the elevator door button, Wu Ruoyu, dressed in a black suit, came in distrustfully with a pile of thick files in her arms. "Hi! I''ve come to see your uncle!" Chen Fan laughed, spread out his hand, and said to Wu Ruoyu, "Which floor do you go to?" "The same floor as you!" Wu Ruoyu snorted, and then her little white face faced away not wanting to see Chen Fan. Pressing the fifth-floor button, Chen Fan wondered deeply in his heart, what is the matter with this little girl? She talked and laughed last time, but whenever they accidentally met alone, she always gave him a look! Proud? Chen Fan''s thin mouth crumpled, and he tilted his head away too on purpose. Pushing open the door of the chairman''s office, Ma Rongtao saw Chen Fan come in with his niece and put down his paper with a smile, saying, "Shasha, go and make two cups of tea." Ma Rongtao stood up, patted Chen Fan''s shoulder, and said with a slightly blaming tone," Xiao Chen, why didn''t you let me know before you came. Join in for lunch later. I''ll ask someone to make a reservation now." "It''s okay," Chen Fan rejected. He still has a younger person in the family to take care of! "Uncle Ma, I came to pay back the money!" Chen Fan looked at Wu Ruoyu who was making tea with a sour face a distance away and lowered his volume and said, "It''s not in RMB. It is all in dollars, but I could not find anything to pack it in, so I used two sacks to pack them up." He won''t say that I''m ashamed of carrying the sacks. He''ll just ask two employees to bring it up. Ma Rongtao was a brilliant man. He took only a second to understand Chen Fan''s meaning. After laughing a little, he touched the telephone on the desk to call someone to come to the office. "Here''s your tea!" Wu Ruoyu put the cup in front of Chen Fan, and then gave him an annoyed look when Ma Rongtao was not looking and left. By that time, two men in black suits walked into the office, and only five minutes after Chen Fan handed them the car key, they both carried the sacks in with weird expressions. "Chen, where did you get so many dollars?" Ma Rongtao played with the 24K gold pen in his hands. "Didn''t you say that things had to be done? It hasn''t been a month, and you''re returning all the money with interest and in dollars?" "Made a big deal the other day! "Chen Fan grinned. "Uncle Ma, how do you change your dollars? Is it very troublesome to exchange money at the bank?" "The money I lent you last time was to buy a ship in a foreign country. If I wish to exchange a lot of dollars, I will exchange them through the bank of Macau''s gambling center." Ma Rongtao took a sip of tea and continued, "Why, Chen? Do you want to exchange some?" "A little left in hand, about 20 million!" Chen Fan hesitated and revealed only one-tenth of his property. "So much?" Ma Rongtao looked at Chen Fan in amazement. "If you wanted to change so much money, then you would have to make an appointment with the underground banks. After all, the government''s monitoring of money laundering is very strict, and they will charge 12 percent." "Twelve percent?" It was Chen Fan''s turn to shout. "I''d like to change some money, but 12 percent is too..." "Haha, what can you do if your money is black money?" Ma Rongtao smiled. "But if you often need to do money laundering, then I suggest you go over to the Virgin Islands of the Caribbean and register an offshore company. You don''t need any formality certificates there. You just need to literally report a name and pay the fee, then you can create a company that is protected by local laws. An international business that is created there is recognized by all the international banks around the world. And when you start a company, the local government will provide you with a set of facilities for setting up bank accounts and financial operations. That way you can put a lot of dollars into the international banks, and even our government has no right to investigate the source of your property." "So how do I deposit my money in an offshore company account? From home, or from abroad?" After a few days of research in money laundering, Chen Fan also wanted to register an offshore company. But what bothered him was how to store 500 million dollars in an offshore company account. Five hundred million dollars! Not five million! Or 50 million! "Do you really mean it?" Ma Rongtao looked up, thought for a while, and said, "In fact, registering a company is easy. Get a fake ID, then ask a professional agent company to help to register a company in the Virgin Islands. This only needs a day or two to complete. But one of the key issues is how you transfers property to an offshore account? If you have clean money in the bank, you can transfer it directly through the Swiss international bank, in the Shanghai or Hong Kong branch. But if your money is black money, it''s going to take a lot of work." "Are you saying that you have to make the black money into clean money first?" Chen Fan scratched his head. "If I go to Shanghai Swiss bank branch and deposit, and if the amount is too large, will the government investigate it?" "I''m afraid so this country. Foreign Banks that come to us have to abide by our laws. If you don''t want to be bothered with money laundering, there''s a good way. That''s to register a few offshore companies, and then go to the local Swiss international bank branches, to store some money in each account, then transfer everything to one main account." Ma Rongtao crumpled his lips and continued, "In those countries with offshore companies as the main source of income, if your money is not obtained in the area illegally, people do not care if your money is black or clean." "Then I will have to make a trip abroad," Chen Fan said helplessly. "If you want to do money laundering, this is the best and fastest method. When your black money gets legal status at a Swiss bank, you have to go to the next stage. How do you transfer that money to your real account?" Ma Rongtao felt thirsty after saying so much in one go, and he drank half the cup of tea and continued, "You should not use your real name for the offshore company you register. Although it''s still your virtual identity controlling your money, it''s still not your real identity. So you have to transfer the property under the virtual identity to the real identity property. That will make your black money eventually become clean money. Otherwise, your black money will only be available overseas." "But it''s simple and fun!" Ma Rongtao smiled and took his pen as an example. "If my pen were only worth 10 thousand and I say it is worth a million, other people are not stupid, so why would they buy it? If people don''t buy it, I can make my virtual identity buy it. As long as the price is not too far off, others will not suspect that there is something fishy about it. I use that virtual identity to buy real estate, so that the property of the virtual identity, would be successful and legally transferred to the real identity!" "It seems that it is not too difficult," Chen Fan said with a grin. "Uncle Ma frequently does this too?" This guy said it so systematically, he must have a lot of experience with it. "I do not do this. I''m now earning legal money son, and do not have a large amount of black money to launder. The small amount of it, I would go to the Macau bank to exchange it." Ma Rongtao looked at the time on the wall, then stood up and patted Chen Fan''s shoulder. "It''s almost lunchtime. Let''s go. I''ll treat you to a meal." "It''s okay. I made an appointment for lunch today." Chen Fan repeatedly waved his hand and apologized. "Another day, and I''ll treat you to a meal. I haven''t thanked Uncle Ma yet for the last time." "Why all the thanks? Didn''t you just pay the interest, too?" Ma Rongtao gave a bright smile. "Since you are busy at noon, then I''ll not ask you to stay back. If there is any trouble later, you could ask me for help." "Well, certainly!" Chen Fan stopped Ma Rongtao from sending him to the door and went to the elevator alone. ......... By the time Chen Fan had arrived at home, and he had just put the food he had bought on the road on the table, Yun Meng was back home with the white electric bike that Chen Fan had bought for her. On the table, Chen Fan nibbled a piece of chicken leg and mumbled, "Yun Meng, I''m going to run abroad in two days." "How long will it take you to get back, brother Chen Fan?" When Chen Fan had finished speaking, Yun Meng immediately raised her face and looked at Chen Fan. "It will not be long. It''s only a period of flying back and forth in the plane. When I''m away, go to the Ma Ruoxi''s house and stay for two days. I''m friends with her father, and it doesn''t matter. "Can... Can I go with you?" Yun Meng repeatedly poked the chopsticks in the rice, and said in a pitying manner, "I... I don''t want to go to her house." "Then you can stay at home, and if there is anything, go to your aunt Wu Ruoyu''s house which is next to you for help!" In retaliation for the scene just now, he gave the teenage girl an image more suitable for adults. "This time I''m going to the Caribbean Islands, a place filled with pirates since ancient times. You are a girl, and it would not be safe!" 142 To Miami In The United States "That was during ancient times. How can there still be pirates now?" Yun Meng pouted. "Have you not been studying?" Chen Fan raised his eyebrows before stroking the back of Yun Meng''s head with his left hand. "Haven''t you heard of the notorious Somali pirates?" "No." Yun Meng''s cheeks flushed suddenly. Although she had had close bodily contact with Chen Fan, it was only an accident and could not represent her normal state of mind. "You gotta watch more TV. Don''t just wallow in your studies, or else you''ll turn into a nerd!" Chen Fan laughed. After lunch, Chen Fan burped as he got Yun Meng to clear off the table and watch TV after that, instead of wallowing in her books, while he took the car out. No matter how beautiful a city was, there was always illegal advertisements and vandalism. Although the government had been increasingly attacking this area in the last few years, there are still countless such advertisements sprouting up everywhere. Not long after he came out, Chen Fan found no less than 10 advertisements that handled various documentation on a standing telephone pole. Chen Fan dialed one of the contact details, and a coquettish voice swept across Chen Fan''s brain. "Boss, what type of documents would you like to make?" "The ID type, about 20 of them." Chen Fan touched his nose and said, "You don''t sound like a local? Let me state this up front, don''t ask me to send money to some account and then throw the stuff at some location, I''m not gonna do that!" "Boss, don''t worry, we''re not cheats." The woman protested in a coquettish voice that could cause a physiological reaction in men. "We in this trade have to be cautious these days, otherwise we''ll be easily caught by the police!" "And that means you are, too." Ten seconds later, Chen Fan simply hung up the phone. The other party had already used silence to tell him the answer. Chen Fan continued to call a few more numbers, and the requests from the other parties were all similar. According to the fraud cases on the internet, all of them were definitely cheaters. After running around the whole day and almost giving up, Chen Fan finally encountered an unconventional delivery method. The other party actually provided a string of QQ account numbers and got Chen Fan to add the QQ contact. Wanting to give it a try, Chen Fan went to an internet cafe, on a computer and added that QQ account. What took Chen Fan by surprise was that the other party initiated a video chat to let Chen Fan see the various tools for making the fake documents before asking Chen Fan to pay a portion of the deposit using Alipay. He could pay the final amount after they complete the documents and let him verify through video chat. When Chen Fan said that he wanted to make 20 in one go, the other party readily asked him to send over the photos and ID information through the internet, and also said that they would make two for Chen Fan to take a look at first before taking the deposit. After sending a message saying that he was going to take the photos, Chen Fan switched off his QQ. Half an hour later, Chen Fan returned to the internet cafe and downloaded Photoshop software. Using the photos that just came out from the photo studio, Chen Fan started displaying his better than average Photoshop skills and began editing the faces of the people. There were 20 photos, and each took an average of two minutes. After over 40 minutes, Chen Fan shook his aching hands and then sent the photos to the other party. As for the place of birth, name, and date of birth, other than specifying that he wanted a "Chen Xiaohu", Chen Fan let the other party decide the remaining 19, as long as it wasn''t Zhongyun. The other party said that they needed one hour to complete. Chen Fan had nothing to do and someone in the internet caf shouted, "Who''s game for World of Warcraft, we''re short of one player." "Me!" Chen Fan replied and double-clicked on the World of Warcraft icon. After the game ended, the other party popped up a video chat. Unable to discern the authenticity of the two IDs in the video chat, Chen Fan straightaway transferred 6,000 RMB over through internet banking. After settling the fake IDs, next would be how to get to the Virgin Islands. Chen Fan had two choices. One was to get an American visa done at a visa agency, take a plane to Miami, and then take another plane to the Virgin Islands. The other was to ride there on the electric eel, the world''s most low-tech, but also most amazing smuggling "vessel." Taking the sea route, the Virgin Islands is 11,000 nautical miles away. With the electric eel''s current speed, it would need 90 hours to reach. Adding in the time needed for eating and sleeping, it would take at least five days to arrive. Lying inside a closed container for five days. Chen Fan thought for a while before deciding to take a plane to the United States, and then stow away to the Virgin Islands from Miami. That way, even if anyone wanted to check on his records, he wouldn''t be able to track that he went to the Virgin Islands. After all, there was no obvious connection between Miami and the Virgin Islands. After I come back, I have to get a luxurious "submarine" and decorate the interior like a palace. It is definitely the best choice be it for running away or smuggling. Chen Fan couldn''t help but shake his head when he thought of the previous huge metal container ship. Not only was it hot and stuffy, there wasn''t any entertainment facilities. One would definitely die from boredom inside. -------- At 9 a.m. the next morning, Chen Fan had successfully gotten from the designated place 20 ID cards, which normal people weren''t able to recognize without the use of an ID card reader. An offshore company was set up for each of the 20 ID cards. After transferring 24 million RMB to each of them, the money was all eventually transferred to the account of the one named Chen Xiaohu. As a coastal city, Zhongyun had a few offshore company registration companies. When Chen Fan wore a cap and sunglasses and brought the 20 ID cards to register 20 offshore companies, the other party got a big shock. It was not uncommon for one to use a fake ID for registration. In fact, no one would bring a real ID there to register this type of company. But using 20 IDs in one go... It was very simple to register this type of offshore company. After filling in a simple application and paying a registration fee of 30,000 RMB, the government of the Virgin Islands could get it approve the next day. The other 19 companies were given random names. As for Chen Xiaohu, Chen Fan registered an international business company named "Cruiser" which didn''t even have an office. Chen Fan decided to keep this company as his phantom company for future uses, be it for hostile takeovers or money-laundering. The next day, Chen Fan''s visa to the United States was successfully done, and so were the few sock puppet accounts. The account information and internet banking keys had also been sent through email. The official written documents would probably have to wait until Chen Fan came back. The flight was at 6 p.m. to Beijing International Airport for a transfer flight and then straight to Miami in the United States. Chen Fan was empty-handed. After leaving behind 1,000 RMB and a note, he got Wang Bing to take him to the airport. "Boss, are you going to the States to enjoy?" In the departure hall, Wang Bing looked innocently and surprised at Chen Fan as he twirled the car keys. He also wanted to go overseas to look at Caucasian girls, but Chen Fan refused to take him. "Yesterday, Obama invited me to attend his daughter''s wedding, how can I turn it down?" Chen Fan lifted the corners of his mouth. "It''s all on international politics, what does a little soldier like you want to participate for?" "Boss, I think his daughter just started middle school." "Then it''s his illegitimate daughter." Chen Fan saw that it was almost time and started walking toward the security check. "Don''t go anywhere these few days. I''m a little worried that Yun Meng is alone at home. Fetch her to and from school, but if you dare to step into the villa" "Heh heh" Chen Fan gestured a cutting action on Wang Bing''s neck. -------- Having taken the plane once to Myanmar with Chen Shuguang previously, Chen Fan did not feel much novelty toward the huge metal object. After finding his seat number, Chen Fan shifted his thoughts onto the electric eel and controlled it to continue swimming toward Miami with the USD. Two and a half days before, Chen Fan had already gotten the electric eel to set off earlier. It had already passed Russia and was now at the sea area near Greenland. The eel would reach the United States around the next day after Chen Fan arrived. "Hey? Why are you here?" Holding a white suitcase, Wu Ruoyu''s pretty eyes were filled with disbelief. This guy actually took the same plane as her and was on the same row of seats. Wu Ruoyu''s exclamation was so abrupt that even the two young men dressed in extravagant clothing and messy curly long hair in the seats in front turned to look at her. After that, their heads couldn''t turn back anymore, and their Adam''s apples moved up and down like they were swallowing their saliva. Chen Fan opened his eyes and rubbed them immediately. Both of them had a look of surprise on their faces. "I''m making a trip overseas." With his arms folded, Chen Fan looked up and down at this tall, blonde, mixed-blood girl in a pale flowery dress. "Move aside. The seat inside is mine!" After placing her luggage, Wu Ruoyu pouted and said angrily. "Haa...haa...." Chen Fan covered his mouth with his hand and let out a laugh before turning to look outside the window, pretending not to hear anything. "You..." Seeing Chen Fan turn his gaze away, Wu Ruoyu immediately pulled a straight face. She was being kind helping him upstairs that night and didn''t expect to end up in that state, and now he was still showing her attitude? The thought of the embarrassing and awkward incident that night made Wu Ruoyu''s face show a faint bashful anger, and she couldn''t help but give him a fierce stare. "Little babe, he doesn''t wanna let you in, we''ll let you. Come sit on my lap?" Looking as if he felt good about himself, one of the young men in the front row flipped his hair, showing an extremely lewd expression on his face. "Pah!" Chen Fan stood up and gave him a slap on the head. "You''re courting death!" The young man who got slapped in the head paused and looked at Chen Fan with his eyes red, looking like he wanted to take him on one to one. "You better shut up before I throw you off the plane!" Chen Fan stared back as he moved his body to the side to let Wu Ruoyu in from the side of the seat. As a man, it would be too much if he did not stand up for his friend when she got verbally harassed? "Forget it, let it go." The young man at his side tugged at his companion''s arm. "Dear passengers, our flight is departing soon, please fasten your seatbelts." After the plane soared into the clouds and flew smoothly, Wu Ruoyu placed her hands on her twisting stomach, bit her delicate lips, and opened her mouth a few times before saying, "Where are you going?" "America." Chen Fan said in Chinese Pidgin English without opening his eyes. "You''re going to the States, too?" Wu Ruoyu was surprised. "Which part of the States are you going to?" How do you say Miami in English? Chen Fan mumbled in his heart. He couldn''t recall after thinking for a few seconds, so could only reply in Mandarin. "To Miami!" "Uh" The expression on Wu Ruoyu''s pretty face suddenly froze. Complex elements such as disbelief and shock appeared simultaneously. "Why are you going Miami?" "To enjoy!" Chen Fan''s thoughts were all on the electric eel, so he naturally didn''t see Wu Ruoyu''s complex and diverse expression. People often say that women generally lack broad vision, and this is especially the case for pretty women. Therefore, when Wu Ruoyu saw Chen Fan''s cocky attitude, she instantly got pissed off. After giving a heavy snort, she also shut her eyes like Chen Fan. -------- After over an hour at 8 p.m. Beijing time, Chen Fan and Wu Ruoyu transferred to an international flight and sat together again with a stroke of luck. Even their seating positions were unchanged; Chen Fan sat outside and she sat inside. The plane flying to Miami international airport was from the airbus series manufactured by a French skytrain company, and its main characteristic was its huge size. At around 9 p.m., Chen Fan reclined the seat and laid on the pillow with his eyes closed. After Wu Ruoyu listened to music for a while, she had to remove her earphones and rub her slightly painful eyes. After looking at Chen Fan for a long while with perplexed eyes, she put the seat flat, covered herself with the blanket given by the air stewardess, and then pushed Chen Fan''s arm gently. "Shall we have a chat?" Wu Ruoyu looked at Chen Fan with squinted eyes. After Chen Fan opened his eyes, she said embarrassedly, "I can''t sleep, can you chat with me for a while?" "Chat on?" Chen Fan turned his body to face Wu Ruoyu. The journey was indeed very boring. If Chen Fan wasn''t occupied with controlling the electric eel, he would have probably initiated a chat with Wu Ruoyu on the flight from Zhongyun. "Let''s chat on why you''re going Miami?" Unable to think of any topic offhand, Wu Ruoyu started it off with the trip. "I need to meet a business partner for some matters." Chen Fan made up a reason. "What about you? Why are you going Miami?" "I''m attending a classmate''s wedding. She''s French, but married an American guy." "Oh," Chen Fan let out a sound and waited for Wu Ruoyu''s next topic. "When do you intend to return to Zhongyun?" Wu Ruoyu''s voice was very sweet, making one feel comfortable. "I''m not sure, maybe after one or two days!" Chen Fan raised his eyebrow. "Why, you wanna go back with me?" "Let''s play it by ear. Give me your number first. I should be able to leave in a day or two if nothing goes wrong." Wu Ruoyu pulled out her slender fingers from the blanket. "Oh!" Chen Fan responded with a string of his cell phone number. After chatting for a while more, Wu Ruoyu''s voice gradually became smaller, and her eyes closed due to the drowsiness. How wonderful it would be if the plane had issues and had to land on some deserted island. Chen Fan couldn''t help but start fantasizing as he looked at Wu Ruoyu''s beautiful face. The time difference between Zhongyun and Miami was 12 hours. When the plane landed at Miami''s international airport, it was around 10 p.m. local time. After getting off the plane, Chen Fan said to Wu Ruoyu, "Can you help me get a room at a hotel. I can''t speak English." "You can''t speak English?" Wu Ruoyu looked at Chen Fan in shock. "Then how are you gonna communicate with people here in the States?" "Ahem!" Chen Fan took out two stacks of USD from the inside of his coat. "I can find an interpreter!" "Can''t stand you!" Wu Ruoyu rolled her eyes. "You don''t have any luggage, and you can''t speak English forget it, I''m gonna stay for a night in a hotel, too. Just follow me!" 143 The Deathly Hell "Great!" Chen Fan hurriedly pulled Wu Ruoyu''s white luggage. "Which hotel shall we get a room at?" "Hey! Hey! Hey!" Wu Ruoyu''s cheek flushed with a little anger and embarrassment, and stared at Chen Fan. "Who wants to get a room with you?" After saying that, Wu Ruoyu realized that his phrase had been ambiguous. After a moment, her white neck flushed bright red to her face. Miami is a national metropolis, and though it''s already about 10 p.m., the road was still brightly lit, with all kinds of people passing by. Two of them walked on the street in a foreign country, and the street lamps above elongated their shadows and made them cross over each other. "Hey baby! Yo! Hey!" While the two of them walked quietly on the side of the road, a group of bikers wearing metal-studded leather, riding Harleys, and playing loud music, drove passed Chen Fan and Wu Ruoyu. One of them whistled at Wu Ruoyu. "Those jerks!" Wu Ruoyu had been so exasperated that she stomped her feet with high heels as if she meant to make a few holes in the cement. Chen Fan followed Wu Ruoyu to hotel that had an English name he didn''t understand. Wu Ruoyu walked to the front desk, used English to communicate with the little white lady of few words, and then took out her passport and handed it to her. Please, God, let there be just one room left! Please, Jesus! Just one room! As he handed over his passport, Chen Fan prayed silently. Five minutes later... Sh*t! Why didn''t you bless me, Jesus? Chen Fan tightened his fists in frustration. Was there still enough of a depression in the economy that hotels would still have empty rooms and ruin his fantasy?! Damn it! That''s not how it''s written in novels! Chen Fan muttered, but all he could do was shift his mind to the electric eel. The electric eel had reached the North Atlantic, more than 1,500 miles from Miami, and Chen Fan was ready to push the electric eel to its destination within 11 hours. ......... After two or three hours of wandering in the water, Chen Fan suddenly found something very strange. The electric eel could not feel the magnetic fields of the earth''s North and South Poles, or rather that the North and South Poles'' magnetic fields were felt everywhere. It was as if the electric eel had been thrown into a room full of magnetism, and the magnetic fields of the North and South Poles were directly integrated into the powerful magnetic fields of the surrounding area and he could not find any trace of it. "What is this?" Chen Fan had some doubts. His own body had arrived in Miami. Now even if the two eyes of the electric eel were taken off, the electric eel could also find the direction to his own boy. But this was the first time the electric eel had met such a situation since it had been in the ocean for so long. Although Chen Fan wondered why the electric eel had failed to respond to the magnetic fields of the North and South Poles, he was not a physicist or a scientist. He could only think the reason was the ventilation of nature. The electric eel continued to swim for two hours, and the electromagnetic chaos around it gradually disappeared. Instead, all the magnetic fields converged in front of the electric eel. Yes... The strong magnetic field, like the sun in July, was too strong to ignore. Was it the Americans trying to invent a new weapon under the sea? Chen Fan thought for a long time, and that was all he could come up with. American technology was so powerful that it was not too hard to imagine. The strong magnetic field was coincidently 15 degrees off the straight line to Miami. If the way was there, then the electric eel would take about 40 minutes more. Everyone was curious, but their levels of curiosity differed. Chen Fan''s curiosity belong to an intermediate level. "Forty minutes." Since he was free, Chen Fan decided to control the electric eel to take a look and find out what the hell was causing the impact on the North and South Poles'' magnetic fields'' induction of the electric eel. Getting closer, the strong magnetic field induction was becoming more and more clear to the electric eel, and Chen Fan realized that the number of fish around had declined. Even if there were some, there were only a few species that were not more than one meter in size. An hour later... There was no sign of any fish around, and the electric eel could faintly feel a strong suction that was constantly affecting it. He could faintly feel the magnetic fields being given off from two large objects. He was too far away to really sense them, and the magnetic fields sent out were so intense and were overlapping, so the electric eel had mistakenly taken it as one. Animals an aversion to natural and man-made disasters, just like animals will run away when an earthquake strikes. There wasn''t a single fish in the area, and there was only one explanationsomething had absolutely terrified them. As the saying goes, curiosity kills the cat. But that''s just a cat. Chen Fan thought the electric eel was 10 thousand times stronger than the cat! Chasing away the thought of running away when faced with danger, the electric eel continued to swim toward the sea that was filled with the "strange" atmosphere. As the attraction in the surrounding waters became stronger, the electric eel moved faster and faster, and even after that, the electric eel had to work hard to control its body and not allow the water to suck it away. ...... "God... " Five seconds later, Chen Fan was completely shocked. Two kilometers ahead of the electric eel stood, 230 meters high and 300 meters in length, two crystal super pyramids. On top of each pyramid a super large hole about 50 meters wide absorbed the surrounding seawater like giant whirlpool crazily swirling, and then shot it out of the back of the hole! The crystal trapezoid pyramids, on the bottom of the sea, with the strange big black hole sucking water, was way too weird! After seeing these two crystal pyramids, which were beyond the limit of human thought, Chen Fan finally realized what place it was. This was the Bermuda Triangle. The Bermuda Triangle refers to a triangular area north of Bermuda, west of Miami, and south of Puerto Rico. Hundreds of planes and ships have disappeared mysteriously since 1945 in this area that covers 400,000 square miles. Of course, those disappearances did not include mechanical failures, kidnappings, and bandits, because they do not belong to the category of mysterious disappearances. No wonder the electric eel felt the magnetic field around it start to go haywire. After seeing this, he might have to believe that stranger things like aliens exist. In the year 1954, there was a hot air balloon competition that flew over that part of the sea, and some participants disappeared right in front of other people. Then, in 1990, one of the men appeared again in Cuban waters, but he showed no traces of aging. That was only one case of many. Regarding the questions surrounding the abrupt disappearances, the lack of aging, and the instantaneous travel from place to place that occurs in the Bermuda Triangle, no one has been able to explain. From his momentary stunned state, the electric eel was suddenly sucked around 200 meters away. When Chen Fan woke from his thought, he immediately screamed and quickly controlled the movement of the electric eel that was crazily swimming away with the suction and made a turn and escaped. "This is freaky! So freaky!" The belly of the electric eel was undulating, and it took the time of a cigarette to be finished for Chen Fan to struggle out of that fear. Was that just big hole? Or was it the black hole of the universe? The electric eel was nearly two kilometers away, and it could barely break free. How strong would the attraction have to be to pull an electric eel that weighed 80 tons and carried 40 tons of spears and was two kilometers away? No wonder there weren''t any fish around. Even if a submarine came, it would not be able to escape. The place that was as cruel as mars was not a place that the electric eel could stay long. Although he was as curious as a cat, Chen Fan did not hesitate to control the electric eel clear of the two pyramids and then head toward Miami. Along the way, Chen Fan kept his ears open to listen carefully to the surroundings, not because he was afraid that he would encounter anything like the Bermuda Triangle again, but because he was on alert for the so-called world''s most advanced anti-submarine technology. However, the United States was not likely to use the submarine''s active sonar detection line in its territorial seas. And passive sonar couldn''t detect the electric eel''s tracks, because when the electric eel swam it released a sonar lesser than what the sonar could detect. So the electric eel didn''t have to worry about being captured if it didn''t hear the ear-splitting sound of active sonar. What would happen if they discovered the electric eel? Would they be able to kill it? Forget it. The electric eel''s current limit is faster the world''s best torpedoes. If the electric eel was to be hunted, then Chen Fan would hide in the forest on a small, uninhabited island, and then the electric eel will hold a spear in the military port and would destroy the opponent''s submarine. Who would be the winner then? .......... After a five-hour journey, which was at 8 a.m. local time, the electric eel had crossed half the earth and finally reached Miami. Knock...Knock...Knock... There was a knock at the door. "I''m going to Kendall, which is fifteen kilometers away. Where are you going?" Wu Ruoyu was attending a wedding, so she had on a white evening dress. With the way she looked, she could to to Hollywood and say, "I want to play Snow White" and famous directors reopen a script for her. "I''ve got to go somewhere right away, too," Chen Fan just said something general as a reply. "Let''s stay in contact by phone and take the same flight back to Zhongyun city," he said sleepily. "Well," Wu Ruoyu said with a smile, as she tucked her hair behind her ear, "I''m going. We''ll get in touch." After he closed the door, Chen Fan immediately climbed back into bed to sleep so that he could go to the Virgin Islands through the electric eel that night. As soon as he slept through the evening sun, Chen Fan lifted his eyes from the bed and took his $20,000 and left the hotel. How does a Chinese guy who doesn''t know English get along in America? It was simple. Chen Fan found a fast food restaurant, ordered a bunch of food to fill his stomach, pulled out a 100-dollar bill, and let the cashier make the change. Chen Fan walked aimlessly down the street and caught an Asian man and asked, "Excuse me, where can I buy some diving equipment?" "Konichiwa!" The man looked puzzled. "Damn you, damn you," Chen Fan said to the Japanese guy with a good-natured smile, to cover up his curse words. "Arigato gozaimasu." The Japanese guy thought he was saying hello and said thank you. After walking for a distance, Chen Fan ran into another Asian man and asked him in Chinese where he could buy diving equipment. The young man in his twenties just looked confused. Chen Fan smiled and said, "You are a dog." Continuing on, he finally found someone who spoke fluent Chinese, and who very enthusiastically led him to a diving shop to buy a set of equipment and two oxygen tanks. When Chen Fan went to the beach after buying the things, the distant city had begun to dim. Standing on the beach, Chen Fan put his mobile phone and passport into the layers of plastic bags. Then he looked around and saw no one. He took off his clothes, leaving only his shorts on and went to the sea with his oxygen mask. It took about four hours to get to the Virgin Islands. There was a narrow space in the steel tank containing the money, so Chen Fan took two oxygen bottles for backup. 144 The Plane’s Damaged The outdoor temperature now was around 10 degrees Celsius. It was a cold feeling as the seawater hit the legs. When the seawater gradually covered his head, Chen Fan leaned his body forward and swam toward the electric eel that was nearby. At the hideout, the electric eel gently raised the ironclad so that its hatch was above the water. After Chen Fan slipped inside, it fastened the hatch again and dived underwater before tightening the toy-like valve. What did it feel like laying on the mountain of boxes filled with USD? It would be a lie to say that one was not excited, but the dark enclosed cabin diluted much of the excitement. After three hours and 15 minutes, the electric eel, as if on steroids, found its way to the seaside of the Virgin Islands. At the border of Road Town and Russell Hill in the Virgin Islands, Chen Fan smoothed his wet hair and popped out his head on a beach cluttered with reefs. Chen Fan had spent more than 10 minutes finding this location. Its surroundings were covered with palm trees and tall bushes, and there was only one public road passing by a distance away. Not only was transportation inconvenient, its location was also very obscure. It was already around 11 p.m. local time, and there wasn''t even a car on the distant public road. After Chen Fan changed his clothes and attached the Kunwu dagger inside the ironclad onto his waist, he placed the sleeping bag he prepared beforehand under a palm tree and decided to sleep until the next day. Here in the Virgin Islands where he was a stranger, Chen Fan couldn''t find any hotel which didn''t require a passport for registration. ...... The 23-year-old Birkdale was extremely happy! After being on the phone the entire night with his girlfriend who lived in Road Town, she finally agreed to go on a date with him to Mount Toro. "Oh, Mount Toro" As he was driving, Birkdale took out a small, squarish paper box and kissed it. "My dear Durex, I''ll be depending on you later!" The journey from Slany to Road Town was over 40 minutes. In order to see his girlfriend earlier, the bright-eyed Birkdale couldn''t help but keep stepping on the accelerator of his Ford. After driving for about five minutes, Birkdale suddenly saw something hilarious. At about 500 meters ahead, there was an Asian man wearing a black jacket with a cap and a pair of yurt sunglasses waving fiercely at the cars driving past. Needless to say, he was trying to hitch a ride. However, this Asian man''s luck was terrible. He continuously waved at three cars but not even one slowed down. Haha, see how I''m gonna get dust on your ass with this Ford! Birkdale was full of evil intentions, and his gradually decreasing car speed suddenly shot up. Nearing, nearing Birkdale even started squinting his eyes, ready to enjoy the shock on the Asian man''s face. Screech Suddenly, Birkdale''s pupils magnified six times in astonishment. Within one-fifth of a second, his right foot pushed the brake all the way down, and the Ford under his butt dragged abruptly along the asphalt road for seven to eight meters. After that, Birkdale suddenly displayed the skills of a racing driver, pulling the reverse gear to make a small drift before stopping firmly beside the Asian man. "Dear sir, is there anything that I can help you with?" Birkdale''s fawning tone could even put an emperor''s eunuch to shame. "Go here!" Chen Fan waved the five attractive US bills and a note written in English, opened the door and slipped in. "Yes, my lord!" Birkdale greedily took the five bills and the note written in crooked English words. Although there were some grammatical errors on the note, it didn''t hinder Birkdale from recognizing it. Seral StreetThe world''s second largest registered place of offshore companies! .... At 9 p.m. that night, an old green Volvo box truck clattered as it stopped on the road. "Damn, this thing is real difficult to drive!" Chen Fan spat before jumping down from the driver''s seat with an annoyed face. Chen Fan gotten the old-fashioned truck from a local Chinese, after paying a deposit of 20,000 USD and a daily rental of 1,000 USD, in order to transport the 20 huge boxes of US bills. As he walked on the beach, Chen Fan couldn''t put his mind at ease and switched to the electric eel mode again. Using its eyes, which were 100 times better than a night vision device to observe the surroundings carefully, he didn''t see anything suspicious within 2,000 meters of the eel''s sight. Half a minute later, huge waves suddenly rose up beside a large reef standing underwater at 200 meters on the left, and a dark metal ship slowly came out of the water. Then, the metal vessel suddenly got flung up by a strong force and fell straight onto the beach. At that moment, Chen Fan who was hiding at the side quickly jumped onto the beach, opened the hatch of the ironclad, and pulled out a huge orange plastic box from inside. The box was bought in Zhongyun. Before coming here, Chen Fan had already placed the bills neatly into 20 identical boxes, with 24 million USD in each box, to facilitate transportation. Even if Chen Fan''s physical strength was equal to that of a world''s top athlete, he was still exhausted after spending three hours moving the 20 boxes weighing over 150kg each onto the truck. .... It was 8 a.m. the next day at the Swiss International Bank''s branch on Seral Street in Road Town. The Swiss Bank is the world''s largest asset management company and also the largest investment guarantee bank. Not only does it control a quarter of the world''s wealthy people''s assets, it is also the world''s largest offshore financial center holding 30 percent of the world''s offshore currency amounting to a total of 2 trillion Euros. There was once a joke circulating among the employees about a wealthy man bringing a load of US bills into a Swiss bank and requesting to open a deposit account. The bank teller asked him, "Sir, how much would you like to deposit?" The wealthy man looked around nervously before whispering, "5 million USD." The bank teller replied apologetically, "I''m sorry sir, please go to the counter at the side for small deposits." As Chen Fan pulled a huge box into the 27-story building with a logo of three intersecting silver keys, he was totally stunned by the grandeur. There were countless rich people in suits and ties, and strong bodyguards beside them. The bodyguards were all carrying large aluminum boxes filled with money notes, and many were carrying one box with the help of a few of the others. The black marble floor which reflected clear silhouettes beneath his feet, the luxurious crystal chandeliers above him, and the heavily armed guards cruising in the crowd fully showed Chen Fan the magnificence a world''s top bank should have. "Eighty-one, eighty-two" Chen Fan stared blankly the endless bank counter number. The counters here could only be described as a super luxurious VIP rooms. Not only were they separated by black crystal walls, leaving only two thick glass doors, there was also a huge alloyed safe at the back of the room. Chen Fan suddenly felt like a failure. He had initially thought that he was very cool pulling a huge box of 25 million USD, and hence walked arrogantly. However, he suddenly realized that he was wrong. The huge orange box in his hand did not attract anyone''s attention at all, even though everyone knew that it was either US dollars or British pounds inside. "Frog in the well!" Chen Fan sighed as he pulled the box toward the counter. Two expressionless bodyguards with electric batons and pistols on their waists opened the glass door on each side to let Chen Fan in. There were two blonde-haired, blue-eyed young ladies in black suits sitting beside the long table in the center. "Hello sir, how can I be of service to you?" They asked in fluent English and a professional smile. "Save." Chen Fan lifted up the orange box at his feet and passed her a crumpled note. Although Chen Fan couldn''t understand what the girl was saying, but the opening lines in a bank were roughly the same. Swish, swish! Two white security guards quickly came over and lifted the box up before sending the stacks of US bills into the professional counterfeit money detector. In less than 20 minutes, the four employees, including the guards, settled the 24 million USD, and Chen Fan successfully received a proof of deposit which he couldn''t understand. After repeating the same thing for nine different counters, Chen Fan suddenly realized that what he did was a little unnecessary. This was overseas, and this was the world''s second largest assembly point of offshore companies. This was also the Swiss bank which controlled the wealth of 30 percent of the world''s offshore companies. "Go, go." Chen Fan patted the shoulders of the two security guards, pointed at the empty box on the floor and then gestured for them to follow him. The two security swaggered as they followed Chen Fan out. After seeing that there were 10 identical huge boxes in the Volvo, they looked at each other before giving Chen Fan a "you''re impressive" stare. In less than three minutes, 20 security guards rushed out from the bank and unloaded the 10 huge boxes from the car. Behind the guards was a staff-member who spoke fluent Mandarin. "Dear honorable guest, how can I be of service to you?" The person bowed before asking in fluent Mandarin. "Deposit this money into my company account." Sitting on the soft couch, Chen Fan gave the cap on his forehead a tug as he took out a piece of paper with the bank account of "Cruiser" offshore company and passed it to him. "Just a moment please, we''re verifying the funds!" The staff had the look of an old butler of an aristocratic family. It couldn''t be helped, since 240 million USD and 24 million USD were not significant at all. "Dear honorable guest, please do not worry. No other bank in the world can match our security measures here." "We''ve always implemented a "no questions asked" confidentiality policy for deposits, and a "no questions will be answered" policy for checks on customer data." The staff-member probably saw Chen Fan''s concern. "As long as the offshore company account is registered here, I can guarantee that it will be the world''s safest account." "Oh!" Chen Fan nodded, but still didn''t remove his cap and sunglasses. Instead, he crossed his legs and leisurely drank the freshly ground coffee in the cup. One hour later, the staff-member handed him a high-quality black bank card with three silver keys on it. "This is the VIP card our bank specially provided for you!" The person pointed to the bank card in Chen Fan''s hand. "You can go to any Swiss bank in the world and enjoy unrestricted manipulation of the remaining funds in the account, without the need to make any appointment. We also have dedicated service staff at your service 24/7, you only need to call the number here, and you will have ready access to your account information." After changing the password on the computer, Chen Fan kept the card and said, "Alright, bye!" "Please hold on." "We have the world''s most professional wealth management team here at Swiss bank. If you entrust your assets for us to manage, we can guarantee that you will receive a minimum return of five percent! We also" "I''ll go back and consider. I''ll give you a call after I decide!" Chen Fan gave a perfunctory reply before pressing his cap down and walking out. "Damn it!" Chen Fan drove the old car for a long distance before taking off his cap and throwing it aside. "If I had known there were so many rich people here, I would have just deposited everything in one go." Nevertheless, Chen Fan couldn''t be blamed for being so cautious. An amount close to 500 million USD was still considered a huge sum even to the Swiss bank, which was used to seeing large amounts of assets. No matter how the Swiss bank boasted, anyone with this sum of money would still be cautious. .... Chen Fan got onto the "electric eel ship" and headed to Miami to meet Wu Ruoyu, who was waiting there. Inside an office on the 27th floor of the Swiss bank''s Road Town Branch, the bank president, Calder, keyed in an extremely complex password three times before successfully retrieving the account opening information of a company named "Cruiser". The information was very simple. The company only had one employee including the director who was Chen Xiaohu, and there was a string of bank account number of the offshore company bound to him. "President, should we adjust his account information to that of a Grade A client?" The employee who had passed Chen Fan the VIP card was standing in front of Calder''s desk. After shifting his eyes away from the screen, he said in English, "This young man must have an extremely strong power or enterprise backing him up. From what I know, although there are many rich men in that country, few are willing to deposit so much money in a bank. They''re into industrial investments, and not too interested in international finance." "Um...I heard from the guards that he deposited more than once. He probably felt that it was too troublesome and eventually got the guards over to help." Calder closed the data column and nodded, but shook his head again. "Put him as B+ for now. Change him to Grade A if he has other huge deposits in the future." .... Four hours later in Miami, local time 530 p.m. "I''ve waited more than an hour for you, why are you so late?" Sitting in a Chinese restaurant, Wu Ruoyu pouted. "I''ve already bought the air ticket for you, 8 p.m. flight." "I lost my way!" Chen Fan touched his hair, which was still a little wet. "How much is the ticket, I''ll pay you." "1,400 USD!" Wu Ruoyu wouldn''t stand on ceremony with him. After counting and passing 14 US bills to her, Chen Fan took the luggage beside Wu Ruoyu and said, "Let''s go, we have to reach the airport two hours in advance! It''s meaningless to stay here in this unfamiliar place, anyway." If not for the huge pile of US dollars backing him up mentally, Chen Fan thought that he would probably shed tears from being homesick, not being able to speak English in the States. As such, he suddenly felt warm when he saw his neighbor Wu Ruoyu. "Yeah, it''s more comfy back at home, after all!" Wu Ruoyu sat up and followed Chen Fan outside. Miami International Airport wasn''t far from the restaurant, and the two reached the departure hall by cab in 20 minutes. Sitting on the chairs, Wu Ruoyu read a fashion magazine with great interest while Chen Fan closed his eyes as he controlled the electric eel to rush toward Zhongyun in advance. After around 40 minutes, Wu Ruoyu gently pushed Chen Fan''s arm, signaling to him that it was time to change the boarding pass. It was already after 8 p.m. when the plane soared into the clouds. Wu Ruoyu wanted to chat with Chen Fan, but saw that he was closing his eyes, looking unperturbed and completely treating her as if she were invisible. Feeling annoyed, she simply turned her head away and stared boringly at the dark sky outside the window. The electric eel was traveling in a completely opposite direction as the plane; one was traveling in the Western Hemisphere and the other was traveling in the Eastern Hemisphere, joining at Zhongyun after making a perfect arc of the earth. Chen Fan was immersed in the electric eel when the Boeing 747 suddenly shook violently, forcing him to pull his thoughts back. "What happened?" Chen Fan immediately opened his eyes and said to Wu Ruoyu beside him. "Maybe it was turbulence?" Wu Ruoyu was also perplexed. As her voice trailed off, the plane started shaking again. "Dear passengers, there is a glitch in the engine on the left side of the plane. We will be landing at Phoenix Airport in the state of Arizona in 20 minutes. Please fasten your seatbelts and do not panic Our plane has a total of four engines. We are still able to land safely when one breaks down. Please do not panic." "What did it say?" It was Chen Fan''s turn to be perplexed. Although the plane was vibrating at a low frequency, it was kept at a fixed frequency. "Dear passengers" The announcement this time was in Mandarin. After listening to it carefully, Chen Fan''s heart almost popped out. Oh my goodness, why is it like in the movies? First they would say it was a small problem and there was no need to worry. After that it would be "Please have faith in our pilot''s skills" After that, they would give each person a pen and a paper, "Everyone, please write your will!" Wu Ruoyu''s face was completely white, and her left hand uncontrollably grabbed Chen Fan''s arms. It was obvious that she was highly doubtful of the cabin crew''s words! "Fasten your seatbelt!" Chen Fan''s throat was dry. Damn it, if I survive this time, I''ll never take a plane again. I''ll only take the electric eel! "Oh" Wu Ruoyu removed of her shaking left hand, trembling as she fastened her seatbelt. After that, she simply pulled Chen Fan''s arm over and held it firmly in her hands. Although it was impossible to see what was wrong with the engine in the dark night, its unusual roaring sound gradually got to the ears of everyone. Of the passengers in the plane, half were foreigners and half were Chinese. Although they could still manage to stay calm, the fear on their faces couldn''t be hidden. "Don''t be scared, don''t be scared." Chen Fan patted the shoulder of the trembling Wu Ruoyu. "I have a feeling that there wouldn''t be any danger this time." As though confirming Chen Fan''s words, the roaring sound suddenly disappeared and the plane suddenly stopped shaking. Just as everyone was about to heave a sigh of relief, the dreadful voice of the announcer came from the speaker again. "Dear passengers, we have already shut off the second engine on the left, and the plane will tilt to the left and the right. However, our pilot who has over 10,000 hours of flying experience can guarantee that the plane will be stabilized by continuously adjusting the direction of the rudder. Please have faith in the flying techniques of our pilot" Chen Fan wanted to give the announcer a few slaps. Why did he have to say the same lines as in the movies? Fortunately, the flying technique of the pilot was quite good. Although the plane shook to the left and the right, it was only around five degrees. "Do you think we will" Wu Ruoyu turned her pale face at Chen Fan. "How can we die so easily? Don''t worry, we''re good-fortuned!" Chen Fan was naturally also scared. After all, a plane is known to be unstable. Even a small bird could damage it, let alone a faulty engine? Nonetheless, as a man he could only force himself to say consoling words. Twenty minutes later, as the plane wobbled and touched the runway before giving out a huge tire screeching sound, everyone finally put their heart at ease, gradually. Due to the time difference between the east and the west, it was already around midnight in Phoenix. Other than the blinking lights in the airport, there were only light spots a distance away in the dark. After unfastening his seat belt and standing up, Chen Fan could only feel his legs trembling like the plane 10 minutes before. "You...you alright?" Chen Fan stretched out his hand as a signal to Wu Ruoyu to grab his arm to stand up. "I''m...okay...should be fine!" Wu Ruoyu blinked hard to dispel her fear before grabbing Chen Fan''s arm and standing up. At this moment, the cabin door opened slowly and was linked immediately by two passenger steps. Then, a large group of airport staff rushed in to console the passengers in English, promising to compensate everyone for the various losses. As the crowd walked into the airport, dozens of staffs brought over hot coffee and hot dogs to help everyone get over the shock. "Phew!" Chen Fan heaved a long sigh before gulping the hot coffee in the cup. It was a great feeling to have survived an ordeal, especially after drinking a hot beverage when the outdoor temperature was only over 10 degree Celsius. "Why are you like a bull?" Wrapped in a white blanket, Wu Ruoyu smiled as she turned a cup in her hands. After experiencing huge fluctuations in emotions, she felt especially warm when she saw her neighbor Chen Fan, that even the awkwardness that Chen Fan caused her when he got drunk the previous time was no longer an issue. However, her smile was short-lived. As this was just a small ordinary airport between cities, it suddenly became extremely crowded with 500 more people at one go. The second provisional redeployed aircraft would only arrive at 8 a.m. After arranging all the places of accommodation, Chen Fan and Wu Ruoyu, who were chatting happily, were naturally taken as a couple by the airport staff and allocated to one room. It was fine if Wu Ruoyu didn''t agree to it, since the airport staff were all ready to stay overnight in the departure hall. Even the air stewardesses had to squeeze in the conference room, so she could squeeze with them if she didn''t mind. As for the other passengers, they were mostly couples or with families, and the remaining 10 over single ones were all men. She could get out and stay in a hotel, but there was no one to take her, and she had to go a few dozen miles to stay in one! After some hesitation, Wu Ruoyu agreed to the airport''s arrangement. After all, it was just staying in the same room, not sleeping on the same bed. However, when she and Chen Fan walked into the room, Wu Ruoyu''s face suddenly turned as red as a watermelon. There was only one bed in the small room, and it was a single bed which could barely sleep two thin people! "This...this" Chen Fan suppressed the excitement inside him as he stood at the door scratching his head. He wasn''t going to act gentlemanly, as that was only for honorable and upright people. As a normal man, he wasn''t going to reject this "luck with women." Neither would he say things like "Don''t worry, just sleep. I''ll stand guard on the side." 145 Two Statues This room should be temporarily vacated by the airport staff. It was a small room, with only a tiny foldaway bed and a row of high metal cabinets. There wasn''t even a TV or air conditioner. "Well.." Chen Fan looked at Wu Ruoyu helplessly. Wu Ruoyu mumbled a few times, while standing in the doorway. Miami was a typical subtropical seaside city, so both of them were dressed in their cool casual wear. Of course, neither of them would have dreamed of any snafu occurring to need any other attire! Usually, midnight there was directly eight or nine degrees below Miami. So, Wu Ruoyu felt cold, even though she had a blanket. Moreover, Chen Fan was on the floor! "You sleep outside, and I''ll sleep inside." Wu Ruoyu struggled for a while, then finally sat on the bed. She then slowly took off her diamond-studded heels. Chen Fan never thought that he had any bad fetishes, but when he saw Wu Ruoyu''s golden and cherry jade toenail polish and her small crescent-shaped lotus feet, his eyes could not even blink. Now, there are two kinds of men: rascals and hooligans. Chen Fan thought that he was the latter of the two, so when Wu Ruoyu curled up in the corner, leaving half of the bed to Chen Fan, he forced himself to only lay down, not making a single move. The bed was so small. It was even tinier than the bed in the middle school dormitory! Chen Fan and Wu Ruoyu were separated by only a finger''s width. The bed was small, which meant that the blue quilt was not much bigger. Wu Ruoyu wrapped herself in more than half of it, then put out her left arm and pressed it firmly in the middle of the quilt to prevent Chen Fan from trying anything. "Give me a bit of the quilt! I''m half exposed!" Chen Fan said, after he had tried to pull at the quilt two times, without succeeding. "Pull it yourself!" Wu Ruoyu''s head was hidden under the quilt, her left arm now gently loosening. His buttocks was somewhat uncomfortable, hanging very close to the side of the hard iron bed. After Chen Fan pulled the quilt over, he further squeezed his body towards the center of the bed. As the two lay gently next to each other, feeling the elasticity and heat of each other''s skin, Wu Ruoyu''s body was stiff. She seemed to want to escape, but the cement wall limited her movements. "Heh heh." Chen Fan''s mouth silently opened into a sinister arc, then he transferred his mind to the electric eel. The two were in a state of heightened nervousness, so it was definitely not the right time for Chen Fan to play the hooligan. So, Chen Fan prepared to wait for an hour or two, hoping that Wu Ruoyu would go to sleep. The electric eel had sailed to the top of the North Atlantic Ocean, just north of the island of Puerto Rico. Chen Fan was scared this time, so he did not dare let the electric eel go through the Bermuda Triangle. The two crystal grey-white pyramids were so frightening, Chen Fan suspected that they were not created by human beings. After all, the the circular holes in the pyramid, which looked like the black hole of the universe, showed a suction that was simply not consistent with any humanly made things. Two hours had passed, and the electric eel had run for another 300 miles. Chen Fan pulled his thoughts back and showed his treacherous face. Chen Fan was wrong: not everyone was as heartless as he was, so even if he was in the corner of the bed or under the palm tree, he could deal with it for one night. The trouble with Wu Ruoyu, was that she was very demanding about her sleeping environment, which made it difficult for her to fall asleep in the awkward position of crouching in a corner, not to mention lying next to a man. To be honest, Wu Ruoyu honestly felt that Chen Fan was not bad necessarily. Although he was not really handsome, she definitely did not find him to be ugly. He would, however, look better in nice clothes. Most of all, she thought that this guy was not like most men, who are born perverts and flirt whenever they see a pretty woman. Although the latest incident had made her feel very ashamed and angry, she decided that he couldn''t really be blamed. After all, drunk people are like corpses! Feeling the motionless man beside her, a warm smile appeared on Wu Ruoyu''s face. It was rare that he could remain as still as a stake and not try to make a move on her Such an honest man! However, between the meeting in the shop earlier and the small temper that was revealed at the Zhongyun Airport, she felt that this neighbor was not an honest person. On the contrary, he seemed to have never evolved completely into a man, but had remained only a boy. As Wu Ruoyu was thinking about all these things, Chen Fan suddenly tossed a little and murmured. He then put his right hand unconsciously on her waist. At that moment, Wu Ruoyu''s muscles tightened all over, but she did not dare move. He should be asleep Wu Ruoyu did not think on this too deeply, but focused on calming herself down and tried to gently remove Chen Fan''s hand from her waist. However, two seconds later, he murmured again, then squeezed his whole body towards her! Slowly, Wu Ruoyu felt his big hand slowly moving up from her lower abdomen, stopping just below her ribs. As luck would have it, Chen Fan''s hand was on the lower side of Wu Ruoyu''s full chest, which everyone knows is a really erogenous zone! Did he sleep at all? Wu Ruoyu''s brain was confused and buzzing. When a person was sleeping, they always changed their posture to adjust their comfort. Therefore, Wu Ruoyu did not dare draw any conclusions. After all, he had not moved for two hours. But, what if Chen Fan had just been acting very well, but had just now completely exposed his most authentic side!? All of a sudden, with a loud bang, Chen Fan fell to the ground! His face had not recovered from the surprise, when Wu Ruoyu''s angry words rang in his ears. "You...pervert!" Wu Ruoyu''s face was read, and she was panting, while holding the quilt. Her chest was heaving up and down quickly, as she was trying to catch her breath. Chen Fan hurriedly scrambled up from the cement floor, then asked in his confused stupor, "What happened? Why did you kick me out of the bed, when I was just sleeping soundly?" "You...you...you..." Wu Ruoyu looked at Chen Fan''s innocent face and felt that her throat was being blocked by an unknown fire. She pointed her trembling hand at Chen Fan, trying to stutter out words. "What''s wrong? Is it me?" Chen Fan''s eyes widened, like he was seeing a ghost. Bang! Wu Ruoyu had grabbed the pillow next to her and threw it at Chen Fan''s head! At 8:30 in the morning, on a Boeing 747 bound for Beijing.. Last night was difficult for the pair of them. They now sat like two Greek statues in their seats, both stiff and silent. The one inside was staring at the porthole, while the one sitting outside closed his eyes, not uttering a word. Wu Ruoyu was going to blow up. This guy had not only insisted that he was not guilty, he even confusedly said that he had only been sleeping, and that she had smacked him for no reason! "You beast! Pervert! You are shameless!" Wu Ruoyu was holding a small fist up in anger. "Dang it, I should have been more gentle!" Chen Fan, whose mind was on the electric eel, swam towards Zhong Yun, unsatisfied. 146 The Annoying Korean Submarines At 4 p.m. inside a KFC at Deren Road, Zhongyun City, Yun Meng smacked her tiny lips as she bit on the last french fry, looking as if she couldn''t get enough of it. Wang Bing was sitting opposite her and looking boringly at the young girl, who seemed immature to him. "Nice? I see the TV always showing some Orleans grilled wings or some others grilled wings. How about I order a set for you?" Wang Bing retrieved his gaze after he saw Yun Meng finish the meal in front of her. "Um!" Yun Meng wiped her slightly greasy lips. She had also seen those advertisements before, but Chen Fan had never brought her to eat them. After slightly making a fool of himself to get some Orleans grilled wings, Wang Bing stared at Yun Meng as he chewed on the chicken wings. "I''ve a question which I shouldn''t ask, but you''re already seventeen and should be able to understand. Your Brother Chen Fan is always outside flirting, aren''t you afraid?" "How could that be?" Yun Meng raised her head. "Isn''t Brother Chen Fan always busy with work? He even went overseas for a business deal two days ago." "How could he be going for business? I know his company too well. There''s no need for him to go overseas." Wang Bing made fun of the young lady out of extreme boredom. "Let me tell you, actually he went for a Hawaiian beach holiday with a pretty girl!" Yun Meng looked at Wang Bing confused. "Why should I be worried even if Brother Chen Fan went on a holiday with a pretty girl?" "Well" Wang Bing scratched his head. He couldn''t be too blunt joking with a young lady, so swallowed back his "Aren''t you jealous?" "Think about it, your Brother Chen Fan is young and rich. There are definitely lots of pretty girls clinging onto him." After a short silence, Yun Meng bit her lips and asked, "Brother Wang Bing, are there really pretty girls clinging onto Brother Chen Fan recently?" "Yes, yes, there''s even a reinforced platoon. Don''t let him off when he''s back, you gotta teach him a lesson!" Wang Bing was out to stir trouble. He said this as he bit loudly on the chicken wing in his mouth, "Men have to be controlled, especially those young and rich like your Brother Chen Fan. Otherwise, there will be tons of young ladies making a scene at your door in the future." "Control men?" "Men are the pillars of a family. Only they should control women, how can women control men? Wouldn''t that be turning things upside down?" Yun Meng looked at Wang Bing as if she was looking at an alien from outer space. "Where I came from, there were always disobedient women who got chased and beaten by men with a rod, but there are never women who dared to talk back to their husbands, let alone raise their hands. They would definitely be divorced if that happens, and no one will dare to marry them again." "Eat...eat the wings!" Wang Bing also looked at Yun Meng as if she was an alien. As a promising young man of the 21st century who was used to seeing sassy girlfriends, fierce women and nags, what else could Wang Bing say? Five minutes later, when Wang Bing was brooding inside over how to ask Yun Meng to introduce him to a girl from her hometown, Chen Fan called and asked him to come to the airport to pick him immediately. "Let''s go, your Brother Chen Fan is back. Let''s go fetch him." Wang Bing spat out the last chicken bone before standing up to carry Yun Meng''s bag. ....... "Hmph!" In the waiting area, Wu Ruoyu pulled a long face and gave a heavy snort before pulling her white suitcase out without looking at Chen Fan even once. "Hmph!" Chen Fan sat right onto the chair, ignoring Wu Ruoyu''s threat as he crossed his legs. A man shouldn''t regret anything that he had already done, no matter how immoral it was. Since there was no cure for regret, the right thing to do was to face it bravely. "Boss!" Not long after, Wang Bing was walking happily in front of Chen Fan. "Why are you here?" Chen Fan was puzzled after he opened his eyes and saw Yun Meng also standing beside him. "Don''t you have class in the afternoon?" "Today''s Sunday!" Yun Meng stuck out her tongue. "Brother Wang Bing brought me to KFC just now, so I followed him here." "Just call him Wang Bing, don''t add the word ''Brother''!" Chen Fan stretched himself. After getting into the car, Chen Fan sat comfortably on the real leather seat as he looked at the familiar scenery outside the window, and an extremely comfortable feeling shot up his head. Although the United States and Road Town in the Virgin Islands were much more developed than Zhongyun, they were foreign land after all. It was inevitable to feel lonely in an unfamiliar place even if it was on a bustling street. "Brother Chen Fan, is America fun?" Yun Meng asked. "So-so, other than having more foreigners, there isn''t much difference." Chen Fan laughed as he talked about the overseas trip. After getting home, Chen Fan laid on the bed and smiled to himself before continuing his electric eel voyage. ....... Forty-nine hours later the electric eel was at Latitude 37.31.12 north, Longitude 131.28.50 east, in the waters between the Korean peninsula and Japan. It was 623 nautical miles away from Zhongyun, and the electric eel only needed five hours to get back. However, even though it was now full of energy, the electric eel did not continue on but hid behind a huge reef as it stared at the waters on the left without moving at all. Twenty minutes ago, the electric eel, which was at over 200 meters underwater met with a huge submarine. Just as the eel curled under a huge rock to let the lawless submarine pass through, the submarine switched on its active sonar. Boom! The 110-meter long, 10-meter wide and 10-meter tall black submarine was using its active sonar detector, which could be heard dozens of miles away to survey the surrounding waters once every two seconds. Behind this apparent Los Angeles-class submarine were another three black submarines which were much smaller in size. "What''s going on?" Chen Fan was a little confused. Does the United States not have conventional submarines? Inside the Los Angeles-class submarine, the 41-year-old Captain Bender was sitting leisurely right in the center of the control room, staring at the various data on the monitor. "Captain, the active sonar detector did not discover any suspicious target nearby." "Do another search!" Bender put down the mike in his hand before turning his head toward the staff beside him. "Anything unusual from the passive sonar?" "No, sir!" "I guess those Korean and Chinese submarines dared not come over!" Bender turned his neck a few times and let out cracking sounds. As the world''s strongest navy, the feeling was simply fantastic! Openly switching on the active sonar was something other submarines could only do in their own territories, but they were able to do so whenever they felt like it at 99 percent of the locations worldwide. Half an hour later, Bender received the report from the sonar detector that there was still nothing unusual being discovered. "Launch the communications buoy, inform submarine ''George Washington'' and those damn Koreans that our mission has been completed. We''re just waiting for the anti-submarine exercise ''Indomitable Will'' to start." Bender was furious at the thought of those shabby Korean submarines. It was simply a disgrace to the attack submarine exercise. 147 Ma Rongtao’s Reques "Unbending Will", a demonstration ostensibly aimed at "the Cheonan", a South Korean warship, was torpedoed, but who knew what the intention was? The answer was unclear. Some said it was North Korea, others said it was China. But there was no denying the fact that the exercise, which was conducted in the territory of the China, was filled with an intensely competitive atmosphere. Suddenly, the nuclear-powered submarine in view shot out a dark blue, cylindrical object about the size of a water bottle from the side drain. "Communications float?" Chen Fan recognized the origin of this thing. It is a way for submarines to contact external forces. Once it reached the surface, it could use the radio waves to send out the information. Watching the few submarines in front of the electric eel slowly disperse, Chen Fan was free to just stay there and see what were they up to. Now the electric eel doesn''t have to be afraid even if it''s detected by a submarine. ........... An hour later... "Turn the cyclic rudder left, dip 15, descend to 200 meters. Heading 315, speed 5 knots... " In the command module of the 1,800,000-ton conventional diesel-powered submarine in Busan, South Korea, the captain, Kim Sung-Hwan, quietly issued a command to the submarine. Since the sinking of the Cheonan Cordon and the death of 46 sailors, the entire military community in the country has been roaring with cries of vengeance for the Cheonan. But Kim Sung-Hwan knew, they could only cry about it. Although there was enough evidence to suggest that this was done by the North Korean small submarines, they could not start the domestic war with North Korea, because North Korea was a country holding a nuclear bomb. If they made the crazy people mad, they might do anything to them. This joint military exercise with the United States was only a disguised demonstration. And the location of the demonstration was fantastic, just over 600 nautical miles from China. The world''s most advanced fighter jet, which will be on display tomorrow, within the radius of the F22 air strike. Of course, this is just a deterrent, and the F22 can''t really go into the waters of China. South Korea demonstrate was against North Korea, while the United States demonstrated against the Chinese. It was win-win cooperation. As the name suggested, the most important part of the exercise was the anti-submarine. Together with their three submarines, they were preparing for a three-to-one melee fight with American nuclear submarines. Just as Kim Sung-Hwan was in the middle of a conjecture, a quiet report from the sonar came from the microphone. "Sonar room, what is it?" Kim Sung-Hwan whispered to the microphone. "Report. Found a suspicious signal." "First contact time?" "Five minutes ago, between position 404 and 500, the side array sonar detected a suspicious signal, about two miles away." The sonar monitor answered without hesitation. "And then?" "Have been listening for a while. There is no confirmation of the nature of the signal, and the contact was lost 20 seconds ago. Between 174 and 230." "Was it our other two submarine sound bands?" Kim Sung-Hwan looked at the chart, and according to the exercise, the four submarines were not allowed to sail more than 50 nautical miles. At this distance, as long as they used careful detection, they could find the trail of the other side. But more likely, the other person would find out too. "Not them!" "Has the sound been recorded? Let me hear it." Kim Sung-Hwan asked the surrounding person to keep quiet and then put on the big earphone. The recorder played the suspicious sound after filtering the background clutter. The sound was very light, even without background noise, it was not very easy to hear what it was. Kim Sung-Hwan set the sound to the maximum, and finally understood. It was a sound like the flow of water, and it was very rhythmic. Every five seconds there came a "poop poop" water flowing sound from both sides, which lasted about two seconds every time. "It must be the American attack submarine!" said Kim Sung-Hwan. But the American technology was so much better that they couldn''t lock in the target, even if they occasionally caught the opponent''s position. "Come and trace it." Kim Sung-Hwan waved to the man next to him. Manual tracing on the chart had always been a very effective and reliable method. Through the position of the ship in the chart and azimuth signal identification, it could be seen clearly, this was a signal source in the movement and moved two kilometers in about five minutes. The location of the mobile was precisely their left side before arcing of the submarine. "Quickly! Torpedo room pressurize the torpedo launcher, sonar room closely monitor the nearby movements." Kim Sung-Hwan said with a low voice, "Shut off the engine and then rise 50 meters." He was in a panic, and cold sweat came down from his forehead. He had no idea that they could find his position so soon. And they were circling in front of the submarine. .......... On the U.S. Navy''s Los Angeles-class attack submarine, Bender listened to sonar monitors and listened to the report on the latest sonar data. Seven minutes ago, they had successfully detected a South Korean submarine, now although the source had disappeared, this does not prevent them from using the better computer automatic chart instrument of surveying and mapping, to determine the azimuth of the submarine. "Sir, the data is out!" The next person pointed to the green dot on the screen and said softly. "Yeah!" Bender just nodded but did not place the attack order. If it was a one-on-one confrontation with a single submarine, he would dare to beat the chest and let any submarine in the world challenge it! But he had to face three submarines, attacking one would immediately trigger two more submarines to aim at him. Although the submarine was equipped with four 533 mm torpedo tubes and can target four targets at the same time, it has to find the targets first. "Left rudder, move about three kilometers north, and then immediately release a torpedo, then dive down to 300 meters, releasing three sonar interference," Bender whispered, after pondering a moment. The sonar equipment had fallen dramatically during the rapid navigation of the submarine. In the case of the speed of 30 knots, the sonar can''t hear any sound at all, which was, of course, unsatisfactory. So a high-speed submarine often blurs and poses no threat to anyone. But Bender knew, competing with the other three submarines that they were not of the same class. They could use maximum speed, as long as they used the sonar jammers to interfere with nearby submarines'' targeting. This kind of submarine at high speed had at least an 80 percent chance to escape the attack of a torpedo. Shortly after the order had been given, the dark undersea ghost suddenly jetted a sharp stream of water from the stern and sped off to the north side of the little submarine. "Sir, we have been found. They are approaching us at the speed of 30 knots... Oh, no, they fired the torpedoes." The sonar room workers were getting more and more nervous, and at the end of the day, even the volume their voices could not be controlled anymore. "Limit submergence... limit submergence ..." Kim Sung-Hwan''s blue veins on his neck could be seen. "Torpedo tank, release underwater acoustic interference quickly, and immediately launch two wire torpedoes." Rumble... Two hundred and thirty centimeters of orange torpedoes, dragging long wires, came out of the ship''s bow and sped forward. But the two torpedoes couldn''t find their target at all, just like a headless fly, moving in an S-shaped route. Whoosh! An AI-guided torpedo of nearly four meters long passed the two little torpedoes at 50 knots, shot to the Busan submarine like an arrow. Meanwhile, the two South Korean submarines that were hovering nearby, had also captured the azimuth anomaly using the passive sonar, happened to coincidently release two torpedoes, and then took advantage of the sonar jammer, and used the highest speed to flee into the distance. Seven torpedoes... The live-fire torpedoes, which are used for exercises, are specially treated before they are hoisted to the launch module of the submarine. There was no charge, and five seconds before they reached the target, the torpedo would immediately reverse its engine, the kinetic energy would stop before coming in contact with the submarine, and then the projectile head airbag would inflate. Even if it hit the submarine, it wouldn''t cause any damage. Seven torpedoes, "Busan" submarine was successfully hit by the torpedo, while Los Angeles-class attack submarine was much luckier, in that under the six aimless torpedoes'' attack, only one grazed 300 meters off the left side. The others didn''t even come close. ......... If someone had X-ray vision and could see the area through more than 300 meters of water, he would be amazed to see it. A more than 70-meter long, black-scale covered terrorist monster, with its claws like a mine excavator, grabbed one of the torpedoes from the American submarine that was slowly floating to the surface, and then through the noise distraction in the surroundings, it broke out a speed three times faster than the torpedo and dashed to the tail of "the Busan" submarine. Chen Fan''s purpose was simple. It was to do a little damage, to prevent their exercise from going on. How to fathom the speed of 150 knots at 77 meters per second? It was the equivalent of a 250-kilometer sports car that slammed into a van. Rumble... There was a tremendous roar. The 1,800,000-ton "Busan" submarine''s tail propeller was suddenly torn apart by two tons of torpedoes and the torpedo warhead with the airbag that had exploded. "Ah, what''s the matter?" Kim Sung-Hwan was almost knocked to the ground. Grabbing the seat next to him and trying to balance, he screamed, "Are the Americans crazy? How can an exercise torpedo hit a submarine?" "Sir, our thrusters were torpedoed, and now we''ve lost most of our power and have water coming in from the bearings." The operator in the wheel room shouted at the top of his voice in the microphone. "Come up quickly! I''ll f*ck the Americans!" Kim Sung-Hwan sat down on the floor, his voice was sad as if he had been neutered. ............ "Report Captain. There was a tremendous crash of metal sound caught by the sonar." "What?" Bender grabbed the microphone. "Did you figure out the place where it occurred?" "Calculating." The sonar officer was a bit hesitant. "A... As if... it was from the South Korean submarine." "What happened? Isn''t it a 100 percent guarantee that the torpedo won''t make any mistakes?" Bender sat pale in his chair. The submarine was more powerful than a ship on the surface of the sea, and it was not very easy to break under the inertial pressure of the sea when something hits the surface of the submarine. And judging from the sonar report, they not only inverted the torpedo engine, but expanded the warhead airbag. If either of them had not happened, the torpedo would still not be dangerous. Ten minutes later... More than two dozen ships were sent to the area of the incident when the Los Angeles-lass nuclear submarine had sent out signal. The reporters were always quick to receive news. The whole warship formation was in chaos. Those journalists who had been invited to come to interview, had come alive, immediately taking pictures of the sea from across the border. "Excuse me, Colonel Raster, was there an accident. Why did the fleet suddenly go in one direction?" CNN''s female reporter asked, holding a big microphone. "No comment for the moment! We''re going to hold a press conference," he said. "We''ll have a press conference." "It looks like there was some sudden accident during exercises just now. The puzzle will have to wait for us to get to the scene to unlock it. Now we''ll connect to our reporter on the ground and ask him to analyze the situation for us." The electric eel was to be blamed for the incident, of course. It had to escape with the "crime tool." After escaping 300-400 miles, the electric eel slowly lowered its speed and buried the head of the torpedo in the mud, putting an end to the possibility of it to being discovered. The next day, all the major newspapers and news headlines revealed that during the first day of the South Korea and American joint military exercises, due to serious technical reasons, a torpedo had struck the South Korea Busan submarine, causing propeller damage and water to enter the vessel. There was a set of clear photos of the "Busan" submarine''s damage, which went viral on the internet. There were numerous claps for this incident, and almost every military website had been filled with comments for the post. "According to our latest news, the two sides have decided to suspend the exercise for a while, wait for the reasons to be investigated and then continue... " Chen Fan was lying on the sofa, leisurely watching the news broadcast content. Sigh. "Electric eel is definitely a little crazy!" The trip to the Virgin Islands had ended, and $480 million was in the Swiss international bank, leaving only $12 million hidden at home. The Internet bank account keys for the 20 Virgin Islands bank accounts and various supporting documents were in his hands. What Chen Fan expected most was that there were 11 Swiss bank checkbooks. Plugging the electronic key into the the USB slot on the computer, Chen Fan logged onto the website of the Swiss international bank, chose the Chinese interface, and respectively, transferred the ten $24-million-account to $240 million Chen Xiaohu, Chen Fan''s virtual identities'' main account. When it was finished, Chen Fan smiled while holding the remaining 10 checkbooks. Do you know what a blank check is? This black cover, with three bank-keys marked on Swiss bank''s checkbook, is a total blank check. But as for the checkbook, which was bound with $480 million, he should be as prudent as possible. Having a big bank account, of course, he had to launder the money and bring it back into his hometown. But now Chen Fan was not in a hurry to buy his own company. It was only a useless small company with three cargo ships. At the most it would only cost 100 million RMB. Even if he sells it for 3 million, it would be only a drop in the bucket for the $480 million. Chen Fan decided to develop the real identity and virtual identity together. One in the light, one in the dark. One in his hometown, one floundering abroad. Virtual identity was like the electric eel, opening a road for the real identity. If in case there is anything inconvenient for the real identity to do, he''ll let the virtual identity to do it, whether to take money from or make a hostile bid for another party, or to intimidate. Like the last encounter with the Somali pirates. If he had registered the offshore company earlier, then he could have pretended to be an agent for Chen Xiaohu and could have made the Cruiser international business company out to be a super-large organization. And then to intimidate the other party, tell them if they touch Chen Xiaohu''s men, they''ll face the consequences. "Oh, cool!" Lying on the bed, Chen Fan with his hands on his head, kept imagining. At that moment, the telephone ringing interrupted Chen Fan''s fantasy. "Hello?" Chen Fan touched the phone and did not look at the contact number before answering. "It''s your Uncle Ma. Xiao Chen, you haven''t got up yet?" On the other end of the telephone came the voice of Ma Rongtao. Chen Fan sat up in bed, pinched his nose and said. "I''m up. What''s the matter Uncle Ma?" "That..." Ma Rongtao''s voice sounded tired and hesitated for a few seconds. "Do you still have the phone number of the pirate you contacted?" "I didn''t delete it. What happened to you Uncle Ma? Why are you asking me this question?" Chen Fan was a little suspicious. Why he was asking about the pirate? "Well, that''s good... that''s good ..." Ma Rongtao was obviously relieved and said, "Can you come to my office right now? I have something to tell you." "Well, I''ll be there in 40 minutes," said Chen Fan, rising from his bed. ......... Thirty-two minutes later, Chen Fan parked his car in the parking lot and headed for Ma Rongtao''s office building. Only two people were in the office, Ma Rongtao and his niece, Wu Ruoyu. Both had faces shaded with melancholy. Even when Chen Fan came through the office door, Wu Ruoyu just glanced up, not even in the mood to give Chen Fan a sour face. "Chen, you have arrived." Ma Rongtao tried to give out a smile. "Shasha, quickly go and make a cup of tea." "Okay," Wu Ruoyu replied weakly. "What the matter Uncle Ma?" Chen Fan sat on the sofa. The expressions on their faces told him that they might have encounter something bad. Most probably it had something to do with the Somali pirates. Otherwise, Ma Rongtao would not ask him about the pirates. Ma Rongtao''s appearance as a successful businessman had faded and had already descended into the grievance of a little old man. He sighed. "At 2 o''clock last night, my five-ton container ship, on the way through the Gulf of Aden to Turkey, was hijacked by the Somali pirates. Now they want a ransom of 50 million from me." Even though he had guessed it, Chen Fan was still surprised. Were the pirates crazy? More than 300 million RMB of ransom. "Uncle Ma''s boat Didn''t it go with a convoy?" Chen Fan took over the teacup handed over by Wu Ruoyu, frowning and sipped his tea. "The ship needed repairs." Ma Rongtao was like a wife filled with resentment at that moment. "When the convoy went to the coast of Oman, one of the ships had some mechanical problems, and then the other cargo ship pulled it to Oman where it took three days to fix. The convoy was not specially designed to protect me, and they asked my ship to stay there for 10 days and wait for the convoy to return with another cargo ship and join the team. But I couldn''t wait. This batch of goods was the bulk order I received from this side. There were more than 50 people involved. If we took a detour to the Atlantic Ocean south of the African continent, the freight rate would be doubled, and it would have taken nearly a month. So I had to make a bet with these two ships, but who knew." Wu Ruoyu sighed and then clenched her small mouth. She sat on the sofa, wanting to know the development of this matter. "Fifty million dollars," Ma Rongtao kept sighing. "My two ships, including the goods, are around 7.8 billion with a crew of ninety-six people. The group of pirates are giving me a week to pay the 50 million dollars. I need to accept the fate. Fifty million dollars I can''t keep quiet about. I dare not go to the bank to take out that much money, and I could not raise so much money from the black market. The pirates were Somali sailors, so I wanted you to call the man who asked you for a ransom, and say we were relatives or something. And ask them if they could delay a few more days since we have been robbed twice." In fact, the main reason that Ma Rongtao was looking for Chen Fan, was that he wanted to borrow some money from Chen Fan. Just 10 days ago, Chen Fan had said that he had done big business and had earned a lot of money. But Ma Rongtao was embarrassed to ask directly and tried to use another method. It would be the same if Chen Fan was willing to automatically lend him some money or help him to delay the ransom payment for a few days. 148 Titanium Alloy Submarine "Let those pirates delay for a few days..." Chen Fan bit his lip, saying no more. This ungrateful guy, he has gotten so many benefits, yet he''s still unwilling to help when we need him to carry out a task. Wu Ruoyu''s inner flame of rage started growing rapidly, as she looked at Chen Fan, who was deep in thought. "Is there anything bothering you?" Ma Rongtao let out a sigh, as he took out a cigar from a box with trembling hands. The moment he put it in his mouth, he immediately spat it out, touching the purple-reddish blister at the corner of his mouth. The blister was a result of the excessive internal body heat produced from his anxiety level and lack of sleep, which were direct results of his receiving the call from the pirates last night. "There is nothing bothering me. I was just organizing my thoughts!" Chen Fan glared at Wu Ruoyu, who was beside him, before taking out his phone. The phone rang for almost 40 seconds and Chen Fan was about to hang up, when the opposite party picked it up finally. "Hel, hello, wha, what do y, you want?" asked the translator, stuttering on the other end of the call. "Nothing much, just feeling a bit bored, so I called you up for a chat!" said Chen Fan casually, while leaning on the sofa. "Ah!" Wu Ruoyu, who stood beside him and could hear the conversation, covered her small mouth, staring at Chen Fan with great dismay. At this moment, it was as if Chen Fan had suddenly torn his shirt apart, revealing blue tights with the gem-shaped letter S printed on it. He was like Superman! Ma Rongtao was no better than her niece, as he did not even notice that the cigar in his hands had fallen onto the floor. "Ch, ch, chat? What do you want to chat about?" he stuttered. "What are you busy with? What took you so long to answer my call?" teased Chen Fan. "Nothing much, anything from your side?" the translator did not have the guts to claim that he had no intention of answer his call initially. So, he tried his best to reply in a forceful and confident manner. "Is Abadi around? If he is, call him over, I''ve got matters to deal with him about," Chen Fan barked. "He He''s not in" "How did you even qualify as a translator? You''re always claiming that he''s not around." Chen Fan raised his eyebrows. "Anyway, did you guys rob two Chinese cargo ships that were heading to Turkey yesterday?" Wu Ruoyu desperately wanted to snatch the phone away from Chen Fan and use her most gentle and soft voice to apologize to that poor translator. The translator suddenly had a feeling that all their efforts to rob the two ships were going to be in vain "Yea, it it did happen!" The translator sounded as if there was a big lump in his throat. "In that case, tell Abadi that these two cargo ships belong to a friend of mine, so I hope they are immediately released." Chen Fan signalled to Ma Rongtao, who wanted to speak, to stay quiet. He then continued saying, "Do as I say now. I hope to hear good news from you in no more than half an hour." When Chen Fan hung up the phone, both Ma Rongtao and Wu Ruoyu looked at him as if he was out of his mind. They just stared at him, wide-eyed. "Why are you two looking at me like that?" Chen Fan asked with a smile. Actually, he just wanted to tease Wu Ruoyu. He would have informed Ma Rongtao about the situation, had he been the only one around. Five seconds later, Wu Ruoyu quivered and placed her cold yet soft hands on his forehead, just like how he had placed his on her chest some time ago. She then touched her own forehead. "It doesn''t seem to be a fever," Wu Ruoyu concluded doubtfully. "Little Chen, are you crazy?" Ma Rongtao snapped his mouth opened and closed, almost bursting the blister, as it was too hard to take in what just happened. When the pirates first called him, he did whatever he could to please them. However, Chen Fan was too brave, as he had even requested an immediate release of the cargo ships! "Hehe, you will soon find out in another thirty minutes!" Chen Fan told him with a smug grin. "Thirty minutes?" exclaimed Wu Ruoyu, as she almost took the ashtray to beat up Chen Fan. "The ransom is going to become one hundred million US Dollars after thirty minutes!" "Sha Sha!" Ma Rongtao shouted at Wu Ruoyu. He believed that Chen Fan would not say things without having his reasons, but he also believed that the pirates would not release the ships and their crews, just because of a word from Chen Fan. It took a mere 20 minutes for the office phone to ring. Ma Rongtao walked towards it, looked at the displayed incoming number, and took a deep breath. He was trembling as he answered the call. "What!?" he barked into the phone."The pirates released all of you, and on top of that, they even allowed you to inform me that everything is alright?" Ma Rongtao''s bitter expression was suddenly plastered with astonishment, as he repeated the words that he had just heard. "Yes, boss. They even sent someone who could speak Mandarin to apologize to us!" The voice on the other line crackled. "That''s good, that''s good." Ma Rongtao''s legs suddenly gave away beneath him in front of his office desk. "Don''t say another word, as long as everyone is safe. We will celebrate everyone''s safe return upon their reaching home safely." "You How did you do it?" Wu Ruoyu showed disbelief in her big eyes, as she stared deeply at Chen Fan. "Little Chen, this This This is" Ma Rongtao stuttered, as he grabbed both of Chen Fan''s hands, unable to speak properly. Everything was too shocking for him. Yesterday, he was on the verge of having his head explode from anxiety, but today, all of his problems were solved with just a simple phone call by Chen Fan. He was not expecting anything at all, when he wanted to try his luck to borrow some money from Chen Fan or use his connection with the pirates. "That time when the ship crew was abducted, I paid the demanded ransom and waited until everyone got back safely. After that, I sought out a friend with a large influence to get back my ransom from those pirates. I have even gotten a compensation of 10 million US Dollars from them," Chen Fan explained, while holding on a tea cup. He then added, while sipping his tea, "My friend even told me that he had warned them before. So, if such things were to happen again, I just need to give them a call to get them to obey and cooperate." Ma Rongtao could not speak at all. Just how capable and influential is he, to make those pirates obey his words? Who is that friend of his? Obama? Putin? Hillary? Although Ma Rongtao found it extremely hard to believe that Chen Fan knew such a God-like person, he gave in to the truth that was in front of his eyes. It was obvious that those pirates were not stupid enough to willingly give up their gains for a word from Chen Fan. Thus, there must be a party involved that the pirates feared. Otherwise, he could not think of any other reasons for their actions. "Who is that friend of yours?" Wu Ruoyu also found it hard to believe, because her impression of Chen Fan had always been that he was just a normal hooligan, who did not work honestly and depended on illegal activities to become rich. "Sha Sha!" Ma Rongtao reprimanded her again. Even if Chen Fan wanted to tell them, he would prefer not knowing such an influential figure. ... 12 pm in the afternoon, VIP private room at First Class Dynasty Restaurant First Class Dynasty Restaurant was one of the best in Zhongyun. You needed to be a member to enter, as well as pre-order at least 2 hours in advance for the chef to have enough time to prepare a nice meal with fresh ingredients. Chen Fan, along with Wu Ruoyu and Ma Rongtao, sat at a table made from white coral reefs, enjoying various types of mouth-watering food. When they were still in the office, Ma Rongtao kept inviting Chen Fan to a meal enthusiastically. Chen Fan did not have any second thoughts, before accepting the offer because he also needed Ma Rongtao to do him a favor. So, he phoned Yun Meng and asked her to have lunch at school first, before following the two to the aforementioned restaurant. "Uncle Ma, I have been wanting to get my hands on a few large cargo ships lately, either by purchasing them from another country or via other means. Do you happen to know any solutions for this?" Chen Fan was prepared to obtain a few cargo ships overseas to be placed under the name of the offshore company. Since the common currency used in his country was Renminbi (China''s official currency, RMB), while overseas accepted US Dollars (USD), it was possible to save on the cost via laundering US Dollars to Renminbi. Plus, he could also use his real identity to purchase the ships at a dirt-cheap price! Besides, Chen Fan was also prepared to buy a shipyard in Zhongyun with his real identity in order to manufacture some iron submarines for his electric eel. It may even be possible to build a cruise in the future, once his business expanded. As Chen Fan had roughly 25 million Renminbi, it was more than enough for now. "Buy a ship?" Ma Rongtao put his chopsticks down. "Roughly how many tons?" "Around fifty to sixty thousand tons, I suppose. It will be best if I can pay with US Dollars, because I have a large amount of those with me now." Paying with US Dollars was simple, since it''s a globally recognized currency that many countries use to replenish their foreign currencies. However, for a customized ship, it would take a very long time. A fifty to sixty thousand-ton ship would take about half a year''s time to build, even for the most renowned ship manufacturers. The global economic crisis had not subsided yet, so there were a lot of owners who wanted to sell off their large ships. "Let me contact my overseas connections, and you should be able to purchase a large ship, fresh out of the dock," Ma Rongtao said, smiling. He suddenly thought of something and said, "By the way, how many ships are you intending to buy? If possible, I suggest that you purchase a few tankers, then I will introduce you to a few influential figures from Saudi Arabia. With your connections in Somalia, you need not worry about making money anymore." "I see!" Chen Fan nodded his head, then asked, "Could you order five tankers for me? Let me know the international banking number, so I can transfer the money." "I have a few overseas business partners, who want to sell off their ships, so this can be done quickly. Little Chen, come, let us drink!" "Cheers!" Chen Fan raised his cup and drank from it. "You will also need to offer a cup to Little Chen. How can you keep lying on the table like that" Ma Rongtao hit the back of Wu Ruoyu''s head with his fingers. I am supposed to offer a drink to this hooligan? She was not at all keen on doing that. She did not have the patience to forgive and forget what had happened so far. However, under the pressure of her uncle, who was also her superior, she had no choice but to raise her head dispiritedly and say, "Come, little Erm Chen Fan, cheers!" Wu Ruoyu nearly blurted out the word hooligan from her mouth, when she was not paying attention. Well, it was not her fault that Chen Fan had left a bad impression on her mentally! "Hehe" Chen Fan laughed to himself, as he saw her simmering with resentment. .... 3pm in the evening, Ma Rongtao''s office "Pass this bank card to Little Chen later. Let him know that the password is 888888." Ma Rongtao, who was seated at his office desk, took out a bank card with 10 million Renminbi in it from his drawer. "Wait, what?" Wu Ruoyu was stunned. "Isn''t this just a matter of a phone call?" "That call of his saved me 5 million US Dollars, which is equivalent to three hundred million Renminbi. If you have such capabilities, I am more than willing to work under you!" "Little Chen is very capable. When Zhang Xueyang requested him to smuggle a few machines from Japan, he didn''t even need to fight anyone to get it back. This time, a mere phone call was enough to get those Somalian pirates to obediently release the ship and its crew, without any complaints or issues." "Uncle, who do you think is that influential person whom he has connections with?" she asked, highly curious. "I am also not sure, but why do you need to know about it? It is not like knowing it will make us friends," he said. At that moment, a black BMW 740 was carefully crossing the road, which was filled with a lot of cars. After 20 minutes, it pulled over to the side of a sea-side shipyard. Chen Fan jumped out of the car and stretched his back. He had stopped at a small workshop named "Heavenly Treasures'' Ship-Manufacturing Shipyard." Below the green gantry cranes of the shipyard''s 3 docks, were a few workers. They were smoking and shaking their heads. There was no sign of work in progress, nor did it look like they would start any time soon. "Boss, why can I feel the chills coming from this shipyard? Look, even the large dock in the middle is overgrown with moss already." Wang Bing stepped out from the driver''s seat. "Do you think the owner would sell, if not for it being in this condition?" Chen Fan took a look around. He found this shipyard for sale on Zhongyun''s trading forum, stating that business was not good for the owner. Thus, the owner had decided to sell it off. Chen Fan decided to buy it, as long as the selling price was worth it. "Good day, sir," a middle-aged man, who was smoking and squatting below the gantry cranes, quickly tidied his collar and ran to greet Chen Fan. "Are you planning to buy some ships? We are able to produce any ships of two thousand tons and below. Plus, since we do not have any work at the moment, with a little bit of overtime, it should only take a month for a ship to be completed." "I thought you wanted to sell off this shipyard? I am not here to purchase a ship, but to purchase this shipyard." Chen Fan said, while kindly declining the cigarettes offered by the owner. "Sell? Yes, it is for sale! I have no other options, because I have tons of bank debt," he said, his face bitter. "In that case, how much are you planning to sell it for?" Chen Fan asked. "Twenty25 million" This owner either had no conscience, or he was still drunk from the night before! "What?" Chen Fan''s expression changed immediately, as he barked back, "Why don''t you rob me instead?" "Are you really serious about this?" Wang Bing chimed in. "Did you think our boss came all the way here, just so that you could have a good laugh about it?" "Little brother, I am joking. When I first set up this place, everything was imported from Germany, which cost 25 million, including the taxes. This does not even include the cost of this 5,000 square-meter piece of land," said the owner. "When I used to be a virgin, the prostitutes even gave me a red packet with 100 Renminbi in it, as it was my first time. But, now, when I find them again, I am required to pay for their services. So, you better not tell me that your machines are worth more after you have owned them for such a long time!" Wang Bing shot the owner a ridiculous expression. "Th Then How about a bit lesser offer... 24 million?" the owner offered. "Final offer is 18 million. If you are not willing to sell it at that price, then we will look for another seller." Chen Fan did not want to drag this conversation out for too long. He had already done his research on the estimated price for machines, when he saw the photos on the shipyard online. Eighteen million for everything, including the land and old machinery, should be a fair price. "I really can''t sell it for that price. Otherwise, I couldn''t even keep up with my loan," The owner said pitifully. "Let''s go!" Chen Fan did not say another word, but walked towards his car with Wang Bing. Vroom, vroom vroom.. The BMW''s engine roared to life soon after they both got into the car. The owner, on the other hand, watched the BMW with pitiful eyes, showing no intention of holding them back. Was my offer price really too low? Chen Fan was puzzled, as he had expected the owner to try to convince them. "Let''s go!" Chen Fan commanded five seconds later. Even if the price was really too low, he would not take the initiative to increase the price. He could use that effort to find the next seller instead. Screech! All four tires of the BMW rolled into motion, as Wang Bing stepped on the accelerator. "Hey, hey!" When the owner realized that they were really going to leave, he immediately chased after them, shouting, "Little brother, little brother, let''s discuss this again. Don''t go away! Let''s negotiate. Twenty million is my lowest price. I really cannot go any lower than that." "Eighteen million! I won''t pay for anything more than this price." Chen Fan shook his fingers at him. "Since you look like a straightforward person, I will take the loss as a price to become your friend," said the boss, after gritting his teeth for a very long time. After finishing his negotiating, he said, "Little brother, how about this, could you be sure to keep on the 23 workers, who all have 6 to 7 years of working experience? It is not easy to search for jobs nowadays." "Of course, this is not an issue," Chen Fan said, then pointed to the largest dock. "Can this operate now? I''m planning to start building a ship immediately." "Yes, of course." The owner nodded his head, like a woodpecker. "Please don''t be fooled by its appearance. All of the German-made products have really high quality. Even if I were to place them outside under the hot sun and rain, without maintenance for two years, they would still operate as usual." "Fine! Bring me to inspect your machines to ensure that they are not faulty. If they are fine, I will transfer the money to you immediately," Chen Fan said. As they looked around, Chen Fan saw that Germany''s workmanship was genuinely good. The gantry cranes, along with the large-sized welding machines, steel plate compressing machines, cutting machines, CNC (Computer numerical control) machine tools and other various machines did not even have the slightest problem! The purchase transfer process was very simple. After the Industry and Commercial Bureau made the appropriate filing, the shipyard was successfully transferred to Chen Fan''s name. He officially changed the yard''s name to "Storm Ship-Manufacturing Yard." After transferring the eighteen million to the seller, Chen Fan squatted below the cranes and gave Zhang Xueyang a call. "Hello, Brother Zhang, do you have any titanium alloy? I need 10 tons of it!" "Titanium alloy?" Zhang Xueyang felt deeply moved again by Chen Fan''s weird requests. "We do have it here, but you wouldn''t be requesting my dad''s factory to produce another big metal rod, would you?" "Nope, I just wanted to try making a more solid ship for fun. I recently bought a shipyard, so I was thinking of asking you to send some titanium alloy." Chen Fan had calculated it before. If a submarine''s outer shell was completely made of titanium alloy, it could withstand 400 to 500 pascal of deep sea pressure. By then, he intended to decorate the inner body extravagantly like a royal palace, complete with sauna massages, showers, and special services. As such, it would definitely feel like a home, which would also make it the best tool for an escape plan! "Sure, my dad''s factory has a lot of titanium alloy. Let me know the place, and I will send it over by the afternoon. However, even though we are familiar with one another, you will still need to prepare the exact amount of money for payment!" his friend warned. "Don''t worry, I will directly transfer it to you, the exact amount," said Chen Fan, as he stood up and shook his hips in exultation. 149 The Mysterious Stone Slate Chen Fan returned to the side of the dock after the phone conversation ended. Once there, he used the tip of his foot to nudge Wang Bing, who was squatting on the floor, playing with some ants. "Go and find a team of renovators to renovate the whole dock, and change the signboard while you are at it." Chen Fan pointed with high spirits at the shipyard''s perimeter walls, which had some red bricks exposed on them. "Do you also want to make take out some advertisements at the television station?" Wang Bing asked, as he stood up. "Nowadays, everything is about advertising. As long as you are willing to fork out more money, customers'' orders are guaranteed to keep on coming. I can foresee that we will be building spaceships after a few years of building seaships." "Go away! I am not expecting to earn money from this!" Chen Fan cruelly interrupted Wang Bing''s endless blabbering. With a dark smile, he said, "I hope to see a whole new shipyard after two days. Otherwise Hmph!" The gentle breeze of autumn wind lifted Wu Ruoyu''s smooth and silky golden hair, as she was sitting on a bench under a willow tree. She held onto her bank card, as if it was her marriage certificate, while staring at the main gate of Chen Fan''s house. Her head was filled with many thoughts. She had Chen Fan''s phone number, but for unknown reasons, she would rather sit and wait mindlessly on the bench by the lakeside than phone that hooligan! Looking at the time, she saw that it was already noon. "Could it be that he is not coming back for lunch?" Wu Ruoyu murmured to herself. As she was prepared to leave, Yun Meng, who came home riding a bike, happened to enter her line of sight. Wu Ruoyu stood up, then waved at Yun Meng with a smile. "Where is Chen Fan? Why is he not coming back with you?" "He told me that he will be back soon. Why? What happened? Is there something that you need him for, big sister?" Yun Meng had a sweet and tender voice, one akin to a skylark. "Nothing much. Please pass this card to him when he reaches home, and inform him that the password is 888888!" Wu Ruoyu smiled, as she carassed Yun Meng''s head. Yun Meng was shorter than Wu Ruoyu by half a head. Wu Ruoyu might have guessed some of Yun Meng''s misfortunes, but never in her wildest dreams could she have guessed that Yun Meng had been adopted by Chen Fan in order to be his backup wife! Wu Ruoyu was still thinking that Yun Meng was just an adopted little sister of Chen Fan''s! "He will be coming back soon. Isn''t it more appropriate for you to pass it to him personally?" Although Yun Meng had not been widely exposed to society yet, that did not mean that she was stupid! In fact, she had managed to recognize the words "Bank of Construction and Development" on the bank card, so she understood that bank cards with passwords meant that there must a money balance on it. Yun Meng had always avoided any matters related to money, as she was afraid of any accidents that might occur due to her own carelessness! Yun Meng had just finished speaking, when a black BMW sounded its horn, pulling over in front of them from the corner of the road. "Big Brother Chen Fan! Big Sister Ruoyu was just saying that she has something for you!" "What is it?" Chen Fan scratched his head, puzzled at the thought of Ruoyu giving him gifts. Maybe it is a love letter? "This is something that my uncle wanted me to hand over to you. The password is 888888, and there is ten million on it!" Wu Ruoyu handed him the card, despite being very reluctant to do so. However, in the process, she explicitly expressed negative facial expressions towards Chen Fan! "Wow!" Standing at the side, little Yun Meng''s mouth made an "O" shape, and her eyelashes blinked rapidly, wondering at the large number of ten million. "So this is itHehe, you are making me embarrassed." Chen Fan awkwardly touched the back of his head with his left hand, but stretched out far with his right hand to take the card. Chen Fan gleefully kept the bank card in his pocket after Ruoyu left. It was a great help to have it, since he didn''t have much money left on his person. Not long after having lunch, Zhang Xueyang called to notify him that the 10 tons of titanium alloy plates had been delivered. He also requested that Chen Fan quickly go over to receive it. The moment Chen Fan walked past the shipyard''s main gate, he saw a green Cummins cargo truck that was parked at the center of the courtyard. Everyone, including the yard''s crew, which consisted of more than 20 persons in total, were already unloading the goods. Those 12 silver-colored titanium alloy plates were unbearable to watch, as the sunlight shining on them was nearly blinding. "How is it all?" Zhang Xueyang touched the stubble on his chin and said, "Exactly 10 tons of titanium alloy, which costs exactly 5 million Renminbi, all present and accounted for." "Don''t worry, I will pay you the exact amount." Chen Fan knocked on the silver metallic surface with his fingers, saying, "What is your account number again? I forgot!" "The same goes for me, as well." After Zhang Xueyang gleefully told him a bunch of numbers, he posed a nonsensical question to Chen Fan. "Brother Chen, where is my combat war machine?" "Combat war machine?" Chen Fan couldn''t make heads or tails of what he had said, so he asked, "Since when did I owe you a war machine?" "Remember what you said on the phone the other day?" said Zhang Xueyang, his face filled with indignation. "You told me that you would give me a combat war machine when I invited you to my birthday party, which falls on the 15th of this month. Today is already the 14th." "Why are you organizing a birthday party, like a girl, when you are such a big man?" Chen Fan actually did remember about the party after being reminded, but he could never get Zhang Xueyang what he had promised. "What do you know?" Zhang Xueyang rolled his eyes, then raised his eyebrows as he slowly said, "The birthday party is just an excuse. The real motive for my hosting the shindig is to be able to openly invite beautiful girls to join the party!" "Forget about it, man. Don''t you already have a girlfriend? And yet, you are still thinking about all of that nonsense?" "Girlfriend?" Zhang Xueyang gave a smirk. "Well, I actually have two girlfriends, but it''s been causing me too many headaches lately! I have been trying to think of ways to avoid them meeting each other at the party." "Ho." Chen Fan felt depressed, listening to Zhang Xueyang''s babbling about his "headaches." Since the metal plates had now been unloaded completely, he said, "Then you better get going to deal with your headaches now!" "You better not forget about tomorrow''s party. I don''t mind about the present, since you won''t be getting any cake, even if you attend. I don''t want to get my face painted as a birthday prank, either!" After sending off Zhang Xueyang, Chen Fan coughed loudly a few times, in an attempt to gather the workers'' attentions. "Boss!" "Boss!" All 23 workers now had their eyes on him. "Ahem." Chen Fan pointed at the pile of titanium alloy and said, "I am giving everyone an order. I need everyone to use those raw metal materials to build a submarine. Of course, what I am asking for is not a real submarine that can dive, float, or navigate in the sea, but just a submarine model that is roughly 20 meters long and 5 meters in diameter." "Boss, wouldn''t it be a waste to build the outer shell with titanium alloy? After all, 500 grams of this thing already costs over 20 Renminbi!" A middle-aged dark-skinned man in his forties, known as Jiang Shui, asked. He was the worker with the most experience in this shipyard, who also happened to possess the best craftsmanship. When he was about 13 or 14, he had started repairing wooden boats by the seaside. When the country''s economic condition had gotten better, he started to repair and build metal ships. Although he did not have any official certificates, and his highest education qualification was only at the primary school level, his skill for building ships was on par with those professionals with the highest level of qualifications and skills. "Old Jiang, why are you so concerned about it, especially when it''s not your own money?" A man standing beside him laughed. "Can''t I give our boss some advice? I never said that I would not build it." Jiang Shui touched his nose. "I will follow the boss''s instructions, even if he is determined to use gold to build a submarine." "Alright, listen up!" Chen Fan waved his hands. "I want a streamlined submarine to be built, with its doors tightly sealed, just like a real submarine. If I find any part of the submarine that I am unsatisfied with, I will be deducting the cost to replace it from your salary." "Old Jiang, come over here for a while. You will be in charge of monitoring the work process and supervising any technical issues." Chen Fan waved his hands at Jiang Shui. When he walked closer, Chen Fan took out a big piece of white paper and spread it on a titanium alloy plate. Pointing at the submarine blueprint, Chen Fan said, "Install a spiral propeller at the back of the submarine, too. As for the internal structure, just follow my designs. I want not only want lighting equipment, but also a large central air conditioner, a freshwater storing cabin, a compressed air tube cabin and several other things." "Boss, then how about the submarine''s electricity generating system? If we are installing a diesel fuel generator, it would exhaust the air inside the submarine rapidly!" Jiang Shui looked at the blueprint, feeling puzzled. Could it be that this young boss is an adventurous person, who was planning to simply float freely around the world? "Just use a bundle of series of connected large batteries for the electricity generating system. Oh, and install a power socket for every cabin as well." "No problem boss. It will probably take up to three days to complete the outer shell, whereas the inner structure should take around five or six days." These requests were quite simple for Jiang Shui. In fact, this would be easier than building some small fishing boats. The only troublesome matters would be the bundle of series of connected large batteries and the time spent on decorating the submarine. Chen Fan nodded his head. "I want you to use the best materials for the interior decorations. And, ah yes, go ahead and place goat fur carpets in there, while you are at it." "Don''t you worry boss. I guarantee that I will make it look just like a royal palace," Jiang Shui said with a smile. "Then you better start work immediately. I want it to to be done as soon as possible." Chen Fan did not know anything about building submarines, nor did he intend to participate in the process at all. So, he went back home with his car after giving a few more instructions to the workers. Chen Fan himself was living comfortably amid luxurious facilities, but the electric eel''s dwelling place was a little unbearable in comparison. It was still dwelling in the large cave that had been dug out from the place filled with stones. By this time, the electric eel had grown to measure nearly 80 meters long and five meters wide, with its four limbs spanning three meters in length, its claws measuring two meters, and its body filled with black scales. By merely releasing over 5,000 watts of voltage, the scales shone with blue electric sparks that looked extremely pretty in the dark. Placing his thoughts onto the electric eel, Chen Fan first simulated the pituitary gland for half an hour, as usual, before continuing to dig the 400 meters deep hole in order to train its body. The land of the sea area was made out of fairly solid soil layers. So, initially, it was a slow excavation process for the electric eel. However, ever since it had shed its skin and gained enormous strength, with the help of a long spear to utilize for digging, the speed of the process had increased significantly. Excluding the time that it took to remove the soil from the 400 meters deep hole, it was estimated to be able to excavate roughly 10 meters per hour on average. However, five percent of the time was still spent on transporting the soil. The hole had a diameter of 20 meters. Now, the electric eel had started digging towards the sides, instead of downward, aiming to expand the inner bottom space of this now 400 meters deep hole to 200 meters wide, before continuing to dig downwards. Only then, would there be enough space for the electric eel to live within it. Since this hole was in the sea, unlike on land, there wouldn''t be a concern of it caving in, due to the buoyancy force of the seawater. Every time the electric eel used the titanium alloy long spear as a digging tool, it was possible to extract about seven to eight tons of soil, all with a single, aggressive stab! Even so, to dig an enormous cave in the middle of the deep sea surface, especially one full of reef, was an enormously time-consuming task. Luckily, Chen Fan had a lot of free time to commit to this project. Rumble! Suddenly, the whole area slightly trembled, when the electric eel struck the hole wall with its long spear. The titanium alloy long spear itself even kept vibrating non-stop. The long spear happened to strike upon a large rock. As this cave was being excavated in the center of the reefs, it was not surprising that it had encountered a large rock. In fact, there were already prior incidents, where the electric eel had dug out a few rocks. However, this rock was unexpectedly big. It took the electric eel nearly 1,000 hours to lift the rock out from the soil with its long spear. The shape of the rock was very structured, as if it had been polished by men before. It was two meters thick, five meters wide, and seven meters tall. It had a flat lower surface and a slightly sharp top end, almost like the shape of a shield from ancient times. "Eh? This is" Just when Chen Fan was about to control the electric eel to throw the huge rock away, one side of the rock caught his attention. The electric eel then overturned the rock with its two strong claws in order to take a better look at it. To his surprise, he saw that there were lines, with a rich combination of abstract and postmodern art styles, that were carved on the back of the rock. The lines were roughly the size of a child''s arms, each one clearly embedded on the surface of the rock. "Is this the work of men or a natural formation?" Chen Fan scratched his ears for a long time, afraid of making rash conclusions. These lines were full of vicissitudes, a rock painting style that is similar to that of ancient times. However, ancient rock paintings always had motifs of humans, animals, weapons and the like, thus making them very easy to understand, despite their being abstract. Take Burqin Country, Xinjiang, for example: those heritage workers, who had observed close to 200 ancient paintings, usually found pictures of men and horses on rock paintings. There was nothing else represented that could make them confused. As for the world''s earliest rock painting, which was created roughly 10,000 years ago and was found by a French archeologist in the north of Syria, that was mysterious as well. It showed a carving depicting either a man or monkey procreating! Although this rock painting had clear lines, those lines were arranged in an non-orderly manner, just like tens of strands of fur that were wound up together. Its disorganization alone caused Chen Fan to not be able to make heads or tails of it. Fortunately, the long spear had struck on the other side of the stone just now, so the lines were not ruined. Chen Fan placed the large rock beside the cave. Regardless of whether it was man-made or a natural formation, he would place the rock in the cave as his electric eel''s first treasure, once the excavation was complete. After safely placing the rock to the side, the electric eel continued working with its long spear. The next day, around 1 p.m.. Chen Fan received a call from Wang Bing, asking him to go to a large room known as the luxury crane, which was located on the fifth floor of the Stars of the Ocean Entertainment Club, where young girls were apparently waiting for his arrival. Although Chen Fan was not interested in the birthday party, he had to force himself to accept Zhang Xueyang''s invitation, as his friend had persistently invited him so many times. However, don''t even think about birthday gifts! The thought of a man giving presents to another man felt weird, so Chen Fan decided against bringing one. When Chen Fan had parked his car and walked in through the club''s golden rotational door, a young hostess wearing a fiery red sleeveless cheongsam walked up to him immediately. "Good day mister, are you here to book a private room?" "Where is the room known as the luxurious crane?" Chen Fan replied to this beautiful girl. He smiled, but thought to himself, Aren''t you afraid of falling sick, only wearing so little in December? "Please follow me!" the hostess passionately welcomed Chen Fan, leading him towards the side of the lift. Chen Fan was brought to the door of a private room, where he saw four girls, who dressed seductively and standing by the decorated corridor. Based on the their similar clothing, it was not hard for Chen Fan to guess that they would be the group of girls who were going to accompany them in singing later. "Mister, please enter!" The hostess sweetly gave a bow, before opening the door of the private room. However, before she could gesture to invite Chen Fan in, she quickly covered her ears. Someone unknown was singing Vitas'' opera song number two. However, the part "Woo ah..." that should have been sung in falsetto, ended up sounded more like a vicious male duck''s voice. With its powerful penetration force, the sound instantly caught everyone in the room by surprise, causing them to grimace and wince in pain! Chen Fan immediately could guess who was the devil singing in the room.There was no one else who would hold on to the microphone like he was holding on for dear life besides Zhang Xueyang! He also was the only one who would be shameless enough to sing with such an unbearable voice! "Please enter." After the part with the high pitch ended, the hostess rubbed her ears and let out a relieved breath. Chen Fan had no choice but to walk in unwillingly. Passing through a corridor that was attached to a separate toilet, Chen Fan walked into the grand hall. He could see Zhang Xueyang, who was sitting among a group of boys and girls, singing without restraint like a wolf howling. It was evident that this group of people were youngsters from a rich family, judging from how well dressed they were. Despite that, Chen Fan still did not have the slightest feeling of inferiority, because his nine-digit amount of US Dollars in the Swiss International Bank could make him felt good about himself, even after meeting Obama! There were six girls and five boys sitting respectively on both sides of the couch, with Zhang Xueyang at the edge. It seemed like there were no couples among them. The thing that most shocked Chen Fan about the group, was the fact that he knew three out of the six girls! Wu Ruoyu, Xia Qingqing, Ma Ruoxi As for the girl sitting beside Zhang Xueyang, seeing how close they were, Chen Fan assumed that she must be his girlfriend. So, maybe there was one couple... "Brother Chen, you finally arrived!" With his sharp eyes, Zhang Xueyang spotted Chen Fan standing at the side of the pathway. Upon seeing him, he quickly placed the microphone down, while giggling, in order to invite Chen Fan to sit down and join them. By then, everyone else also had noticed Chen Fan''s presence. There was not much of a reaction from the other youngsters, but the three girls that Chen Fan already knew each had a big change in their expression, especially Wu Ruoyu. "Yep, I am here." Chen Fan was feeling quite regretful for coming now. If Zhang Xueyang was allowed to continue singing for the rest of the evening, will I survive it? Looking around for about two seconds, Chen Fan decided to walk to the side of the couch at the far east in order to sit beside Wu Ruoyu. He chose this because he didn''t know any boys there except Zhang Xueyang, who was sitting beside his girlfriend. Chen Fan did not want to interrupt the couple. Seeing him approach, Wu Ruoyu let out a heavy breath through her nose! 150 Lido Holiday Hotel "Hey, could you not always frown?" Chen Fan was very timid. "I''ve never offended you, so why are you always picking on me?" "What do you mean?" Wu Ruoyu''s deep blue eyes were filled with surprise. "You know what you''ve done. Don''t act all innocent." All I did was scratch you a few times. If you''re not happy, then I''ll just let you scratch me back! Although this was what Chen Fan had thought, his mouth blurted out these words: "You really baffle me. Setting aside the fact that I was kicked off the bed for no reason, now you keep on accusing me of molesting you!" "I kicked you off the bed for no reason?" Wu Ruoyu''s voice suddenly increased by five scales, and her snow-white countenance reddened dramatically. Not only did this little rascal refuse to admit to his mistake, but he was also making bogus accusations against her. "If you hadn''t started to mess around, why would I have kicked you off?" "Hiss..." "Ahh" "Gah" Wu Ruoyu''s voice was neither loud or soft. Coincidentally, it met with the end of a song that was being sung by Zhang Xueyang, precisely at the moment when the sound in the speaker ceased completely, as it was preparing to play the following track. Therefore, all six women and five men, who were seated near Wu Ruoyu, heard this sensually flirtatious and coquettish protest. Multiple gazes landed upon Chen Fan''s body. Envy, hatred, curiosity, eagerness, astonishment, doubtfulness...almost all of these gazes contained every kind of positive or negative emotions, and they were all pricking Chen Fan like a needle. Pak! Then, a dropping sound was heard. Ma Ruoxi, who was texting as she sat next to Wu Ruoyu, did not even notice that her phone had fallen on the ground. Two pairs of wide, disbelieving eyes stared at this "adulterous" couple, in a similar way to how they would have stared at a prehistoric dinosaur. This is unbelievable! Too unbelievable! Didn''t Elder Sister always say that she didn''t have a boyfriend? Dad and Mom wanted to introduce her to a few bachelors, but they had all been duly declined by her. So, how did a boyfriend appear all of a sudden? And, apparently, it''s even the kind that has been kicked off the bed due to him messing around! This boyfriend... was actually Dad''s business partner, and Yun Meng''s elder brother, too! "II say, old pal, you''re not doing things prudently!" Zhang Xueyang stammered. "You always tell me that you don''t have a girlfriend. Who would''ve thought that you would have actually hooked up with you know who!" "II''m going to the washroom," Wu Ruoyu covered her hot face and ran outside. She knew that such things could not be explained. Yet, this did not prevent the others from trying to learn more about the latest gossip. She didn''t use the attached bathroom in the private booth, but ran out of the room instead. "Elder Brother Chen Fan, since when did start you hooking up with my sister?" Ma Ruoxi pulled herself from her daydream, edging closer to push herself against him. "About a month ago." Chen Fan opened his mouth, showing his snowy white teeth and smiling shyly. "We''re neighbors, right? So, as time passed, things just naturally became..." "Became what?" Ma Ruoxi had great potential to become a very successful, and nosy, female paparazzi! "Nothing. I''m going to the bathroom as well." Chen Fan hurriedly walked towards the door, attempting to avoid Ma Ruoxi''s pull. The gazes of the people indoors were similarly hot, especially those coming from the four males. Chen Fan actually thought that, if he had stayed in the room any longer, he would have been seared into roast pork by those scorching gazes, which felt as if they were up to a high temperature of 1000 degree Celsius! "Hehe, just wait till you get bugged to death by Ma Ruoxi!" After Chen Fan closed the door, a smile filled with treachery immediately appeared on his face. One could not help but feel a little resigned at Chen Fan''s character. If he and Wu Ruoyu walked in the wilderness, and there came a hailstorm, he would use his body as a barrier to protect her from the lumps of ice, without any hesitation. But, if he had the chance to make a fool out of her, he also would not hesitate to do so! Pretty girls would always be the centers of men''s attention, especially if they were of a Sino-French mixed-race, as was Wu Ruoyu. Not long after Chen Fan had walked out to the corridor, he saw Wu Ruoyu standing at the side of the walkway, frowning as she spoke. Right next to her, stood a guy wearing a black suit. As if there was some form of telepathy between them, when Chen Fan turned the corner, Wu Ruoyu turned around and briefly glanced toward Chen Fan''s direction. Then, with a shine in her eyes, she quickly walked towards Chen Fan. She walked right to the front of Chen Fan. This woman never ceased to surprise him with her astonishing remarks. Now, the first sentence that she blurted was enough to make Chen Fan''s eyeballs pop. "Wei Jie, allow me to introduce you." Wu Ruoyu lovingly crossed her arm onto Chen Fan''s elbow, then spoke with her sweet voice. "This is my boyfriend, Chen Fan, and we''re going to get married in August next year. When the time comes, you must attend our wedding!" As the CEO of Zhong Tian Realty, which is a subsidiary of Tian Hai City''s Wei Xin Holdings, Wei Jie was definitely a young and talented man from the list of most eligible bachelors. He had not even reached the age of 30, but his net worth was already in the hundreds of millions. He had developed two rather reputable real estate clusters in Zhongyun. Hence, despite having the support of his family''s influence, he was still undoubtedly an established elite in his own rite. Yet, there was something common among all men, which is that they are all lustful! This was revealed with Wei Jie when he was in Tianhai, where he was a frequent patron of their tabloid magazines. In fact, at peak times, he had even been reported to have had love affairs with three starlets in a single week! A year ago, he came to Zhongyun to develop his real estate business. During a dinner appointment with local billionaire Ma Rongtao, he instantly placed his aims on this lady, who resembled the hybrid of an oriental fairy and a western angel. Unfortunately, in this era of exploding information, even searching for a nobody in some foreign country was a piece of cake. Moreover, if it was the renowned "Playboy Wei," no information could remain hidden for long. It was undeniable that men could sometimes be very vulgar. However, when the men who behave as such are under the shelter of Zhongyun city''s billionaire Ma Rongtao, they can get away with pulling off a multitude of tricks and tactics in pursuing girls. With that in mind, as this playboy had finally bumped into this beauty here, he, of course, wouldn''t miss the opportunity to worm his way into being friends with her. Not allowing himself to be flustered, Wu Ruoyu went up to greet the playboy politely, extending his arm. He then turned to his bride-to-be and affectionately said that they were going to get married next year. When Wei Jie heard the news, it felt as if a sharp knife had been ruthlessly stabbed into his chest. Not many men could accept the fact that the lady in context was precisely the lady whom they were bitterly chasing after. Wei Jie was obviously a person who valued self-consciousness, so he tried his best to contain his anger, while silently judging his rival. His build was average. Though his body seemed slightly thin and weak, he did not look frail. He had a mediocre appearance, as he looked plain, dressed in his black casual clothes. Yet, there was an indescribable stern aura on his face. Wei Jie, who grew up surrounded by heaps of businessmen, was not an idiot, so he knew not to ever underestimate an opponent. "One can never judge a book by its cover!" He had heard this proverb so frequently. Moreover, he had seen numerous people, who looked silent and plain from the outside, but whose backgrounds were the exact opposite of what they portrayed. "Hello." Chen Fan did not introduce himself in the detailed manner that Wei Jie wished he would. Instead, he merely grinned and extended his right hand. Such a scenario made Chen Fan feel unsure of whether he should laugh or cry. By just thinking on his toes, he could already sense that Wu Ruoyu had used him as her excuse. "Darling, didn''t you say that you wanted to see if our new matrimonial home was finished after being renovated?" Wu Ruoyu shook Chen Fan''s arm, like a spoiled child. She was certain that Chen Fan would play along with her charade. After all, there were in a relationship! Darling! Our new matrimonial home! These words were like knives, ruthlessly cutting into Wei Jie''s heart. Especially when he saw Chen Fan''s perpetual expression of happiness, it made him feel like he wanted to rush in and smash Chen Fan''s face, regardless of the cost. All of a sudden, Wei Jie felt that Chen Fan''s smile was so cute and so warm. It made Wei Jie''s boiling anger had melted completely, in just 0.1 seconds, having been converted into only an abundance of ecstasy. "Heh," Chen Fan touched Wu Ruoyu''s hands tenderly, whispering to her in a gentle voice. "Little Sister, you''re starting to be cheeky again. How can you always take your cousin brother out as your shield against other guys?" Chen Fan instantly transformed into a benevolent, lecturing elder brother. "Why take the trouble to lie to people? Wei Jie looks quite decent to me!" "Uh" The smile on Wu Ruoyu''s face froze at that moment. "Brother Chen, you" Wei Jie''s heart was so thrilled, he felt as if he had gone on a rollercoaster ride. Both his hands that were holding on to Chen Fan shook tremendously, and he was acting so toady, like a small office worker who had just met his director. "You''re Wei Jie, right? Not bad for a lad!" Chen Fan showed him a glance of approval. It was not Chen Fan''s fetish to be a scapegoat, especially if he was going to get in trouble with a wild lion! Therefore, it was natural that Chen Fan would want to retaliate, in order to speedily restore himself to the dominant position. "You" the little bride-to-be looked as if she was going to cry. How could there still be someone in this world who was so insensitive? In the next second, she left the two, running away, while covering her face. "My younger sister is always like that, so thin-skinned!" Chen Fan''s smile was ever cunning. "It''s not a problem," Wei Jie was so excited that his entire body was shaking. He took out a box of Panda cigarettes from his pocket, then snapped one cigarette out. He then offered it to Chen Fan. "Elder Brother Chen, please have a smoke." After Chen Fan received the cigarette, Wei Jie snapped his silverish-white lighter and helped Chen Fan to light his cigarette. "Dang, it''s shaking. Could it be that a good night is coming?" Chen Fan could not help but mutter the excited thoughts quietly to himself. At night, in the guestroom of the second floor of Liu Chao Restaurant... This was a restaurant that was furnished completely in a vintage-retro style. From the green bricks and yellow roof tiles of the three-story building to the wooden flooring and staircase in its interior, all were designed according to the setting of the Qing Dynasty. Even the waitresses were dressed in vintage-style cheongsams. "Come, sister-in-law. Let me make a toast to you!" Zhang Xueyang forced out an expression of chivalry toward Wu Ruoyu. "Zhang Xueyang, how many times have I told you, I want nothing to do with that guy!" Wu Ruoyu angrily lifted up the glass in front of her, which was filled with a bright red liquid. This is so infuriating! How did she run into this neighbor? If it wasn''t for her cash flow, which was running a little tight, Wu Ruoyu would already have just moved out once and for all. Cheap, coarse, horny, dirty... Wu Ruoyu could not think of any positive merits to describe him. The only possible thing that was worth mentioning would be his mysterious background, which was one that even her uncle could not help but admire! "Yes, I know!" Zhang Xueyang could not stop laughing and shot an understanding look at Wu Ruoyu. "You guys have nothing to do with each other!" "Yes, not even a single bit!" Chen Fan blinked and paused, before blinking again. "Come, Elder Brother Zhang, here''s two glasses raised to you. Happy birthday!" "Two glasses is not enough," Zhang Xueyang said. "At least six are needed!" Chen Fan held his glass and shook his head. "I can''t do this! This is baijiu, not beer. I would go down if I took in six!" "Alright, just two then!" Zhang Xueyang did not insist any further. He took his glass, gulping it down. "Drink until you''re on the floor, eh?" Wu Ruoyu suddenly thought of something marvelous. This guy was the fellow who had previously gotten drunk and passed out in front of the doorstep. It was she who had helped him up, then snuck him into his bedroom. Clearly, this fellow''s alcohol tolerance was only so-so. "Hmph." Wu Ruoyu laughed slyly. After Chen Fan and Zhang Xueyang had finished drinking, she reached for her own glass and lifted her eyebrows at Chen Fan. "Chen Fan, here''s to you!" "You''re drinking with me?" Chen Fan pointed at his own nose in astonishment. What was she trying to do? Chen Fan''s first reaction was that there was probably deception in it. She had just been infuriated by him earlier in the afternoon, and now, she was all smiles, wanting to have a drink with him. To say that there was no conspiracy in this would be strange. "Yes! You drink a glass of white wine, and I''ll drink two glasses of red wine." Wu Ruoyu''s left hand continuously twirled the baby hairs near her earlobe. She tilted her face and frowned at him provocatively. "So? Do you dare take the challenge?" "Of course I do, why would I not dare?" The minute Zhang Xueyang discovered that something juicy going was going to happen between them, he quickly launched his instigation. "Young Brother Chen, be manly! Don''t let her shame us men!" "Mr. Chen, I have faith in you!" Xia Qingqing laughed so hard, she felt like her stomach was going to have a cramp soon. What the... She is trying to goad me into taking some action! Now, men are creatures that value their dignities, and Chen Fan was no exception. Moreover, he was standing before so many men and women. Therefore, Chen Fan had to accept this toast, and must drink until Wu Ruoyu admitted her defeat! The baijiu was still the same Maotai brand. According to Chen Fan''s past experiences in drinking such liquor, the most he could take in was one pound. This means that, if Chen Fan chugged in one pound of baijiu, Wu Ruoyu would have to drink two bottles of red wine! Moreover, she had already drunk half a bottle just now, while he had drunk far less. "Two bottles of red wine?" Chen Fan glared back at Wu Ruoyu disdainfully. If she could really chug them, then that would be truly outrageous. In reality, both of them had underestimated each other. Chen Fan kept insisting he was not a drinker, but if he forced himself, chugging down one pound was not a problem. Meanwhile, one was not to be fooled by Wu Ruoyu''s appearance of being a petite little high school girl. Having studied abroad in France for four years, she had already tasted all of the country''s famous brands of liquor. She even spent a month playing at one of her best friend''s wine cottages during her summer holidays. There, she drank red wine daily. Since he had made up his mind, Chen Fan was definitely not going to act indecisively, like a woman! "Come, cheers!" Chen Fan gulped the liquid in his glass at one go, while looking very heroic. He lifted his head as he swung his hands, then drank as if he was swallowing the rolling streams of the Yangtze River, rather than some famous liquor produced in the town of Maotai. "Good job!" Zhang Xueyang blew a whistle. Just one look at Chen Fan''s brisk and turbid expression, and he knew that he was going to win for sure. Wu Ruoyu was also extremely brisk. After finishing one glass of red wine, she poured herself another glass, then chugged it. She could be considered as having gone all out today. As such, she would not give up until she has put this douchebag, Chen Fan, in his place! Chen Fan had gone all out as well. He figured that, if worse came to worst, he could just go home and sleep it off. Therefore, after Chen Fan had waited for Wu Ruoyu to finish drinking her two glasses, he immediately gulped down another glass himself. Both of them kept in this same pattern, drinking in this particular order. It wasn''t until Chen Fan''s fifth glass when he finally could not take any more. The gas from the alcohol, which was like overturning seas and rivers in his stomach, flooded out. "Eat!" Chen Fan jokingly said. As one bottle of red wine went down her stomach, Wu Ruoyu''s cheeks were imprinted with two dabs of redness. After gulping down two bowls of soup that were filled with clams and ladybell roots, Chen Fan looked at Wu Ruoyu''s blaringly reddish face. He estimated that it would take just two more glasses for her to pass out. So, he continued to raise his glass, and with a dreamy gaze, he said, "Drink!" After drinking another glass, Chen Fan slightly regretted his rash actions. Wu Ruoyu''s cheeks were still flushed, but her gaze told Chen Fan that she was only a small distance away from getting drunk. "Drink!" This round, Wu Ruoyu raised her glass and made a show of authority towards Chen Fan. "Come!" Chen Fan gritted his teeth and gulped down another cup. Although Zhang Xueyang was normally a man of good humor, he was not someone to act without regard to the severity of the situation. The duo''s actions obviously indicated that they were already drunk, so when Chen Fan finished a whole bottle by himself, he quickly stopped his girlfriend from creating a disturbance. "Stop stop stop!" Zhang Xueyang took away Wu Ruoyu''s wine glass and held a jumbo-sized Minute Maid Pulpy Orange Juice in the middle. "Coming up next, the fruit juice segment!" "Great!" Chen Fan''s eyeballs were fixated on Wu Ruoyu. Competing on fruit juice? He won''t flinch, even if he was given three bottles! Although Wu Ruoyu''s eyes were looking misty, this did not mean that she was not clear-headed. Over two bottles of red wine had already made her little stomach bloat until was round and bulging. If she swallowed more juice, it would definitely explode. Therefore, she protested, "No way, it''s either we continue drinking, or you surrender!" "Then we should just stop drinking. Can you imagine how troublesome it would be for me to send all you drunkards home, one by one?" Zhang Xueyang kept the fruit juice and said, "Today''s challenge will be considered as a tie. You guys can battle again when the both of you have gotten over the hangover tomorrow. After all, the both of you live together, so there is plenty of time to do so." Since the birthday boy had spoken, both of the drunkies willingly accepted his advice. Each of them left furious remarks with one another, then sat down wobbly on their chairs to momentarily ease the repercussions of the alcohol. After taking out his phone to call Wang Bing to have him picked up, Chen Fan continuously rubbed his temples. He hadn''t expected for Wu Ruoyu to be such a crazy woman, who could still stand after drinking over two bottles of red wine! They continued to have their dinner until eight in the evening. Only then did Zhang Xueyang wave his hands and announce that the banquet was over. Chen Fan moved wobbly along with the flow of people, as he exited the entrance. Only after quivering in response to the rush of cold wind, did Chen Fan unwillingly became a little more sober. "Old man, are you drunk?" Wang Bing, who was waiting at the door, quickly ran towards him and said with a smile. "How about taking a bath to ease that tipsy feeling?" "Bath my foot!" Chen Fan spoke, the heavy scent of alcohol on his breath, then passed his keys to him. "Quick, get the car over here." "Old pal, since it''s on the way, let''s pick Wu Ruoyu up, too." Zhang Xueyang smiled sheepishly, walking in front of Chen Fan. He lifted the corner of his mouth at Wu Ruoyu, who was being supported by his girlfriend''s arm and said, "Isn''t it easy to sort out a disagreement between a couple? Go back and battle for 300 rounds, I guarantee that your grudges will vanish immediately!" "Oh!" Chen Fan nodded. He only heard the first half of his sentence, as the latter part was uttered very softly by Zhang Xueyang, so he could not clearly make out what he had said. Once Wu Ruoyu heard that she was going to ride on Chen Fan''s car in order to get back home, her mind resisted immediately. However, before she could even protest, her drunken body, which was like a noodle, was pushed into the car by Zhang Xueyang''s girlfriend, Xia Qingqing. There was nothing else to be done, simply because she was Chen Fan''s "girlfriend." "Hmph!" Ruoyu rolled her eyes at Chen Fan. Then, she pulled over a small pillow and placed it against the window of the car, before closing her eyes to continue her battle against the strength of the alcohol. Even though there had been a bad impression during that trip to America, Ruoyu believed that, since they had so many main and supplemental connections and associations with one another, it would be unlikely for him to do anything outrageous. "Start the car, and send us back!" Chen Fan also pulled over another pillow and mimicked Wu Ruoyu, as he placed it against the window of the car and leaned on it. "Okie dokie!" Wang Bing smiled, steering the car steadily on the driveway. The dim and misty night imprinted a layer of bizarre reflections on the surface of the car. The black BMW drove toward the east for over 30 minutes before stopping. Wang Bing turned to nudge Chen Fan''s elbow lightly. "We''re home already?" Chen Fan blurrily opened his eyes. Where is this? Chen Fan looked at the magnificent neon lights. Lido Holiday Hotel. Seven huge Chinese characters took up half of Chen Fan''s line of sight. "Why did you bring me here?" Chen Fan punched at Wang Bin''s chest with his fist. "Hurry up and let''s go home. What is your brain filled with?" "Naw!" Wang Bing showed an innocent look. "Boss, what can a man and a woman do, if not book a hotel room?" "Book a hotel room?" Ruoyu was woken up by the duo''s commentary. Just like Chen Fan, she looked around the place. When she saw the seven characters of Lido Holiday Hotel, she immediately became like a lioness that had fallen into a state of panic. She howled, as if she was about to strangle Chen Fan''s neck in desperation. Wang Bing jumped out of the driver''s seat and whistled a tune. He walked toward the BBQ stall at a distance, preparing to wait and talk to them after their spat had passed. "Bring it on, you rascal!" Wu Ruoyu suddenly pounced on Chen Fan before tearing, scratching, and biting him. "Have you gone mad?" Chen Fan grasped onto Wu Ruoyu''s petite hands. "This was all done by my bodyguard, so why are you putting the blame on me again?" "Your bodyguard?" Ruoyu was not going to believe that explanation. The truth had already been laid before them, and yet, he still had the audacity to try and weasel his way out of this. How shameful! Both of them were in a bad state of drunkenness, so their pushing and hitting appeared to be a little off their usual standards. After a few rounds of pushing and resisting, they rolled from the top of the seat to the bottom of the seat. "Little rascal, you...you... What else do you have to say?" Wu Ruoyu gritted her teeth, while she sat on Chen Fan''s thighs, her legs crossed over them. She had been bullied by him more than once or twice. Wu Ruoyu also took into account the previous awkwardness in his bedroom. She gasped for over 10 seconds. Initially, Chen Fan was prepared to continue his pretense, but when Wu Ruoyu opened her legs and straddled him, he shamefully realized that he was aroused. As the old saying goes, alcohol makes a hero braver! Thus, Chen Fan took the advantage and flipped Ruoyu over, so that she was pressed under his body. Then, he opened up his tiger-like mouth and placed a kiss on her fragrant and rosy lips. 151 A Familiar Feeling Just as Wu Ruoyu was about to say something, she realized that her throat felt strange, as if it was covered in honey. She could not utter a word. She repeatedly blinked her eyes, but even that could not hide the consternation and disbelief that was showing in them. Surprise, surprise. Even with Wu Ruoyu''s powerful thinking, she could not have expected this. Wu Ruoyu really wanted to bite off a piece of flesh from Chen Fan''s lips, but how could the well-prepared Chen Fan ever let her succeed in this? With Chen Fan was kissing her, as if he was a wild boar eating corn, Wu Ruoyu couldn''t figure out his kissing patterns. Even her attempts at ruthlessly biting Chen Fan were successfully evaded by him. He even somehow made it look as if she was aggressively responding to his kisses. Chen Fan greedily tasted the sweet astringent flavor with his tongue, feeling the firmness and tenderness of her chest. The jelly-like suppleness of her chest on his fingertips made him blaze like a volcano. From her red lips to her neck, Chen Fan''s breath and warmness had become a deadly menace to Wu Ruoyu. Slowly and faintly, a rouge color began to spread out on Wu Ruoyu''s swan-like long neck. It then quickly spread all over her elegant ears, like a wild prairie fire. When Chen Fan roamed from Wu Ruoyu''s neck to her pretty ears, Wu Ruoyu made up her mind. Her tightly closed eyes suddenly opened. Her delicate red lips were half-opened, yet she couldn''t make a single sound. An indescribable and uncontrollable happiness rolled through her body, like a flow of current. Then, Wu Ruoyu''s body stiffened, immediately causing her to falter, then fall. She was curled up on the ground, shivering, as if she was a lamb with excessive blood loss. The idiom "a fly in the ointment" was created specifically for this moment, as all of the sudden, they were both shocked by a continuous stream of car horns coming from outside the car window. Chen Fan was stunned for a moment. Then, he immediately separated himself from Wu Ruoyu, as if he had been electrocuted. "Come come and help!" Wu Ruoyu had also noticed the movement outside the window, and was calling out to the startled Chen Fan with her weakened voice. Chen Fan took two deep breaths and braced himself. Then, he reached over and carried Wu Ruoyu''s limp body, which was as soft as marshmallow, before putting her in the seat. Chen Fan was feeling very gloomy. After all, no one would be happy if they got interrupted during such critical moments, would they?! Wu Ruoyu was in a trance. It was as if the kiss had been stamped in her heart by a burning iron, its scar never to be removed. Honk Honk. The powerful horns from the red Mazda Six that was behind them kept piercing their eardrums. Apparently, Chen Fan''s car, which was parked by the side of the parking lot aisle, was blocking the Mazda Six. Chen Fan cursed, then quickly climbed to the driver''s seat to move the car. He vigorously rubbed his drunken eyes, while he drove the car to a corner of the parking lot. "It...It wasn''t intentional." Chen Fan stared at Wu Ruoyu, feeling quite tipsy. At the same time, he pushed the car door open, returning to sit by Wu Ruoyu''s side. Chen Fan knew that what he had done just now was indeed out of line, but he justified his actions in his mind, secretly. Wasn''t it Wu Ruoyu''s fault for jumping onto me and beating me up all of the sudden? How could I, a young man in my early twenties, resist her alluring body and bewitching smell? Not to mention, I drank a pound of Maotai on top of everything!!! "Send me back!" After Wu Ruoyu blurted this out, she pressed her face into the pillow. She did not budge from that position, regardless of how hard Chen Fan tried to explain his actions. Chen Fan had no choice but to sigh. He then took out his phone and called the main culprit, Wang Bing, to drive them back. If it wasn''t for him driving them there, this incident would never have taken place! After receiving the call, Wang Bing, who was sitting at a distant barbecue stall, finished the grilled catfish in his hand with an astounding speed, before running back to the car compliantly. "Boss, where to next?" Wang Bing wiped his oily mouth with his sleeve, while scanning the both of them from top to toe with his cunning eyes. "Just head back!" That was the only response that could be squeezed out from Chen Fan. After half an hour, they arrived at Bolan Gardens. "Would you like me to escort you back?" Chen Fan offered. "I don''t ever want to see you again!" An obvious no from Wu Ruoyu! "Boss, did you do something barbaric?" Wang Bing clutched his stomach, as if this whole incident had him in stitches. "That was all your fault, wasn''t it?" Chen Fan sat in the back seat, sulking. "After this, I won''t have another chance with her!" Let us analyze this for a bit. First of all, subconsciously, Chen Fan wasn''t sure who he was in love with, but Wu Ruoyu did have the virtues of both a westerner and an easterner. Aside from the fact that she was good looking, she also had a good temper. Plus, she wasn''t the type of girl with an unreasonable character, either. While it might not sound like Chen Fan was deeply and passionately in love with Wu Ruoyu, it was certain that Wu Ruoyu held the biggest part of his heart out of all the female friends he had ever known. "That might not be the case," Wang Bing said with a knowing tone, as if he had personally experienced this same thing before. "Although getting fresh with a girl without her permission is indeed a shameful and spiteful act, I think she did not mean what she said. Hence, boss, you still have a chance, as long as you thicken your skin and are as determined as steel." "Steel my bum! Just get lost!" The time was now around 9:40 p.m. A moment after Chen Fan chased Wang Bing away, Yun Meng, the little student, came home after school with her electric bicycle. "School''s over?" Chen Fan was casually lying on the sofa, watching TV. His head was still groggy, so he couldn''t fall asleep yet. "Yes!" As a strand of hair slipped down from behind her ear, Yun Meng readjusted it, then sat down next to Chen Fan. She then took out her plastic lunch box and said, "Big Brother, I bought two orders of fried cuttlefish balls at the school entrance." "Was it from the same old man as before?" Chen Fan picked up a steaming hot fried cuttlefish ball with a toothpick, before putting it into his mouth. Beside the school, there''s an old man who uses his tricycle to sell barbecued seafood. Chen Fan had often visited his stall, ever since his first year in high school, but had never gotten the chance to again after he graduated. So, when Yun Meng had brought some home a few times, he realized the very familiar taste and asked her about it. It was then that he knew that the old man was still running his same business there still. "Yep!" Yun Meng leaned her head on Chen Fan''s shoulder, immediately getting a whiff of his dense alcohol odor. "Big Brother, were you drinking again?" "Do you know of any man who doesn''t drink?!" Chen Fan swallowed the half-chewed fried cuttlefish ball. "The weather is getting colder. I will take you to shop for some thicker clothes in a few days." "Why don''t you get a black trench coat as well, Big Brother? I saw the boys in my class wearing them. They look really good!" "We''ll see." Chen Fan wiped off the black oil, using the tissue given to him by Yun Meng. Then, he patted her shoulder and said, "You should go to bed early. There''s still school tomorrow." "Let me bring you a cup of tea!" Yun Meng nodded her head obediently. Then, she got up from the sofa and walked towards the kitchen. Drifting off to sleep at some point, Chen Fan had a dream. In the dream, he was lying on a big white velvet bed, having fun with a few cuties and enjoying the pleasures of what an emperor would have had. This must be a dream, thought Chen Fan. No, it''s not, the one in the dream replied. It is! No, it''s not! However, when the dream was about to reach its climax, a sudden phone call pulled him back to reality. "Who dares disturb me?" Chen Fan slowly opened his eyes, yawning lazily. It was already daytime! "Hello!" he answered, still groggy. "Hey Chen, you still in bed?" Ma Rongtao''s voice was heard on the other end of the phone. "I''ve gotten you the five oil tankers as requested. They are the latest models of double hull type oil tankers, just released. There are four with 50,000 tons and one with 60,000 tons." "Are you serious?" Chen Fan popped out of bed. "What about the price?" "The five ships cost a total of 120 million US Dollars!" Ma Rongtao paused, then said with hesitation, "Chen, this isn''t a small amount of money. Are you sure you have it? " "Certainly! Otherwise, there''s no point in asking Uncle Ma to settle this for me, is there? My only concern is timing. When would we receive our tankers, once the payment is made?" "Don''t worry about the payment just yet. Instead, its best if you dropped by my office. I''ve got some high-definition photos, as well as some technical specifications to show you. You may then make the payment, once you are satisfied with the goods." "Alright then, I''m on my way," Chen Fan replied. When he arrived at the doorstep of Ma Rongtao''s office, the thought of whether Wu Ruoyu would show up at the office suddenly popped into his mind. He then decided that there was nothing that he could do about it at the moment, so he pushed open the office door with a brazen face. Heh. Chen Fan let out a sigh of relief, seeing that Ma Rongtao was the only one in the office. He was sitting at his work desk, waiting for Chen Fan''s arrival. "Chen, come in." Ma Rongtao stood up and welcomed Chen Fan with a smile. Ma Rongtao walked towards his work desk, then opened a folder on the desktop. He pointed at some high-definition digital photos and said, "Five oil tankers, all of which were constructed by the Braybrooke Shipyard in Australia. The model is also known as the Suez class oil tanker." The Suez class oil tankers were one class of tankers graded according to the International Maritime Organization''s regulations on tankers. This was basically a fancy way of saying that the tankers meet the navigation conditions of the Suez Canal. Each of these tankers had a uniformed red base and black body. Also, a red crude oil pipeline on the gray deck extended all the way from the bow to the stern, where the four-story high control cabin was located. There were roughly 20 photos of the ship''s exterior, while the others were photos of the interior. There was also detailed documentation regarding all ship-related specifications. Chen Fan looked at the photos for some time, thoroughly impressed in all aspects. "Uncle Ma, how long does it take to sail these ships to us, once we complete the purchase?" Chen Fan asked, as he sat down opposite of Ma Rongtao, looking at the computer screen. "Shipping is fast, but my suggestion is that you don''t have them sail it here." Ma Rongtao did the math for Chen Fan. "The shipping of these ships costs about three million US Dollars, and on top of that, you will be wasting time shipping them over from Australia. Instead, you can send your men to sail these ships to Saudi Arabia, through the Gulf of Aden, to bring back tons of oil." "By the way, Chen, how much funds will be left after purchasing those ships?" Ma Rongtao asked. "If you have enough money to spare, I suggest you purchase oil from there, then ship it here to sell it. Assuming all five ships are fully loaded, the net profit would be worth 50 million Renminbi for a single trip!" "50 million?" Chen Fan was rather surprised. "Doesn''t that mean that all costs would be paid for in just 16 shipments?" Chen Fan continued his line of thinking. "Let''s say that these ships sail at 20 knots, and that there are 6800 nautical miles between Saudi Arabia and Zhongyun. It would mean that it would take at least a month to travel back and forth, if the time taken for the loading and docking process is taken into account. In other words, it would take less than two years to earn 120 million US Dollars and a net profit of 50 million Renminbi per month henceforth!" "That''s right, the current cost of oil transportation is relatively high, due to piracy. It would take about 100 million US Dollars, if you wanted to fill all five ships." Ma Rongtao confirmed. "Uncle Ma, as a matter of fact, I do have 100 million US Dollars, but how am I going to sell the oil, after purchasing it from Saudi Arabia?" Chen Fan voiced his concern. "I''m not familiar with the oil trade in Saudi Arabia. What if the government sues me for smuggling crude oil?" "Hehe" Ma Rongtao smiled. "Do you know about the flag of convenience?" "I know that many cargo ships are registered in Panama and are flying the Panamanian flag. This is because the registration tax is cheaper there, and because there is a 50 percent tax exemption when passing through the Panama Canal," Chen Fan replied. "It''s way beyond that! In the case of our country, 50 percent of the oil tankers are registered in Panama. On one hand, it''s easier to conceal the tanker ownership, and on the other hand, it allows one to escape from punishment after a major accident," Ma Rongtao explained. "For example, if an oil tanker that is flying its motherland''s flag is involved in an oil spill incident, the United Nations, or the country owning the territorial sea, can claim damages from the respective registrant, based on the particular flag that is flying on that ship. On the other hand, it would be fine if you are flying the flag of convenience, as it would be equivalent to an offshore company, where no one can be blamed." He continued his explanation. "With the flag of convenience, it would be classified as international crude oil trading, when your ships are transporting oil. In that case, many refineries will compete to buy from you. All you need to do is pay the port charges." "In fact, you will be fine, even if you do it in broad daylight!" Ma Rongtao continued talking, listing out the data. "Fifty percent of domestic oil consumption depends on imports. Unfortunately, domestic oil fields simply cannot meet this demand. Therefore, as long as you are not selling domestic crude oil, no one would bat an eye, even if you robbed the US tanker! Instead, many people would buy it from you. After all, oil is an important resource in our country." "What about the Saudi Arabian side? What formalities are needed for the oil trading business?" Chen Fan inquired. "US Dollars are all they need! The country is monarchy-based you see. All the oil fields are monopolized by members of the royal family. Thus, as long as you hold onto a large amount of US Dollars, and manage to get on good terms with some members of the royal family, you will be rich in no time." Ma Rongtao waved at Chen Fan, signaling him to come closer to the computer. When Chen Fan got closer, Ma Rongtao brought up a photo from the computer, then pointed at an Arabian man in a white robe and said, "This is Abdullah Aziz, nephew of the Minister of Natural Resources, whose name is Ali Ibrahim. He is an oil tycoon, who supplies oil to many domestic tankers. However, you must sign a long-term supply contract for at least a year to do business with him. I can establish this connection for you, if you think the idea is feasible." "A year?" Chen Fan felt that this should be fine, after thinking for a few seconds on its feasibility. "What''s the account number on Australia''s end? I will make the remittance today." "The account holder is Braybrooke Shipyard, and this is the account number," Ma Rongtao said, while passing a note to Chen Fan. "Be sure to send your payment, as well as your company information, and they will help you register those ships as Panamanian ships for free." "Ok then! Thank you Uncle Ma!" Chen Fan placed the note in his pocket. "No need to be so formal! You have helped me twice on important matters, and a task like this isn''t that big of a deal for me, anyway!" Ma Rongtao waved his hand. After parting with Ma Rongtao, Chen Fan went home and had the certification materials of the offshore company and cruisers printed out. Then, he proceeded to send those documents to Braybrooke Shipyard in Australia via the courier service. Nowadays, it only took about two days for the courier company to transport mail to its destination. Chen Fan decided to make the remittance once the documents reached their hands. After lunch, Chen Fan had nothing else to attend to, so he sat on the sofa. He then decided to turn his attention to the electric eel in order to continue the excavation. Apparently, the key for productive working days was to fill your stomach first! After controlling the electric eel to crawl out of the big cave, Chen Fan had the eel swim to a nearby reef. The surrounding reefs were about 100 meters away from the cave and covered several miles. Its area consisted of strangely shaped stones, which were everywhere, except for the 100-meter-long stretch of open water in the center. Therefore, no ship was willing to come here to fish. After the electric eel came back from devouring a group of mackerel, Chen Fan stared at the giant square-shaped stone that was now resting in front of the cave. As he stared, he suddenly felt a familiar feeling in his mind. The familiar feeling wasn''t because of the giant stone, but from the stylish, abstract lines spreading all over the stone. Somewhere, deep down in Chen Fan''s memories, he clearly felt that he had seen those grooves before, but he couldn''t pinpoint where. These feelings were really uncomfortable, and frustrating! "Oh F*ck it" Chen Fan was so upset, he almost smashed the stone plate to pieces. Chen Fan, after finally suppressing the resentment in his heart, returned back to the task at hand. Thus, he began to control the eel to dive back into the cave, in order to continue using its spear to excavate. The electric eel had managed to dig both sides of the cave out, to a depth of more than 20 meters. Chen Fan even suspected that it would dig into the roots of the distant reef, should it continue digging. Rumble The electric eel had extracted nearly 10 tons of mud from the wall in less than half an hour. It had also piled the bottom of the cave into a small hill. The cave exit might be buried, if it continued digging. Thus, Chen Fan controlled the electric eel to throw away the spear, using its four claws to grab the mud and swim out of the cave instead. The place that the soil was chosen to be discarded was a flat area three kilometers away from ??the reef cluster. It had a depth of more than 50 meters. The soil was discarded in several piles. The sea would then wash away the soil in less than two hours. After that time, there was nothing left to be found. Travelling back and forth from the cave to the reef for six or seven times, Chen Fan couldn''t help but feel uncomfortable all over again, whenever he saw the stone plate. It''s familiar... Too familiar The grooves on the giant stone kept attracting his attention, like a giant, annoying magnet. The eel aggressively reached for the giant stone, then brought it closer for further inspection. The grooves appeared to be the same as always. However, Chen Fan had a feeling that the lines seemed to slowly coincide with some scenes in his mind. Finally, the puzzles began to fit after he had observed it for a while. These grooves look just like the contour of the reefs "Well, I''ll be.." He finally made sense of it, after comparing the grooves with the reefs for a long time. This was definitely carved by someone purposely. Not only that, but it also seems to be a map! "I wonder who carved this on the stone?" Chen Fan was incredibly surprised. He felt as if he had just discovered a prehistoric dinosaur! According to the grooves that were carved on the stone plate, the flat area at the center of the reef was represented by the lines, excluding the top layer. The only problem was They were all buried in mud! 152 Two Black Bears "Buried in soil?" Chen Fan looked at the 10-meter flat area through the eyes of the electric eel. Without a doubt, this place must had been dry land, otherwise the lithographic stone couldn''t possibly be buried 400 meters under the soil. The earliest stone paintings date back to around 10,000 years ago. However, the origins of mankind can be traced back to 2 million years ago, so there was no way Chen Fan could verify the exact age of this stone. It was possible to salvage the stone and send it to the museum for carbon-14 dating, but not only would the stone be gone, it would also cause a lot of trouble, and Chen Fan did not intend to make the stone known to the public. Judging from the lines on the stone, the big hole in the middle of the reefs should be around 100 meters in diameter. As for the depth, if the person who sculpted the map had some technical skills, the hole should be over 800 meters deep based on the comparison between the depicted width and length. 800 meters deep Although Chen Fan couldn''t understand the creativity and imagination of ancient people, he knew that there must be something important at the bottom of the large hole. Otherwise, no one would be so bored as to sculpt so many lines on a huge stone. Now that the hole had been completely covered by seawater and sediments, it was necessary to dig away all the sediments in order to solve the mystery. 800 meters deep and 100 meters wide was considered an average project for the electric eel. "Dig on, dig on, the electric eel needed to build a bigger hideout anyway," Chen Fan said as he looked at the big hole which had been dug to a diameter of 20 meters. ......... The next morning, inside Chen Fan''s rented office were Yu Lin, Yiteng Yun, Zhang Lele, and the accountant Zhao Shujie. They had all be assigned by Chen Fan to be in charge of matters of the three cargo ships. Yu Lin was in charge of the two small ships, and Yiteng Yun the large one. Zhang Lele was responsible for receiving orders, whereas Zhao Shujie was responsible for tallying the final funds before doing up the reports for Chen Fan to see. "Meeting, meeting!" Chen Fan sat in the boss'' chair and looked around. "Now I''m giving all of you a difficult but glorious task!" "Boss, what task is it? Are you sending Yiteng Yun and I on a ship again?" Yu Lin felt like backing out the moment he heard "difficult task". It was an extremely horrible feeling the first time he been driven offshore to a large ship for business! He almost wanted to take a few bites of the green grass when he stepped on Zhongyun''s land again. "Haha." Yiteng Yun pushed the eyeglasses on the bridge of his nose. "Boss, you can''t be that cruel?" "Don''t worry, not asking you to go on a ship!" Chen Fan took out a few sets of freshly-printed information on the ships and distributed them to everyone. "I set up a new company with a friend recently and just bought five large ships from Australia. Take a look at the specifications and ask the crew of they have any friends or relatives who wanna be seamen. Also make a trip to the labor market and the maritime administration office to see if there are any unemployed seamen and captains." "Boss, five large ships require around 180 seamen, it''s not easy to find in such a short time!" Yu Lin frowned as he held the data. A large oceangoing ship had to employ trained personnel or those discharged from the navy. "Then make a trip to the nearby cities. I''ll reimburse your costs when you''re back." Chen Fan said while touching his nose. Seamen were not like pilots, and many young men from poor families in coastal cities wanted to go into this line. After all, other than being a little boring, the salary was still very high. Therefore, it wouldn''t be too difficult to hire if the salary was up to the mark. "Boss, these five ships must have cost a lot of money?" Zhang Lele looked at the data as if she was looking at naked photos of male stars. How to conceptualize five large ships with a total tonnage of 210,000? The crude oil from one trip was already worth one billion USD! "They were all funded by my friend, I''m just his proxy who couldn''t even get to be a member of the board of directors till now." Chen Fan made up a reason, casually. "Go get busy. Hire as fast as possible. I''m waiting for them to go to Australia to help me sail the ships!" "Yes, officer!" Yu Lin stamped his foot and put his legs together. ......... Time flies. Three days passed in the blink of an eye! After two days of digging by the electric eel, the over 100 meters wide layer of soil in the middle of the reefs had been taken away by the eel. What amazed Chen Fan was, the electric eel had already dug a depth of 300 meters, but the reef at the edge was still standing in the soil and did not show any signs of disappearing. What did this imply? It implied that these were not bare rocks underwater, but very likely to be a huge mountain buried by soil. Also, there was a huge hole with a diameter of over 100 meters right in the center of the mountain. The stone walls of the huge hole were mostly made up of rough rocks. After the electric eel dug for a while, the soil on top lost its support and gradually got eroded by seawater, revealing its original form. As the soil on the stone walls slowly got stripped off by seawater, the doubt in Chen Fan''s mind got bigger. The lithographic stone was discovered at 400 meters deep, which meant that ancient people had to get down to 400 meters deep from here in order to sculpt on the stone. Although Chen Fan was definitely able to get to the bottom by climbing with his hands, the stone wall dotted with stones and stairs, that was only in theory. This was the same as saying everyone can finish walking the Great Wall of China, but no one will be willing to do it unless threatened with a knife at his neck. Who cares? I''m not an archaeologist. I''ll see how it goes after clearing this big hole. I''ll stay if there''s treasure, if not it''ll be the eel''s hideout. After taking a rest, Chen Fan controlled the electric eel to continue with the excavation. Although the head of the pike was only one meter, it was 30 meters long! After being inserted forcefully into the soil for over 10 meters and agitated, the soil instantly turned into a big mess as if there had been a fight between Megatron and Optimus Prime. After letting this go on for two hours, Chen Fan retrieved his thoughts from the electric eel. It was 12 noon and he had to settle his stomach issue. ......... "Food''s here! Bean curd with green vegetables, please try it, Brother Chen." Yun Meng came out from the kitchen with a porcelain bowl. "Um! You can make bean curd and green vegetables so delicious, you have some skills indeed." Chen Fan wasn''t stingy with his compliments, praising after he took a piece. Actually, just the taste alone wasn''t exactly fantastic; bean curd with green vegetables are just bean curd and green vegetables no matter what, but it was the fruit of her labor, so didn''t he have to make some compliments? "Yun Meng, I''ll take you to the mall after dinner to get some heavier clothing." Chen Fan bit loudly on the braised crab in his mouth. Bean curd with green vegetables plus crabs, great for getting rid of oil! Today was Saturday, and the yellow floral coat on the girl was a little too thin. Usually Chen Fan felt that it was dangerous for her to go to the city alone. Since she was on school holiday now, he could take her to buy some nice clothes. After Yun Meng cleared the table, Chen Fan drove her to the famous "Ingot Walking Street" in Zhongyun. All the extravagant commercial brands in Zhongyun could be found there. There were Donna Karan, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Versace, etc. Brands that Chen Fan knew and also those that he didn''t. The autumn wind rustled as the two, one tall and one short, walked side by side. The guy was in all black with both hands in his pockets, and the girl was in an elegant yellow with her ten fingers twisted in front of her lower abdomen. The two were about 10 centimeters apart, a distance neither far nor close. Yun Meng''s heartbeat was a little fast as she walked. It wasn''t because she was shy going out with her husband-to-be, but the glares from the crowd made her very confused. Envy, jealousy, desire, greed... If it had been someone shrewd, he could announce the meaning in their eyes right away. Luxury stores like Louis Vuitton, Chanel, and Versace, etc., were not Chen Fan''s target. The Tianbao Building 200 meters ahead was what Chen Fan came for. It wasn''t because he was reluctant to spend money on luxury items on Yun Meng, but it would be too extravagant for a young girl to wear Chanel and Dior to school. As they slowly walked forward with the crowd, Chen Fan saw that there was a group of people gathered at the square in front of Tianbao Building, and there was frequent laughter coming from it, although he had no idea what happened. It was the nature of the Chinese people to be onlookers, and the people passing by joined in one after another. Two women fighting? Chen Fan was full of evil thoughts when he heard the laughter coming from within the crowd. Once women were involved in a fight, there was a high possibility of erotic scenes where clothes are being stripped off, and this made many people full of hopes. "Let''s go take a look too!" Chen Fan pulled Yun Meng''s delicate little hand and squeezed into the crowd. There was indeed a fight going on inside, and every punch was heavy. However, it wasn''t two women fighting, but two black bears in red and blue skirts, standing at around 1.6 meters. It was probably a store holding its opening ceremony, hence they got a pair of black bears to perform and attract the crowd. The two black bears wore boxing gloves, stood in the middle of the red carpet, and punched each other, making the crowd burst out in laughter. There was a trainer in his twenties at the side wearing a jester''s cap, acting as a judge exultantly. "The red team smashed on the face of the blue team, the blue team was angered and immediately displayed a counter attack" The black bear is like a human being, able to walk standing up. Other than having shorter legs, they looked pretty convincing boxing. "Haha, haha." Yun Meng who was being protected by Chen Fan in front of his chest saw the scene and instantly let out a ringing laugh cheerfully from her throat. The way the two underage muzzled bears fought was indeed amusing. Chen Fan also watched on with great interest. "Bravo!" A bald man holding an Alaskan Malamute suddenly shouted, giving everyone a scare, and even one of the black bears shook. Bang! The red team bear took the opportunity to punch on the face of the stunned face of the bear from the blue team, and the blue team instantly pressed the red team under its body. "Haha, haha." Now even Chen Fan couldn''t help but laugh. The two bears holding and trampling each other was like an art film of a certain island nation. The two bears seemed to enjoy taking on each other, not separating after rolling on the carpet for a long while. Seeing the audience laughing so happily, the trainer changed the topic abruptly from the boxing competition to a newly married couple''s first night. "Oh, the red team''s skirt has been lifted up. Goodness, there is nothing underneath, and she''s exposed naked in front of everyone. Everybody, we''re getting to the splendid combat round. Please don''t go away, we''ll be right back after a commercial!" Hearing such explicit words, Yun Meng''s face flushed instantly as if there was an invisible hand slowly apply rouge on her face. The afternoon sun made a golden silhouette right on her face, making it look bleary and like gold dust, so that even the fine hair below the ear helix seemed soft. Chen Fan looked at Yun Meng''s face and suddenly thought of a word, "delicate." Just when Chen Fan wanted to pull Yun Meng away, some b*stard flicked a cigarette butt viciously and shot it right in the arms of the two bears rolling together. Then, smoke with a burning smell emitted from the two bears. The black fur on the bears'' bodies were extremely dense. With black fur thick like a brush on their chest, the two bears didn''t realize after the smoke emitted for a few seconds. It was only after a wind blew and caused the fur to be on fire that they howled and spread apart. The interesting thing was, the area on fire was actually the genital areas of the two bears. "Arf, arf, arf." The muzzled bears rolled on the red carpet in pain, failing to put out the flame after scratching all over with their four paws. If the mini skirts under the bellies of the two bears weren''t thick, they would definitely be on fire. The trainer quickly rushed over, wanting to put out the flame on one of the bears, but was sent flying two meters away by the bear, which was in a state of madness. This was definitely not an exaggeration. An adult bear is one that even a tiger does not dare to provoke, and a tiger can win a tug-of-war against 10 adult males with just one claw. Although the two bears were still a little young, standing at only a little over 1.6 meters, it was still a piece of cake for them to send a man flying. "Ah" The originally lively crowd was already in a mess, shouting and crying out like a mouse whose tail was on fire, running away in all directions. The bald man''s Alaskan Malamute roared and was about to rush up to bite when the bear pounced on it with lightning speed and smashed it up. Thereafter, with smoke rising up within them, the two bears charged right into the crowd with such brutality that even the urban management couldn''t compete with. Man can always display the standard of Superman when in danger. The crowd, which was still huddled together, dispersed in the blink of an eye. Other than two unlucky ones who were punched to the ground by the bears in boxing gloves, the others had all ran more than 100 meters away. This naturally also included Chen Fan. In fact, when the trainer was sent flying off, Chen Fan already pulled Yun Meng''s arm and ran to the side of the Unionpay ATM a 100 meters away. After taking out a bank card to open the door, Chen Fan instructed Yun Meng to "stay inside and don''t move", and then searched at the back of his waist but was unable to find the Kunwu dagger. He had probably left it in the bedroom when he changed his outer coat. Then, he quickly turned his head and looked around for something usable, but was unable to find anything. It wasn''t a weapons room; the empty square only had a few street lights standing. "You, you, what are you doing?" Yun Meng laid against the glass door and looked worriedly at Chen Fan. "I''m go kill the two bears." Chen Fan announced before clenching his fists and charged toward the bears like a whirlwind. The bears had boxing gloves and couldn''t catch! Bears do not kick with their legs! They were muzzled and couldn''t bite, either! So, Chen Fan was quite confident in defeating the two beasts. There was chaos on Ingot Street, looking as if it was the end of the world, with screams and cries of the pedestrians everywhere. Other than Chen Fan, no one dared to rush forward to fight; there are more herbivores in nature after all. "Ah, is he looking to die?" Two young ladies who were almost knocked over by Chen Fan gazed nervously and fearfully at Chen Fan who was approaching the two bears without batting their eyelids. Sturdy grass withstands high wind. True gold stands the test of fire. Chen Fan who had gone through close to non-human strengthening, performed a modern version of "Wu Song Wu Song Fights a Tiger" in front of everyone. After rushing to the bear in blue skirt which was madly trampling on an innocent pedestrian, Chen Fan''s right leg created a big arc and kicked fiercely on the bear''s belly. Although the bear was very strong, it could not exceed 90 kilos with a 1.6-meter height. Chen Fan''s kick was as if he kicked on a flour sack. With a huge growl, the bear''s belly sank in, and it rolled away for five to six meters. The bear in the red skirt saw its companion sent flying off and instantly gave up on chasing a girl in red. It charged madly toward Chen Fan on all fours and stood up, all ready to display its "war techniques"! Ever seen polar bears preying on seals hiding in ice caves? They looked the same with their front paws raised up and about to smash the ice caves. Bang! The bear in red skirt just raised its paw and wanted to smash on Chen Fan''s chest when Chen Fan suddenly punched it right on its nose. For all biological creatures, the nose which has countless nerves is definitely a sensitive area like the testicles. The bear was forcefully smashed by Chen Fan and did a 180-degree turn, and the blood which splashed out from its nose almost shot on Chen Fan''s face. There was no need for Chen Fan to do it another time. With smoke emitting from their bellies, one of the bears curled into a black ball and rolled on the ground. The other one laid weakly on the ground with blood coming out from its two egg-sized nostrils as its body convulsed violently. 153 Oh My God! What A Big Officer! The people who were in a panic were now completely shocked, and their expressions were as abundant as a face-changing opera, filled with shock, gratefulness, and adoration. What does it mean to put a bear down with only one move? Although the bears were tied with muzzles and paw covers, Chen Fan''s bravery could not be denied. If a group of scared teenagers united and fought, they would be able to fight against even two gorillas. But no one had been willing to step forward. Everyone had just run away. "This guy must be special forces! Really handsome," a little girl in a red coat said, thinking it was not loud enough, and raised her volume. "Cool, better than Donnie Zhang!" "This guy looked like he was from the Shaolin temple!" A girl in a yellow dress next to him chattered. "Didn''t you see that he just punched the bear, and the bear''s eyes almost popped out? He must have practiced the tiger arhat fist! "Brother Chen Fan, are you all right?" Yun Meng rushed out of the cash machine, dragging Chen Fan''s arm with a lingering fear in her face. She had seen the might of a bear before when she was in her hometown. She had heard two adult bears giving out a furious howl. Grandpa had said it was two male bears fighting for a mate. The next day, because of the bears fighting, many large trees in the forest had fallen, and the thicker trees had deep traces of claws. "Do I look not okay now?" Chen Fan laughed and tapped her shoulder. The siren sound from the police car was loud in the noisy Yuanbao Street Square. The crowd that was shocked and ran just now had all gathered around Chen Fan. It made it difficult for the police car to pass through. No matter how they pressed the horn, they still could not find a path to pass through. "Leave, leave. Why are you all blocking the road?" Two 110 police cars honked their horns. "Out of the way!" Four fat policemen, after a difficult trek, finally broke into the center of the gathered crowd. This made the leading policeman pant a little, and he started questioning the crowd about what happened. The fire on the bear''s belly had been doused with mineral water, and the two bears huddled together, covering their heads with their bloody paws. The crowd and the people involved who saw the scene kept snatching the chance and told the police what had happened. The police cleared up the matter and waved impatiently to the growing crowd of onlookers. Pulling a rope from the car, they tried to tie the culprits to take them to the police station. The bears did not just let the police tie them up. Their paws swung and spun like wheels and twisted the rope. Even one of the police officers almost got caught and staggered around. The crowd laughed again. "Damn you! Looks like you will not give up unless you taste pain!" The policeman, embarrassed by being laughed by the girls in the crowd, pulled out an electric baton and expanded it to a 31-inch length ferocious weapon. Once he pressed the button, out came a splashing bluish current that looked like a deathly demon light. Then it became simple, once the high voltage pulse electric batons were respectively put on the two bears, the bears gave a howl, and with their central nervous system cut off, the bears did not move, and the policeman bundled them up and pulled them by their ears and fur to the car. "Well done boy!" After finding out the truth, Chen Fan, the warm-hearted youth was praised by the policemen and given the glory of a good citizen. "Youngsters like you are becoming fewer and fewer. We heard that your skills were swift. You must have been practicing since you were young." "Hehe," Chen Fan scratched his head and did not reply. They pulled the animal trainer who had been punched in the stomach into the police car and let his associate take a cab to the police station to bail him out. One of the third-rated policemen tapped Chen Fan''s shoulder and said, "Young man, are you coming with me to receive a bravery reward?" "No...No..." Chen Fan rejected strongly. The police department was a place that would make him nervous. He wouldn''t step in there unless he was desperate. The policeman smiled and said, "Boy, you''re good. Doing a good thing without taking fame like Leifeng!" Then he climbed into the police car and drove away. "Oh god!" Chen Fan was about to explain that he couldn''t go because he had something urgent to do. As soon as the bears were gone, the crowd of people who had nothing to see anymore slowly scattered. Chen Fan''s hero title was soon swept away by the busy crowd, and no one commented about it anymore. Little girl''s clothes were very easy to buy. Chen Fan took Yun Meng to walk around two times, and his hands were already holding a few plastic bags that read Smith Barney, Yishion, and other brands. The way men and women shopped was different. Women generally liked to go shopping the whole afternoon. When they saw something beautiful, they couldn''t help but stay and take a look. So, when Chen Fan looked around, he was prepared to drag Yun Meng to leave. Little Yun Meng, though, had not completely turned into a woman. But she was still in the category of women, so when she saw the beautiful silver accessories on the counter in the hallway, she stopped walking. When it came to Miao nationality girls, the first impression of people was not their delicate face, but the intricate and elaborate silver ornaments they wore. Miao girls wearing silver jewelry had a long tradition. When ancient silver ingots were in circulation, in the Miao people''s home, there was absolutely no trace of them, because they were all put into the melting pot. It could be said that all property consisted of the accessory! The situation was better these days. The party and the government fully respected the customs of the Miao people and gave the Miao a large amount of special silver for a low price each year. "Which one do you want?" Chen Fan also stopped walking. She only had a small silver locket on her neck, and she looked pitiful compared to the Miao girls that were equipped with a bunch of silver ornaments. "This one!" Yun Meng was gazing at a beautiful bracelet at this moment. She could not help it. Who could be blamed if she had no resistance against this stuff? The bracelet was very small and lovely and had an oval button on the chain. There were six bells with an exquisite pattern on them. Chen Fan smiled and raised his two fingers at the counter. This expensive stuff was not that attractive when on the rack, but when it was worn on Yun Meng''s wrist, even a big man like Chen Fan, found it particularly beautiful, especially comfortable, as if it was tailored made by the jewelry master for her! .......... When walking in the square in the clear autumn air, Chen Fan received a call from the shipyard saying that the "submarine" had been officially completed and could be launched into the water. When he drove to the shipyard, Chen Fan told Yun Meng to stay in the car and listen to music, and he went alone into the shipyard. It was 20 meters long and five meters in diameter, and although it was a small thing compared to the military submarine, if it was for a person to stay in, it would be just like a star-rated hotel room. The bright silver appearance made it outstanding. The streamlined body made it release the charm of the metal under the sunshine. Titanium alloy not only weighed less than steel and was very hard, but was also super resistance to seawater corrosion. Experiments had been done, throwing a square piece of titanium alloy ingot to soak in seawater for three years, and when it was recovered again, after wiping away the dust and mud on the ingot, the surface was still shiny. Even when they used the instrument to test it, they did not find any signs of corrosion by seawater. The exterior was beautiful, and the interior decoration of the submarine was not bad at all. With no reason to put in any larger power supply, 80 percent of the space was used to transform into the residence. Inside, the submarine was divided into many spaces. There was not only a master bedroom, sitting room, and dining-room, Chen Fan also found a twin bathtub in the toilet. It was only after asking that he found out that marine desalination equipment was fixed in the submarine. Although it was not efficient, it was more than enough to bath twice a day. "Good... good..." Chen Fan walked inside and out twice and kept praising Jiang Shui beside him. "Boss, this is the cost of the submarine''s decoration, home appliances, and equipment." Jiang Shui took out the detailed bill from his pocket and handed it to Chen Fan. "Okay!" Chen Fan took the bill and looked at it carefully. The expense was not too bad. If they took a little money from it, Chen Fan could not say anything about it. After all, they can''t buy everything themselves, as long as the middleman price was not too excessive, then it would be fine. "You put the submarine in the water, and then drag it down to Wujia bay, where there is a huge sealed dock, which I bought." Chen Fan took a key out of his pocket and handed it to Jiang Shui. "There is a yacht there. Please be careful when you go in. Don''t scratch my yacht." The sealed dock he used was becoming more and more crowded. It was already filled with a freight submarine and a cruise ship, so Chen Fan bought a new dock, which was 153 meters long and 40 meters wide for five million two days ago. After sailing the yacht into the dockyard, Chen Fan was ready to use the little dock as a place to keep the treasure that the electric eel transported. Back in the car, Yun Meng was sitting in the seat quietly listening to the song sang by Soda Green called "Incomparable Beauty." After Chen Fan got into the car and lowered the volume, he said, "Yun Meng, what do you want to eat later? I''ll take you wherever." Half an hour later at Kentucky Fried Chicken, Chen Fan placed his hand under his chin in boredom, and like a radar scanned the nearby girls. Yun Meng was looking down and eating her chicken wings, and Chen Fan was trying to hurry her out when the phone rang in his pocket. Yiteng Yun told Chen Fan that the staff he had just hired had boarded the ship to Australia and would arrive in three days. Five seconds later, someone called again. "Hello!" "Well... Sure!" Hanging up the phone, Chen Fan sighed. "What happened, Brother Chen Fan?" Yun Meng raised her head and on her snow-white cheek she had a sauce stain. "Oh, nothing. I will take about three or four days to go abroad tomorrow." Chen Fan picked up the napkin and gently wiped the stains from the area around her lips. "You eat at school these two days, and you can go to Wu Ruoyu if you have anything you need." Yun Meng lowered her head, playing with her fingers and stared blankly. With that, Chen Fan made a call to Wang Bing and asked him to prepare for his trip to Saudi Arabia tomorrow. Just now Ma Rongtao called and said their passport visa has been completed. The plane was tomorrow morning at 10 o''clock, after connecting at Beijing International Airport, they would fly directly to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to discuss the oil order with an oil tycoon there. Arab! In Chen Fan''s mind, images arose of those who wore "white tiger armor", and bearded men, men that stood under stamped banners with jihad slogans, either holding knives in their hands, wanting to cut off someone''s head, or read out slogans about killing someone. Of course, the position of Saudi Arabia was located in the southwest of Asia, and its country situation was stable. But he felt safer bringing along Wang Bing who was an expert in fighting. .......... Quiet night, it was the right time to steal... Chen Fan was controlling the electric eel to dig that big hole that may have buried treasures. The pit had been dug up to more than 40 meters, and there was no sign of anything else, not even a large rock. However, life was made up of countless coincidences. Things can happen just like that. The electric eel''s spear bumped on the rocks and extracted the soil from the rock and found something that was man-made. Humans have made a lot of things, but this one was very recognizable. It was round and gray, something like a porcelain bowl. "Ah!" After the electric eel had gently removed the soil with a spear, Chen Fan was startled by what was inside. A gray-white human skeleton was visible from the earth. The thing he was mistaking for a porcelain bowl, was its skull. The skull was a really freaky thing, and the electric eel''s heart beat fast for a few dozen seconds then slowly calmed down. The skeleton frame was about 1.6 meters, which would be in keeping with the shorter height of ancient people. The women were usually only one and four or five meters. And on the fifth rib on the back of the skeleton frame, Chen Fan found a sharp stone that was polished. The stone was about seven to eight centimeters long, was as thick as a thumb, and was shallowly nailed to the skeleton. It looked like it was stabbed into the chest and then went straight to the back ribs. There was no doubt that it was a murder. The poor ghost had been stabbed to death with a pointed stone that was tied to a stick. As to why he died there, that was not clear. Maybe he wanted to enter the pit at the bottom and was killed by native tribes on the way, or had a conflict with someone and was killed. For such an unfortunate thing to happen, Chen Fan was sad for him. But it was impossible for Chen Fan to find justice for him after he had been buried near to the bushes of the reef. So, the electric eel continued its digging job. Dong! In the direction of the skull, the electric eel again speared into the dirt below, and then he picked the spear hard. A cracking sound came when the soil was separated from the rock, and half a skeleton was exposed to the electric eel''s line of sight. "Ah!" Chen Fan screamed again. The electric eel dug up a skeleton for the second time. The frame of the skeleton had been smashed into two pieces by the spear, and after chanting "Amitabha, Amitabha" for quite some time, the electric eel then took the skeleton and the soil, burying them again near the reef. "Could it be a burial pit for offering sacrifices to heaven?" Chen Fan remembered a TV clip he had seen before, and his hair stood on end. It could be from a time when ancient sorcerers were active, and many tribes did not use animals to worship the sky, but offered humans as sacrifices to god. Some were killed and thrown into the water. Some were thrown into a pit. If that were the case, Chen Fan decided he would abandon this zone that he had worked hard on for months. Living in such a gloomy environment how would it be possible to live like that? Luckily when he continued digging down a few meters, he no longer found skeletons. To have the stone map, from more than four hundred meters deep, dug from the hole of the central position, to erect a huge stone in the tunnel more than 400 meters if there were no particular people who had been there then that would definitely be something ghostly. After all, ancient science and technology were very undeveloped, and it will take a lot of time to dig out so many tunnels, and who would be silly enough to go to a deserted place just to draw a map? At 8 o''clock the next morning, Chen Fan and Wang Bing went to the Zhongyun Airport with a cab, both of them came empty-handed. They did not even bring a change of clothes. Ma Rongtao was in a nice suit with a black briefcase under his arm, dressed up like a successful person. Beside Ma Rongtao stood a young man with glasses. He was the Arabic translator for the trip, a graduate of Beijing foreign languages institute that had not gotten a place as a diplomat abroad. So, he returned to his hometown, bitterly, and worked as a business translator. It was really boring for four men to wait for the plane. Wang Bing crudely stared at all the people of the opposite sex in the waiting hall, and Chen Fan took out his mobile phone to watch the game. After half an hour of changing the boarding pass, they set foot on the plane 20 minutes later. Chen Fan was idle, and he continued to shift his mind to the electric eel and to dig the earth. When the plane went up into the sky and flew to the Beijing Airport, Wang Bing, who was sitting outside, woke him up and reminded him that it was time to change for an international flight. On the international flight, they did not sit together, and Wang Bing was seated next to a woman in her early twenties with a long hair, which made Chen Fan jealous. "Well, your bodyguard is a pervert. Hope he doesn''t molest that girl halfway through the journey." Ma Rongtao shook his head and went to a seat in the back, and had a man of nearly 250 pounds sitting beside him. He would be suffering the whole journey. Chen Fan''s seat was near the aisle and near to the wing. The passenger sitting inside had not come. He did not know who would it be. Would it be man or woman, ugly or good looking? After he waited for 10 minutes, the passenger still had not come, Chen Fan thought this was strange. The plane was not a bus that they could board whenever they like. The passengers must take several special buses to reach terminal 3. Only then could they enter the boarding tunnels. As the seats were almost filled, Chen Fan estimated that the guy may have jumped the ticket. According to the seating order, if it is an empty seat, then Chen Fan should be seated inside. While Chen Fan was sitting outside, it meant that there was someone in the seat. Just as the plane was about to leave the terminal, a sound of leather shoes stepping down the blue floor of the cabin could be heard. "Please, excuse me!" Chen Fan paid no attention, until the clear and sweet voice came. He took his eyes away from the window and looked in the direction of the beautiful but cold voice. Wow. Chen Fan quietly took a deep breath in his heart. It was a soldier in the 07 uniform, who was about 1.75 meters tall. And it was a female soldier, an extremely beautiful woman who was as beautiful as Wu Ruoyu. Chen Fan could not take his eyes off her! Not because of her elegant and noble look. It was the three five-pointed stars in the two yellow bars on her shoulder! "Colonel!" Chen Fan thought, Such a young colonel. Is her father a soldier with three wheat logo stars? 154 Military Official The slim-figured girl couldn''t have more than a few years'' difference in age as Chen Fan. If not for the two bars and three stars on her shoulder which bedazzled him, Chen Fan thought that she could even be Yun Meng''s classmate. "Please make way!" The colonel reminded Chen Fan again. "Oh, alright, alright" Chen Fan quickly stood up from the seat and let the pretty colonel in. The 07-style uniform not only have the rank on it, there was also an armband and a name badge on the right chest. The colonel was facing Chen Fan just now, and Chen Fan only saw the name badge on her chest which had the two words "Ye Xi" printed on it, but did not see her armband. Therefore, Chen Fan started looking at her armband after she was seated, wanting to see which department she was from. A colonel taking a plane to Saudi Arabia, and wearing a military uniform, this meant that she must be entrusted with a certain mission instead of acting on her own accord. On the shield type armband was a type of national emblem that Chen Fan wasn''t familiar with. Instead, there were two crossed sabers in the center of surrounding wheat, and a bright red five-star flag embroidered above the sabers. What made Chen Fan''s jaw dropped further was, the words "Ministry of National Defense" were embroidered above the red flag. Although she was wearing a "Ministry of National Defense" armband, it didn''t mean that she definitely worked there. However, this was much more exciting than meeting big stars like Andy Lau, Jackie Chan, and Jet Li on the plane. After sitting down, the young colonel named Ye Xi just looked to the side in silence, like other girls who either adjust their phones to "turn off wireless" mode to listen to music and play games or read magazines nonstop. Chen Fan wanted very much to strike up a conversation with the female colonel, like ask her how did she manage to get around at work? She actually got to the rank of colonel at such a young age, and also why was she going to Saudi Arabia? Although she looked quiet and easily bullied, the words "Ministry of National Defense" on the armband sent a chill down Chen Fan''s spine. It wouldn''t be fun if he got treated like a spy. The plane had already been towed by the tractor toward the runway. Chen Fan suppressed the curiosity inside him and crossed his arms in front as he went into meditation. Not long after the plane soared into the clouds, the air stewardess pushed the aluminum cart and distributed lunch to each passenger one by one. The plane would reach Saudi at 7 p.m. local time, so Chen Fan had to settle his lunch and dinner on the plane. The food provided in the business class of an international airline was not bad. There were a total of three types of main courses, six dishes, and various desserts and beverages to choose from. There were rice, bread, fried noodles, beef brisket, potatoes, fruits and vegetables, etc. Chen Fan chose a set meal with rice as the main course, whereas the lady named Ye Xi chose one with fried noodles as the main course. After pulling down the tray table in front, Chen Fan quickly wiped out the rice and asked the air stewardess for another set. It couldn''t be helped, since he was in the prime of life, and he could really eat, as if there was a meat grinder in his stomach. After Chen Fan finished eating and burped twice, Colonel Ye Xi was still eating the fried noodles in small bites. She probably liked sour stuff. After putting a packet of ketchup into the fried noodles, she took a second packet and wanted to tear it open. Probably due to the negligence of the production staff, the ketchup packet did not have teeth to make tearing it open easy. Ye Xi tried twice but did not tear it open and could only put it back to its original place. "Let me help you tear it!" Chen Fan smiled and took the ketchup on her tray table. How could she be military personnel when she couldn''t even tear open a packet of ketchup? She should be an actress for "The Dream of Red Mansions." It was only after Chen Fan took the ketchup that he realized it didn''t have any teeth and was really difficult to deal with. Not only was the surface smooth, more than half of the inside was filled with ketchup and there was only a half-centimeter sealing strip. Chen Fan pulled twice but it slipped from his fingers both times. If the packet of ketchup was his, Chen Fan would definitely put it into his mouth and use his teeth to bit. However, with a beautiful lady beside him, Chen Fan would never do something so unrefined! After rubbing his fingers, Chen Fan pinched the sealing strip tightly and then used all his strength! Bang! A small hole exploded from the sealing strip of the packet and the thick bright red liquid inside shot from under Chen Fan''s eyes in the form of elongated strip onto the face of Colonel Ye Xi who was beside him. Chen Fan could only gasp before the ketchup hit the porcelain-like face of Colonel Ye Xi. Chen Fan subconsciously licked away the ketchup on his fingers, and then looked at the spots of red ketchup on her face in shock. The ketchup was very red, and her face very white. The two formed an extremely discordant pattern. It was too fast, and too unexpected. Chen Fan was still unable to react from the shock. Ye Xi was also not yet able to react. The fork in her hand froze as she stared at Chen Fan in disbelief. Uh, there was even ketchup on her curved eyebrows. "This... I... sorry, sorry, I didn''t do it on purpose!" Chen Fan quickly grabbed a facial tissue and wanted to wipe away the ketchup on her face, but changed direction halfway and put it into her hand. After all, the two had only met by chance, and he might be seen as taking advantage by doing that. "I''m fine!" There was no anger from Ye Xi''s expression. After taking the facial tissue, she wiped away the ketchup on her face bit by bit. "There''s some here!" Chen Fan pointed at his own forehead. It was actually on part of her hair hanging down, but Chen Fan was unable to demonstrate with his crew cut hair. Ye Xi changed to a clean piece of facial tissue and wiped a few times but didn''t manage to find the correct position. "On the hair, on the hair!" Chen Fan stretched out his index finger and gently pointed beside her forehead. Ye Xi retracted her face and wiped according to where Chen Fan pointed at. Luckily, the ketchup didn''t sputter onto her military uniform. After wiping carefully a few times, there was no trace of it. After the air stewardess cleared the tables, the two went into silence again. Although Chen Fan wanted very much to chat with her, he could only continue playing with his electric eel after seeing Ye Xi''s unhappy look. Just as the plane took off, the electric eel dug up another skeleton. However, the skeleton was a little pathetic; its skull had been smashed into a big hole, and there was even some residual gravel inside. As of now, Chen Fan did not find any remains of metal weapons, but only stones and the like. This meant that their history exceeded more than 4,700 years, and they were likely to be human beings from the Stone Age. China''s bronze vessels appeared from 4,700 years ago, and were gradually replaced by metal vessels more than 2,000 years ago, spanning about 3,000 years of history, so Chen Fan concluded that their history exceeded 4,700 years. ........ It was sunset and night was approaching. When Chen Fan''s party of four walked out of the plane''s cabin door, a surge of hot air came toward them. Saudi Arabia''s capital Riyadh is of a tropical desert climate, and the temperature in summer can sometimes reach about 50 degrees. Although it was now autumn, the high temperature made Chen Fan feel like he was in midsummer. "Holy crap! This colonel became an embassy''s military official at such a young age? Her dad must be really amazing!" Wang Bing who was walking beside Chen Fan saw Ye Xi''s armband and exclaimed at once. "Embassy''s military official?" Chen Fan couldn''t figure that out. "What''s that? A bodyguard in the embassy?" "No!" Wang Bing shook his head and pointed to her armband. "See the words ''Ministry of National Defense''? She belonged to the National Defense Military Officials, which is totally different from a bodyguard. It is official post responsible for military diplomacy and cooperation. Not only does it enjoy diplomatic privilege of meeting the highest military officer anytime, it also enjoys immunity. That means, even if she punched someone on purpose, the police do not have the right to arrest her and have to leave it to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to negotiate." "Whoa, isn''t that awesome!" Chen Fan''s eyes were larger than those of a bull. "Indeed!" Ma Rongtao also pursed his lips. After seeing the pretty female military official get into a black car, Ma Rongtao tapped Chen Fan''s arm and pulled him out from his shock. "Let''s find a hotel for tonight. Tomorrow we''ll go to Riyadh''s landmark, Kingdom Tower, to meet the nephew of the minister of petroleum and mineral, Abdul." The first impression Saudi Arabia gave Chen Fan was monotony, extreme monotony. Not the buildings there, but the people. For the pedestrians he met on the way, the men were all unified in white robes and white shawls, looking like Osama. As for the women, they were all black gowns and black shawls. The only difference was they had an additional black mask, and the only visible part of their bodies were their two round eyes, making it impossible for one to tell their age and looks. "Goodness, this is killing me! I wanted to look at beautiful foreign girls, but all I can see now is black cloth!" Seated in the car, Wang Bing covered his head with his hands miserably. "Go to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates if you wanna look at beautiful girls. There are beautiful girls from all over the world lying on the beach there. People like Julia Roberts and Britney Spears frequent there. Who knows, you may even see them skinny dipping!" "The best part is, if you get their local nationality, not only can you marry four wives, the government also subsidizes the cost of living for the five of you which is equivalent to 4,000 RMB every month. You get an additional 100,000 for marriage and 50,000 for childbirth. You don''t have to come up with a single cent before the child turns 18. Everything is paid by the government, including studying overseas." "What?" Wang Bing blinked. Was Chen Fan talking about a fairytale? How could there be such a wonderland in the human world? "Don''t believe? Go do some research later, and you''ll see." Chen Fan gave Wang Bing high hopes and then dampened his enthusiasm. "But the houses there cost over 200,000 RMB per square meter on average. You need to have four houses if you marry four wives, and you have to pay them in full without any housing loan." "Isn''t that simple? First I''ll use up my entire fortune to get a small house of over 10 square meters and then marry and divorce repeatedly 100 times. Wouldn''t I then be able to get five houses from the government?" Wang Bing''s eyes beamed, looking as if he wanted very much to give it a try. Ma Rongtao who was drinking mineral water didn''t swallow the water and almost choked. As the capital of the world''s oil superpower, although Riyadh is not as luxurious as Dubai, it was no less than any metropolis Chen Fan had seen. The fancy cars, some of which Chen Fan knew and some which he didn''t, even had Ma Rongtao who was the richest man in Zhongyun in awe. ....... The next morning at 7 a.m., Chen Fan''s party of four arrived at the landmark building of Riyadh, Kingdom Tower. The Kingdom Tower was constructed by a Saudi prince''s funding, and was listed as one of the new "Seven Wonders of the World" for new modern buildings by the famous American travel magazine "Cond Nast Traveler." It is a building with a very special style, with a triangular hole at the top quarter of the building, looking a little like a bottle-opener. Needless to say, the hole is not for opening bottles, but for withstanding hurricanes by letting them pass through to reduce the building''s resistance. It is similar to the tall buildings in mainland China. Its first to third stories are shopping malls with all the luxury brands in the world. Above the third story are various corporate offices and private residences. After they walked into Abdul''s private club, Chen Fan finally understood the meaning of "Nouveau riche." Holy sh*t, the handles on the two doors were made from 8,000 grams of gold, and even the carpet below the feet were made from giraffe skin, looking extremely stylish. Abdul was the nephew of the minister of petroleum and minerals, 32 that year. Like most peripheral members of the royal family, he made use of his identity to get a considerable number of oil fields at a low price, and the amount of oil exports alone each year was more than 20 billion USD. After the two mustached men in green military uniform scanned his body with a metal detector, Chen Fan finally met the oil magnate. "May Allah praise and bless you, my dear Abdul!" After walking into the hall, Ma Rongtao went forward in stiff Arabic and warmly held the hands of the mustached man in a white robe sitting on the couch. Needless to say, that was the only Arabic sentence he knew. "May Allah bless you too, my partner!" Abdul''s moustache shook as he smiled. "Is this the business partner you wanted to introduce to me? He looks really young!" "Hello, how are you!" After listening to the interpreter interpret in Mandarin, Chen Fan also smiled and held his hands. "Please take a seat!" Abdul gestured for them to sit down and got an attendant to brew some tea. "Young man, you must be tired after travelling from the far east. Come try our calyx tea, it''s effective in relieving fatigue." Abdul touched his dense moustache as he smiled. "This type of tea is picked only three days a year, although it is also planted where you come from, but the taste cannot be compared!" "Mr. Abdul, may I know how much a barrel of crude oil you export is?" After the tea was served, Chen Fan drank a sip and felt that it was a little sour, but tasted quite good. "According to the international crude oil price that day, if it is more than 100,000 tons at one go, I can give you a one percent price fluctuation. If more than 200,000 tons, it would be two percent. More than 300,000 tons of course, the price cannot exceed five percent. Abdul smiled as he drank the calyx tea. "My requirement is at least 10,000 tons shipped each time, and also a signed long-term agreement of a year or more. It cannot be purchased as government procurement, otherwise the price has to be raised by three percent. We''ve signed agreement with OPEC, so the price positioning is different for different countries." "Yes of course!" Chen Fan readily agreed to Abdul''s request. Anyway, he only had to pay a five million USD deposit, which he could afford to lose. If anything really cropped up, he could just quit this line and go collect protection money at the pier here. 155 Strategic Partnership William Endor from Germany once mentioned in the book War for Oil, "The party that controls oil will have control over all countries!" In the year 1960, The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was formed by five major oil-producing countries. To date, it has 11 country members, making it an enormous organization that stores 69% of the total global oil produced. These facts alone would definitely make any country tremble! During the signing of the agreement, Chen Fan decided to pump all five tankers full for his first transaction. After that, he borrowed Abdul''s computer to transfer 5 million US Dollars, as a deposit, from his Switzerland International Bank account, together with 10%, which is 1 million US Dollars, as a payment in advance for the oil purchased. Switzerland International Bank''s portable secret electronic key uses a four-digit code password. It also has 96 dynamic random password encryption modes. It changes once every second, without any specific identifiable trend. Therefore, Chen Fan did not need to worry about someone hacking his account. "Let''s hope that our collaboration will run smoothly!" Abdul waited until Chen Fan signed the agreement in both Mandarin and Arabic words, before he used tea as a substitute for wine to gently clink glasses with Chen Fan in a toast. After the signing had been completed, Abdul sent Chen Fan off with a smile. He also promised that, as business expands, he would offer him even better deals. "Little Chen, I am going on a trip to Egypt soon to negotiate several projects with business partners there. Are you busy?" Ma Rongtao asked Chen Fan, once both men were inside the lift. "If you are not busy, why don''t you follow me on the trip? You can see the Egyptian Khufu Pyramid, then we could return to our country together." "No thanks. What is so nice about a pyramid?" Ma Rongtao had to stay in Egypt for three to five days, and Chen Fan certainly was not interested in the idea of staying in the scorching hot desert for that long. "Hehe, it''s up to you then, since only the pyramid is worth seeing in Egypt." Ma Rongtao looked at his watch. "Coincidentally, there will be a flight returning to our country at six o''clock in the evening. I will get the translator to book two return tickets for you." As they were a group of men, after settling their main objectives, they were too lazy to even go to the first three floors of the Royal Tower, which were actually filled with a famous shopping center. Instead, they went back to the hotel to wait for the translator to buy their tickets at the airport. "Boss, aren''t you afraid that the guy with the big mustache called Abdul may be a cheater?" Wang Bing took the opportunity to ask with concern, after Ma Rongtao had returned to his own room. "After all, we''re talking about a business worth over 10 million US Dollars! Even among those negotiators on television, some may take a few months to negotiate those contracts!" "He can''t be a cheater. I am not a fool, so how could I be cheated so easily?" Chen Fan answered Wang Bing, while he mindlessly changed the channels on the TV. In fact, the main reason that Chen Fan was so confident that Abdul was not a cheater was simple. There was a photo of him with the higher-ups of PetroChina on the official website of PetroChina. It even included a description regarding the signing of a collaboration proposal that was worth a few hundred billion between PetroChina and Saudi Arabia. While the two were casually chatting about some other useless matters, the satellite phone on the bedside table rang. Once Chen Fan saw that the caller ID showed that it was Yun Meng, he quickly pressed the accept button. "Hello, Yun Meng, what''s the matter?" "Nothing. Big Brother Chen Fan, when will you be coming back? I miss you already." Yun Meng spoke with hesitation. As she was speaking, her voice eventually got softer. If it wasn''t for Chen Fan''s good hearing, he would not have been able to even understand her last words. "I see! I will get home tomorrow morning. Be good, okay? I bought you some gifts!" Once Chen Fan hung up the call, Wang Bing hissed, "I seriously despise you for having the heart to deceive even young girls! Presents? Where are these presents?" "I can just buy one when we go out later, right?" Chen Fan crossed his legs and said, not missing a beat. After lunch, Ma Rongtao''s translator passed them the two return tickets. They first went to Mecca City, before boarding the plane to Egypt. There, the translator bid both Chen Fan and Wang Bing farewell. At three o''clock in the evening, Chen Fan and Wang Bing stepped out of the hotel''s main door. They were prepared to head towards Riyadh International Airport, which was located in the desert about 20 kilometers away from town. Initially, they wanted to grab a cab to the airport, but after taking two steps, Chen Fan remembered that he had not bought the gifts yet. Walking around aimlessly, he found a shop that sold all sorts of weird stuff. Wang Bing also bought a present, claiming that he wanted to give it to his sister, who was currently studying at a university. Just as Chen Fan stepped out of the door, after buying what he wanted, he felt a mass of yellow sand flying towards him! "No wonder Arabians like to wear robes and scarves! It''s probably due to the large amount of sand here!" Chen Fan could not resist complaining. "Yeah, wrapping a scarf around one''s head is fine, but why have to wrap the face, too?!" Chen Fan pointed at the lady in front of them, who was fully wrapped with a long black cloth. "I am really curious as to how they date, when they can''t even see each other''s faces. Is it possible that their sense of beauty is different from the rest of the world''s, where they only need to look at the eyes?" "The eyes are the window to a person''s soul! The trend nowadays is inner beauty, so I suppose there is nothing wrong with looking at the eyes!" As Chen Fan got closer to that black-robed lady, he could not resist looking at her eyes. The sidewalk was a bit narrow, due to someone having parked their car on it. As Chen Fan and Wang Bing were walking in a horizontal line, they coincidentally blocked the sidewalk. By the time this lady, who was walking with her head down, realized this, she had almost bumped right into Chen Fan. "Ah!" The black-robed lady was seriously frightened, quickly backing away with a sharp shout. Gosh, why so timid? Chen Fan complained to himself, as he walked in a vertical line with Wang Bing, in order to allow the lady to walk past them through the side. The black-robed lady hastened her steps, hoping to quickly walk past these two foreigners. Then. just when they were side-by-side, a strong gust of yellow sand suddenly flew up, blowing so fiercely that they could not open their eyes. "Pooh pooh pooh" After Chen Fan spat out the sand that had filled his mouth, he discovered something interesting. That black-robed lady''s face veil had been blown away by the gust, sending her rectangular black veil swirling into the air. He could clearly see now that the lady was not old, probably in her mid-twenties. She had a common appearance, but her eyes were really big. "Ah!" The big-eyed girl sharply shouted, as she used one hand to cover her face and another to grab at the face veil in the air. Arabian women have always been known as being among the world''s most mysterious women. As they were bound by strict rules, they seldom showed their faces. Even if they were to go out, they had to cover themselves completely, and were not allowed to make contact with anyone else. Otherwise, they would be deemed impure, then scolded and punished by the people in their society. Therefore, when her face veil got blown away, one could well imagine how afraid she felt, especially when it was in front of two foreigners. Wang Bing laughed loudly, when he saw what happened. The girl was not tall, and as the face veil flew, it got caught on a tree branch a few steps away. She stood below the tree, desperately jumping to reach for it, but to no avail. She looked to be on the verge of tears. "Whoosh!" With two accelerated runs, Wang Bing jumped up and grabbed the face veil. After that, while watching the mysterious Arabian girl with a playful stare, he passed the face veil to her. As he did so, he thought excitedly to himself. The most mysterious of women...Today, we finally saw one without her mysterious veil! However, it seems that the two had to pay a price for it, as to onlookers, the scene appeared quite different. To passersby, it appeared as though two foreigners were surrounding a girl on the street, while holding on to the girl''s face veil. Hence, when five boys, who were chatting and laughing as they walked by, saw this scene, their eyes flamed with anger. A picture was formed in their heads of two evil and cruel foreigners, who were cruelly blocking a beautiful young lady. To make matters worse, it looked like these two men had shamelessly stripped off the sacred veil from her face in broad daylight! In this sort of situation, any Arabian would definitely stand up against them, much less a a group of five hot-blooded youngsters! The five Arabians'' reactions were not only like arrows shot from the bow, but also like a wild bulls that have seen a red cloak! Immediately clenching their fists, they rushed towards the two foreign men in a mad rage. In this sort of misunderstanding, even if the two had eight mouths and could speak the Arabic language, they would still not have been able to explain themselves in time. Chen Fan, his motto being "the less complications the better," pulled Wang Bing to run away. However, when a person has bad luck, even the most impossible and craziest things may happen. Before they could even completely turn around, they could hear angry screams and shouts, as if their houses had been bombed. Now, this is great Both of them were soon surrounded by an angry mob, with only a cluster of flowers on their left and a car on their right. ... "Bakayarou!" Wang Bing''s eyeball made a turn, before he shouted in Japanese. Then, he kicked away an attacker, just as his fist was raised. "Baka!" Chen Fan also shouted weirdly in Japanese. Then, he lifted his leg to trip another person. Wang Bing was definitely a stumbling machine. With a pivot foot landed on the floor, he did not hide from these five people. Instead, like lightning, he raised his knee in mid-air to draw a flying arc and knock down two people with a roundhouse kick. Then, with a fist, he grabbed onto the arm swinging towards him, raising his leg again! 20 seconds later "Souka!" "Yoshi!" "Ah!" The lady sharply shouted, then used her veil to cover her face as she ran away. Chen Fan and Wang Bing looked at each other, quickly crossed over a guy that was lying on the floor, then disappeared together into the sky full of yellow sand. After 10 minutes had passed, the two youngsters came out from an alley in a distance, looked around a few times, then quickly grabbed a taxi to escape. At the same time, a few police cars, sirens blaring, arrived at the scene, faced with a floor full of casualties. "Two Two Japanese did this" said one of the men. He had a big moustache and was clutching his stomach and moaning. The three protagonists, who had caused this incident, were no longer present, having left only a floor full of casualties in their wake. In just a blink of an eye, dozens of policemen also came rushing to the scene from various regions. Some also went to nearby stores to check the CCTV, and some went out with their cars to search the nearby vicinity. Still others went to the immigration office to check for the records of these Japanese men. Needless to say, a series of other methods were also being used. Half an hour later, at Riyadh International Airport. "Wang Bing, do you think that the police will be able to find us?" Chen Fan asked Wang Bing softly, as he sat at the back hall, holding onto someone else''s newspaper, pretending to read it. "I am not familiar with the investigative techniques over here, but I think the chances of them finding us are slim. We have been walking on the streets for a long time, so to use CCTV footage to identify us now would be almost impossible, unless they are willing to spend a large amount of time to compare frames, one by one. Even if they do manage to find us, it shouldn''t be a big issue, because there is no direct evidence to prove our actions. By the time they manage to find out about the truth, we would probably already be sleeping back at home in Zhongyun," Wang Bing answered, also pretended to read a newspaper. "Sigh This is really a bad accusation. We finally did a good deed, but ended up surrounded by people in a fight. Not to mention that we had to run away with our tails tucked between our legs, despite merely acting in self-defense!" ... The streets of Abachel in Riyadh was home to 135 different countries'' embassies and consulates, including China''s embassy in Saudi Arabia. Colonel Ye Xi was sitting in her office, using a computer to individually compare the records of people going in and out of China. Preventing spy infiltrations was also part of her daily tasks. When she saw a familiar face, she used the cursor to click on his personal information. Chen Fan: Han Chinese, 22 years old, residential address His visit to Saudi Arabia this time was registered as a business project inspection. His return to China was reported as being yesterday at six o''clock in the evening. At the age of 22, he already owned a ship trading company with three cargo ships and a small shipyard. His total assets were estimated to be around 120 million Renminbi. His parents were not tycoons, and all of these assets came about from a small company that was established half a year ago. Based on the available information, he had no real criminal records either. This could be considered as the history of a typical youngster, who had obviously worked very hard to build up a fortune. Ye Xi shook her head. A university student earning 100 million in half a year''s time? Perhaps if a serious inspection was carried out, at least 50% of his wealth would be uncovered to have come from unknown sources. Otherwise, there must be something fishy going on. However, she did not have the time to investigate Chen Fan''s success story, because the foundation of tycoons in the country would be more or less unclean. If everything were to be meticulously investigated, probably 90% of the tycoons were going to become paupers, while another 8% would be running away to overseas countries. Thus, as long as it did not involve certain cases or crossing the legal limits, no one would be willing to do anything that would cost them their jobs. Wang Bing When Ye Xi saw the information of Wang Bing, who had accompanied Chen Fan, she couldn''t refrain from feeling somewhat weird. His grandfather and father were military personnel. At the age of 16, he was specially recruited by the armed forces, then sent to Nanjing military area to serve the army there, where he got third place in the army''s fighting competition and first in the same competition a year later. At the age of 19, he entered the Flying Dragon Special Task Force. At the age of 20, he was sent to an untitled team for army service. At the age of 23, he was the combat instructor of a combat brigade. At the age of 26, he was sent back home, because he had fought with a military officer. After reporting to the armed forces back in his hometown, he sought out a career as a bodyguard. "Broke an officer''s ribs?" Ye Xi shook her head, mumbling aloud. A great future was ruined, just like that... "Military Officer Ye, Saudi Arabia is organizing a military exercise tomorrow, and has invited our embassy''s military officers, together with 16 other embassies'' military officers, to attend. Please get ready, as we are departing tomorrow morning at eight o''clock," said a guy with a colonel rank on his shoulder, as he gently knocked on the door. "Yes, Officer Zhou!" Ye Xi nodded her head. The person who stood at the door was the Chief Military Officer here, who also happened to be her direct superior. "Good. The exercise will be carried out at a place bordering the desert, where the temperature is relatively hot and dry, so be careful when the time comes." This Chief Military Officer spoke without the arrogance of a typical superior, in fact, his tone was almost gentle. Of course, this was not because he had any motives towards the pretty Ye Xi, as he was already in his mid-thirties and had children already attending high school. He was merely being concerned and considerate towards his subordinate. It also didn''t hurt that Military Officer Ye Xi''s cousin was his direct superior, and not to mention, her father and uncles had even higher positions. After a while, Ye Xi stood up from her chair, held her cup of coffee, and walked towards the window to relax her thoughts by looking at the streets below. The streets were very broad and had various beautiful flowers at both sides. Looking at the passing pedestrians was very helpful for her. When she had finished half a cup of coffee, Ye Xi spotted a large group of men in white robes, appearing at the left side of the street. Each of them were indignant, holding signs and pictures in their hands. Ye Xi, who excelled in the Arabic language, instantly recognized the contents of those signs. "We demand the Japanese embassy severely punish the murderers" "To serve justice for the insulted lady and the brave and righteous warriors" "The Japanese embassy must give us an explanation" "The Japanese must kneel in front of the Quran to repent" Immediately, countless question marks appeared in Ye Xi''s head. This crowd looks like they are heading towards the Japanese embassy. Did the Japanese do something on the streets that angered the public? When the crowd of men slowly walked closer, Ye Xi could clearly see the two pictures which were being held the highest. Why does one of them look like the guy called Chen Fan, who was on the airplane and spilled tomato sauce on my face? And...The other one looks 50% similar to that guy called Wang Bing Two minutes later, the crowd surrounded the Japanese embassy, sitting on a piece of vacant land just in front of it. No matter how hard those Japanese embassy workers attempted to persuade them, they just would not get up and go away. "Miss Ye Xi, can you please lend me your office window for a while, so that I may take a few photographs?" A lady with a camera hanging around her neck came in to the office, giggling. "Zhang Yun, why is the crowd below attacking the Japanese embassy?" asked Ye Xi curiously, turning to address this lady. "Apparently, yesterday afternoon, on Knox Street, there were two Japanese men blocking a lady, who then tried to forcefully strip her veil away from her face. At that time, there were a small group of local guys that rushed forward, but were all taken down with just seven moves by the two Japanese. The police investigated, but to no avail. Besides, the Japanese embassy were not very being cooperative with the police. This instigated the public''s anger, which is why they have now gathered in front of the Japanese embassy, requesting for the release of the murderers." Zhang Yun gripped her tiny fist emotionally. "This time, there will be news exposure, so I better take a few more photos." "Stripped away the lady''s face veil?" Ye Xi could not help but lament the luck of these two Japanese men. "If this had happened in the city area, the police would most likely not have even needed to interfere, as the countless religious believers would have torn them apart." "Wait a minute Taking down a group of men with just seven moves?" Ye Xi suddenly remembered something. She then took Zhang Yun''s camera over and used the camera''s high magnification function to take a closer look at the two Japanese men''s faces. After 10 seconds, Ye Xi confirmed that these two were not Japanese, but rather those two fellows called Chen Fan and Wang Bing! Although the pictures were drawn with some deviations, Ye Xi would recognize that black coat with stripes, which was worn by Chen Fan, anywhere! After Zhang Yun finished taking her photos, Ye Xi walked to the front of the computer to look up Chen Fan''s personal handphone number, which had been registered in his profile upon his entering and exiting the borders. ... At 8 o''clock in the morning in Zhongyun, Chen Fan was snoring in his sleep, when he was awoken by the sound of his phone ringing. Rubbing the corners of his eyes, he took the phone and saw the words "Unknown Number" displayed on the screen. "Who is this person with nothing better to do, changing his number to hidden mode?" murmured Chen Fan, reaching to answer the call. "Hi, good morning. I am a staffer from the China Embassy in Saudi Arabia. I have something to inform you about." On the other side of the phone was a voice that sounded like a skylark. "Are you Ye Xi?" Maybe because she had such a nice and unforgettable voice, but Chen Fan astoundedly had correctly guessed this speaker''s identity on his first attempt! "Cough Cough" Ye Xi was surprised that he was able to recognize her so quickly, using just her voice. After coughing twice to cover her embarrassment, she said, "The act of you two stripping someone''s face veil on the street yesterday has been exposed. The Saudi Arabia police force issued a warrant this morning, requesting that we, the Chinese embassy, hand you over to them to attend a court trial. You guys better book a flight ticket over here now. Otherwise, the Ministry of Public Security will be forced to take extreme measures." "Oh my God! Little sister, I think you got the wrong person. I am Chen Fan''s friend. He migrated to America this morning. That''s all, goodbye." Hanging up the phone, Chen Fan had a suspicious look on his face. Since Ye Xi pointed out that it was me who stripped off someone''s face veil, then it would mean that the Saudi Arabian police force must have already investigated my whereabouts. However, it would not make sense to extradite us back there, right? According to the regulations, if the Saudi Arabian police force were to request us to be handed over to them, then the embassy must reject them. Then, the criminals will be punished based on their own country''s laws. But setting aside the matter of stripping people''s face veils off and brawling, even if I had stabbed someone, as long as I''ve already escaped back to my own country, not only would the Ministry of Foreign Affairs never agree to the extradition, even a punishment would not be able to be carried out there. Is it possible that this girl was trying to make a fool out of me? Chen Fan had not finished organizing his thoughts, when the phone rang again. And, again, the words "Unknown Number" flashed across the caller ID. "Hello.... Hello" Chen Fan''s throat felt dry. "Chen Fan, are you done considering?" "This" Chen Fan could not stop blaming himself for having called out her name just now. "Okay, I admit I am Chen Fan, but that was just an accident. The wind blew her face veil away to a treetop, and we were the ones who helped her get it down. But, coincidentally, we were seen by those men from far away, so they got furious and fought with us, as they didn''t understand the situation. What we did was purely self-defence." "Oh, really? Well, regardless, it is useless to explain to me. I am not the court judge of Riyadh. So, you can only go and explain to the judge there!" "Little sister, has there been any change in the law? I thought the Ministry of Public Affairs should reject any request of extraditing our citizens to another country? Ye Xi stayed silent for a moment before saying, "That is true. However, you are now a wanted figure by the local police. They thought you were Japanese, so there are a lot of people sitting in front of the Japanese embassy right now, protesting." Sensing he had won this argument, Chen Fan offered the half-hearted words, "You gave me a big scare." After hanging up the phone, Ye Xi felt defeated. She had obviously failed to truly frighten him. "If it wasn''t because of your military uniform, I would have definitely given you a good beating," Chen Fan said with resentment, after hanging up the call. It wasn''t as if I purposely splashed the tomato juice on your face. He didn''t hope to continue sleeping after such an upsetting phone call, so after washing up, he sat on the couch and turned on the television. He flipped through the channels, looking to see if there was any news regarding this incident. Failing to find any related news, Chen Fan rubbed his head and took out his phone to read his messages. He discovered that the five tankers had left Australia''s shipyard for Saudi Arabia. They would arrive approximately 10 days later, but must sail through the Gulf of Aden. The Gulf of Aden was a known haven for pirates! Besides, the navy patrolling that area did not care about the ships of other nationalities, but only their own ships. After thinking about this matter for a few minutes, Chen Fan gave Abadi''s translator a call. "Hello, it is good news this time, so you better not tell me Abadi is not around again. Be quick and translate this to him." "Alright, please wait for a moment" The translator hesitated for a few seconds, then walked towards Abadi to pass along Chen Fan''s message. "I am Abadi, what can I do for you?" "I have something to discuss with you. I am going to have a few tankers passing by there. In fact, it will be their permanent route a few times per year." Chen Fan''s mouth twitched. He then continued. "I am afraid that you guys will play some tricks on me, if I always make you watch helplessly. So, I have come up with a partnership for the both of us." "What sort of partnership?" "Every time you manage to discover my ships as they pass the Gulf of Aden, I will pay 50 thousand US Dollars as a toll fee to you. If you do not manage to discover them, I will not pay you a single cent. Those five tankers are very easy to identify, as they display the names Cruiser-01 until 05." "But I will remind you again. If you ever dare lay your hands on them, I will sink every single one of your ships. I believe you know the pros and cons of this issue right?" Chen Fan thought about it for a while and said, "If I ever request you to release other captured cargo ships in the future, I will ensure that the owner of those goods will pay you a rate of 100 US Dollars for every ton, within a month''s time. That way, if you''ve hijacked a 50 thousand ton cargo ship, you can get 5 million US dollars as income. Thus, it is very profitable." "Okay, I promise you!" Abadi quickly agreed. "Good! Do you have a Swiss bank account? Let me know if you have one." "I don''t have a bank account, because it will be seized by Switzerland if I use it" "I see. In that case, I will ask my crew to throw you the money, if they are discovered by your people," Chen Fan said, while he slapped his thigh and laughed. "Similarly, I will also give you some benefits. If you ever need me to engage with any enemies on the ocean, just give me a call. The price is negotiable!" 156 The Explosion Method "Kermit, pass my message on to the 11 fleet marshals. Tell them that from today onwards, all of them are not go near Cruiser-01 to 05 at the Gulf of Eden." Abadi sat on an armchair with ivory handles, his gaze intense. "Leader, didn''t he mention that, as long as we discover them once, he will pay us 50,000 US Dollars?" Kermit stood at the side with a puzzled expression. "50,000 US Dollars? Do you think that 50,000 US Dollars is beneficial to us? Is it worth the oil used to venture out into the ocean?" Abadi asked, as he turned his head and gave a condescending smile. Soon after this, he began to stroke his beard. "This person must have an influential background. He either has connections with one of the elite families or holds a large amount of political power. Since we cannot harm him, we might as well curry favor with him." Although Abadi was not familiar with the proverb "a barefoot person is not afraid of one with shoes," it did not stop him from understanding its meaning. If he were to go against the opposing party, it''s highly likely that he would be fighting a losing battle. Since his base was here, the opposing party could simply send out submarines to attack them at anytime. As for his ships, perhaps the moment they reached the Somalian sea, what awaited them would only be the wrath of navies from various countries. "Yes, sir!" Kermit saluted him. ... However, the influential person whom Abadi spoke of was currently lazing on the couch, watching television. "Yun Meng, how are your studies coming along? Can you understand what the teachers are teaching?" "Most subjects are alright, but Mathematics is slightly more difficult." Yun Meng sat beside Chen Fan, using a fruit knife to skillfully peel a crystal honey pear. "Big Brother Chen Fan, can I major in English in the future?" "Major in English?" Chen Fan sat up straight on the couch. "Other than translating for people, there''s no other use for that, right?" "I wish to become your translator in the future!" Yun Meng tore strips of fruit skin off the pear, then fed the crystal-like fruit to Chen Fan before, nestling in his arms. "No worries. Once I am rich, I will ask those foreigners to bring a Chinese translator with them for me." Chen Fan laughed loudly, subsequently causing him to choke on a piece of pear. Extending his arms around Yun Meng''s waist, Chen Fan pulled her body closer into his embrace. Yun Meng always had this faint milk-like smell on her. It was a comforting scent. "The following is the broadcasting stations'' latest news. At 10 o''clock this morning, there was a robbery in a gold shop at Xinhua Street. There were two hoodlums involved. After injuring two staff with a chopper and a sledgehammer, they smashed the counters and stole gold accessories worth over 200,000 Chinese Yuan." The broadcaster pointed at the wrecked door of the gold shop, while reporting emotionally. "These two hoodlums were very vicious. One of the staff, who suffered a head injury, has yet to recover from the life-threatening wound. These are the body features and heights of the two hoodlums. If any citizens spot suspects with similar characteristics, please contact the police immediately. Those who provide important clues will be rewarded RMB 30,000" "Xinhua Street... Isn''t that near the place where I encountered a bear?" Chen Fan patted Yun Meng''s shoulders. "It is already 20 minutes past one o''clock, time for you to go to school." Yun Meng, who was lying on Chen Fan''s shoulders, gently agreed. After about 10 seconds, she said, "Big Brother Chen Fan, I will go to school now!" "Okay, go ahead." Muah Yun Meng hastily kissed Chen Fan on his cheek, then ran away in a panic, like a kid who has just done something wrong. "Wait for a moment!" Chen Fan''s voice stopped Yun Meng at the corner of the staircase. "Let me send you to school. I can''t feel at ease after that news broadcast." "Okay" Yun Meng gently nodded her head, her small face blushing. She did not dare look at Chen Fan, so she intertwined her fingers and looked at her feet instead. After sending Yun Meng to school, Chen Fan went to his office to validate and sign for the most recent delivery. The large ship that he owned had just returned from Korea with goods. It was prepared to leave head onward to Indonesia after three days of rest. The two 5,000-ton small boats were disposed of by Chen Fan, which he replaced with two 10,000-ton bulk carriers that were launched in the year 2008. The owner was a Hokkien. With the combination of the amount Chen Fan got from the sale of those two small boats, together with all the Renminbi savings he had, he was barely able to scrounge up the required purchase amount. In other words, Chen Fan was only left with 260 million US Dollars Of course, the three company-owned 10,000 ton cargo ships that had just come back from Korea would bring in a net profit of 3 million Renminbi after the deduction of oil costs, labor costs, and ship maintenance fees. Thus, Chen Fan was not worried at all about having sufficient funds. "Three million" If this was a year ago, Chen Fan would have even agreed to run around naked for such an amount! After cross-checking the company''s accounts, Chen Fan went back home to continue the electric eel''s excavation work. The big mysterious hole that had been excavated by the electric eel now had a depth of at least 70 meters. According to the current speed of digging, it would only require another month for the hole to be completely excavated. One month was neither too long nor too short, in Chen Fan''s opinion. However, this time, Chen Fan wanted to try using the explosion method to excavate the big hole. If it worked, the speed would undoubtedly improve drastically. The explosion method was not necessarily a new method. First, the point of explosion was calculated and marked on the wall. Next, explosives were filled, and after hearing the "Boom" sound, the task would be complete! Of course, the aforementioned method was the normal technical way of implementing the explosion method. However, the electric eel did not have drills to make holes, nor did it possess TNT explosives to make an explosion. Thus, it could only use an unorthodox method. Besides, whether the explosion method worked or not could only be determined after its execution. The explosion occurs when substances undergo chemical or physical reactions at a high speed. During that process, it will rapidly release an enormous amount of heat and gas. At this moment, due to the fact that the gas was abruptly confined within a limited space, the intensity of that pressure would produce an overwhelming force on the objects surrounding the point of explosion. When the gas expands rapidly, due to the high pressure, an explosion occurs. For easily flammable objects that are placed within a cramped area, as long as they are allowed to burn within that area, it would also trigger an explosion effect. The only varying difference would be the degree of impact. Ever since it swallowed a large amount of ghost moon incense, the electric eel had been able to spit out clear green liquid that was highly flammable. This type of liquid burned rapidly, like gasoline with added phosphorus. Previously, at the seabed, which was nearly 4,000 meters deep, the electric eel used the water pressure, which could squash a tightly sealed tank into flat chunks of metal, as the outer shell in order to blast a big white fish to death. Although this place only had a depth of around 300 meters, with such weak pressure, it would not form a conducive environment for an explosion. However, Chen Fan could use something else as the outer pressure shell. For example, the walls of the big hole After controlling the electric eel to gently remove the long spear, which was nailed into the walls of the big hole for about 10 meters deep, the electric eel quickly compressed the poisonous sac in its stomach in order to pour a stream of clear green liquid into the hole. The clear green liquid dissolved slower in water. Thus, when the seawater was squeezed out from the hole, there was no green color to be seen at all. The electric eel would definitely not be able to completely fill up a hole of 10 meters deep with a diameter of 0.5 meters. In fact, the electric eel had only filled to roughly 0.5 meters deep, before it plunged the long spear in again. Generally speaking, the force of an explosion depends greatly on the pressure body''s level of endurance. For example, a firecracker wrapped with paper versus another with iron sheets would have different degrees of explosive force, despite their having the same amount of gunpowder. The electric eel reinserted the long spear back into the hole. Following the same logic, the higher the degree of compactness around the liquid, the greater the destructive power. Looking at the long spear, which was exposed for 20 meters out from the hole, the electric eel swam 50 meters downwards by swinging its tail. Then, using its claw, it held on to the soil. Meanwhile,its whole body, which was filled with black scales, suddenly shone with bright blue sparks! The electric current, which was up to 20,000 volts, followed along the long spear, before reaching the inner space of the wall. Like throwing a cigarette butt into a room filled with gunpowder, a vicious chain of reaction was set off within 0.001 seconds. Rumble! A large noise came from above the electric eel''s head. Its head felt like it was a bronze bell that had just been rung by a monk, buzzing non-stop. As for the hole, it was also as if an earthquake measuring eight on the Richter scale had occurred, for it shook like a sieve for two seconds, before all the soil and rocks came crashing down on the electric eel. It was so densely compact, the electric eel could not find even a trace of a gap at all! However, even these conditions did not constitute a true threat towards the electric eel at all. With a few swings of its tail, its body pierced through the layer of soil, just like a sharp sword piercing through paper. "Pooh pooh pooh" After spitting the soil in its mouth out a few times, the electric eel looked at his own masterpiece, the arc of its mouth spreading widely. Looking at the previous location, a large hole of 15 meters deep and 10 meters wide had now appeared. That long spear had also been instantly sent flying, and was struck nearly 20 meters deep into the opposite soil, due to the influx of a huge instantaneous pressure. "Now that''s awesome!" Chen Fan trembled with happiness. This was faster than any other excavation method by far. If it had not been for the limited amount of poisonous liquid, Chen Fan was confident that he could have settled this hole within three days. Based on the explosion method used just now, the electric eel could only cause five similar explosions with a day''s worth of poisonous liquid. The only thing that caused Chen Fan to have a headache was the issue of the time needed to transport such a large amount of soil At six o''clock in the evening at Guangkai Road, near Catherine''s Love... A sorrowful autumn wind blew at Wu Ruoyu''s hair, near her temples. Sitting underneath a Sycamore tree, which covered the ground with its golden leaves, she mused over an issue, while holding onto her phone with both hands. She was hesitating to call a number. It was a number whose owner she had once said very harsh words to The wind blew a few pieces of leaves over, awakening her from her daydream. Brushing away the leaves that were now on her white trousers, Wu Ruoyu sighed and stood up from the bench. "The weather is getting colder!" Wu Ruoyu tightened her coffee-coloured jacket around her body, before entering her car. The call was prepared to be directed towards Chen Fan. She wanted to request a favor of Chen Fan, something that could only be done by him. Leaning on her seat, Wu Ruoyu hesitated for another 10 minutes, before finally deciding to call him. Now, she could only pray that Chen Fan had already forgotten about what she had previously said! Otherwise, it would be very embarrassing for her, should he bring it up. Pressing the numbers, Wu Ruoyu''s heart was thumping loudly, like a nervous daughter-in-law about to meet her future in-laws. "Hello?" It did not take long before a lazy-sounding voice was heard from the other end of the call. "Chen Chen Chen Fan, I am Wu Ruoyu. I I I want" Wu Ruoyu felt her face burning as she stuttered into the phone. This was such a great embarrassment for her. "Huh?" The voice at the other end answered with a surprised tone. "Do you need me for anything?" Chen Fan had been busy fiddling with his electric eel when the phone started ringing, so he had not looked at the displayed caller ID. "I need I need you to do me a favor" With her left hand holding the phone and her right hand touching her burning cheeks, Wu Ruoyu was hanging her head so low that it could have touched her stomach. "Can you come over to Catherine''s Love? It''s It''s that same place that we came together previously." "Okay, I will be there in half an hour!" To her great relief, there was no hesitation from his end of the call. After hanging up, she returned her phone to her pocket. Wu Ruoyu then let out a long sigh of relief. When she looked into the rearview mirror, she was shocked by her appearance. Her cheeks looked as if a thick layer of rouge had been applied on them. Even her neck had turned red. "What should I do after he shows up?" Rubbing her burning cheeks, Wu Ruoyu found herself in a new dilemma. Bang! Bang! The sound of two car doors opening and closing woke her from her dilemma. The moment she turned around, she felt like a kitten that had gotten its tail stepped on by another person. She got goosebumps, and her red cheeks instantly turned a pale white. "Big Brother, it''s a super beautiful foreign girl!" The guy who was speaking sat in the back row. With his black coat, sunglasses, and stubble on his chin, he looked eerily similar to Zhang Yaoyang from the series, Young and Dangerous. "Hehe!" The guy sitting in the front row, who was wearing sunglasses and a grey jacket, raised his head. He had a gentle look about him. His skin was also extremely fair compared to other men. As Wang Bing would have said, this guy has a "pretty boy" face. Just as Wu Ruoyu realized something was wrong and wanted to open the door to escape, a glistening knife was pointed to her back, which halted her movement. "Little girl, do you understand Mandarin?" The guy in the front row grabbed the white handbag that was on the passenger seat, unzipped it, then started pouring out its contents. Wallet, keys, mirror, phone, facial tissue, lipstick Everything was scattered between the legs of the man wearing a jacket. Perhaps it was because of Wu Ruoyu''s natural beauty, but she had no need for makeup. There was not much of women''s essentials to be seen, such as foundation, mascara, or the like! "It appears that you do understand Mandarin!" The gentle looking guy in the grey jacket raised up the phone in his hand and said, "A mandarin operating system. You better not tell me that you only know how to read Mandarin characters, but do not know how to speak them!" After he was done talking, he removed the phone''s battery and threw it in the trunk. As for the other items, such as her wallet, he swept them all under his feet. "You What are you guys trying to do?" Wu Ruoyu spoke with the typical slang that foreigners use when speaking Mandarin. "I am warning you two, according to China''s laws, robbing a foreigner would result in the death penalty! Once this sort of case happens, it would at least require the security bureau to carry out an investigation." Once Wu Ruoyu said this, the expression of the two men''s faces changed. The veins, now visible on the forehead of the guy in the front row, started twitching non-stop. "Big Brother, what should we do?" The guy in black clothes, who looked like Zhang Yaoyang, moved his head forward and gave a trusting look, without any hesitation, implying that he would follow whatever the other said. The guy sitting in front looked at Wu Ruoyu''s foreign face, then looked back towards the front, before taking out a knife from his pocket. He then said with a sullen expression, "Fasten your seatbelt and start the car!" "Two Big Big brothers. Where Where are we going? I am not not familiar with this area." Despite knowing that her wearing the safety belt would prevent any chances of her opening the door and escaping, she could only obey the orders given, as there was a cold blade pointed at her neck. "Keep driving straight ahead!" The man stared motionlessly at the front, until Wu Ruoyu started the car''s engine. He then removed his glasses and said, "Lok Zai, keep your eyes on the rear, to see if there are any men chasing after us!" "Understood, big brother!" Lok Zai also removed his glasses, revealing a cold expression and a wolf-like gaze. "Shoot I am a goner this time" The gaze of the two men told her that she should not have told them that robbing a foreigner would result in the death penalty. She may have overdone it this time, and the consequences of her statement seemed like they would be very severe! Wu Ruoyu began to question herself as to why she had to said that. Judging from their tones and actions, it was obvious to her what would happen next! Wu Ruoyu Wu Ruoyu You''ve got to stay calm. Calm down and think of a way to get out of this predicament! Wu Ruoyu tried to drive slowly, as her brain processed her thoughts at a high speed. Her current location was at the busy intersection of Zhongyun, Guangkai Road. The time was 10 minutes past six o''clock in the evening. It would take an hour''s drive to reach the city''s outskirts. Based on the two men''s behavior, they probably just wanted to steal her car initially, but as a result of what she had said, they now possessed a killing motive. The first thing that came to Wu Ruoyu''s mind was to call someone. Fortunately, she usually carried along two handphones: one for work and the other for personal use. The phone that got its battery removed earlier, was the one that she used for work purposes. "Step on it!" The guy with the grey jacket said with a deep voice. "You better not try to pull any tricks, because the knife in my hand will surely be faster than you. Even if you purposely crash into a police car, we will still be able to react faster than the policemen and send you to see your maker." "Big Big brother There is a red...red light ahead, so I gotta decelerate" said Wu Ruoyu with a tone that sounded like she was about to cry. "If.. If I run through the red light, the the police will come after us" "Hmph!" The man in the grey jacket gripped the knife tighter, which was his way of approving her request tacitly. "The red light still has 60 seconds to go" Wu Ruoyu''s face was as pale as a piece of white paper. She did not dare to look at the two men. Instead, she silently analyzed ways that she could request for help, using the phone in her left pocket. Call the police Wu Ruoyu was confident that she could unlock her phone and dial 110 without looking at the dial pad. However, these series of actions would require at least 10 seconds, and she would not be able to speak immediately. She could only hope that the operator who picked up the call would not treat it as a prank call and hang up on her. Wu Ruoyu felt that the chances of the operator not hanging up on the call was almost similar to the two men letting her off kindly after her begging with a soft voice: slim to none! For the operator to not hang up on her call, she would need to use some method to hint at the operator within those initial 10 seconds. She figured that there were two ways to give the hint. The first way was to shout loudly for help. The other method was to turn on the hands-free mode, which would allow her voice to reach the phone. Hands-free mode was definitely out of the question, because a sentence of "Hi, this is the 110 police call center" would only result in her death. It would also not work, even if she were to press the speaker after waiting for that sentence to end. If the operator said "Hello? Please speak. Hello? Can you please speak? Otherwise, I am ending this call..." Wu Ruoyu would still end up dead! How about shouting loudly for help? Wu Ruoyu hesitated on this thought for a few seconds, before concluding that the risk was too big. So, excluding the police, Wu Ruoyu could only place her last hopes onto Chen Fan. She guessed that it had been 10 minutes since she had invited Chen Fan to meet her at Catherine''s Love. Since he had said that he would be arriving in half an hour''s time, he would definitely give her a call once he realized that she was not there. At the present, there were 30 more seconds for the red light. Wu Ruoyu slightly turned her head to peek at the man beside her. His knife was placed horizontally on his lap, as he looked between her and outside the window alternately. Her phone was on vibrate mode. If Chen Fan called, she merely needed to put up a facade, and the person beside her should not be able to realize anything. Putting her hand into her pocket to press on the accept call button would probably take two seconds, so she should not be exposed if she was careful. Even if she didn''t put it on speaker, and Chen Fan was unable to hear anything, he wouldn''t hang up the call so easily. Then, even if he did hang up, he would definitely call again. Once this repeated for a few times, it would definitely raise his suspicions! Her job during this time was to ensure that Chen Fan understood the predicament she was in. "Turn left in front," the guy with the grey jacket said, when the red light was left with only three more seconds. The street lights had lit up now, and cars had turned on their xenon headlights. This gradually made Wu Ruoyu''s wishful thoughts turn hopeless. She understood that, even if Chen Fan lodged a police report and the police tracked her position based on her handphone signal, it would not be of much use, as the dark sky would inhibit the police from looking at the situation inside the car, not to mention rescuing her! Wu Ruoyu held on to the steering wheel with both hands. She decided that, if they instruct her to step out of the car, she would just continue stepping on the accelerator. Just then, the hidden phone in Wu Ruoyu''s left pocket suddenly vibrated. 157 Step On I Vroom Vroom Vroom With the phone gently vibrating in her pocket, Wu Ruoyu felt like her heart was about to jump out of her chest. She quickly stepped on the clutch with her left leg, before stepping on the accelerator, so that the roaring sound from the engine could mask what was happening. Wu Ruoyu skillfully controlled her driving tempo by gradually increasing the roaring sound of the engine. With the external noise of traffic and the sounding horns as a cover, it did not raise the hoodlums'' attention, nor could they have ever associated the cause-and-effect relationship between all of these things. Only a silhouette could be roughly seen, due to the dim light that was shining in from the streetlights. With a glance at the hoodlum in the front seat, Wu Ruoyu pretended to hang her left hand down naturally, before quickly inserted it into the pocket of her windbreaker to press on the accept call button. Then, she slowly removed her legs from the clutch and accelerator. "Were you thinking of secretly unfastening your seatbelt, before jumping out of the car to escape?" The guy with the grey jacket noticed Wu Ruoyu''s minor movements, but he did not see her placing her hand in her pocket, due to his poor sight and the dim lighting. "You are welcome to give it a try, just to see who can act faster!" said the guy with a dark smile. "Big brother, how How could that be?" Wu Ruoyu forced a laugh, her face pale. "I was just scratching myself!" Wu Ruoyu quickly retracted her left hand to grab onto the steering wheel, after she had finished speaking. "Do you still feel itchy elsewhere? I can help you scratch it!" Liu Zi, who sat in the back seat, stretched his head in between the two with a perverted gaze. "Behave yourself and keep looking at our rear!" The guy with the grey jacket pressed Liu Zi''s head back with his palm while swaying the blade in his hand in front of Wu Ruoyu''s eyes. "As long as you cooperate obediently and get us to our destination, we won''t hurt you." "Then, Big Brothers, may I know where is your your destination?" Drops of sweat were oozing from Wu Ruoyu''s fair forehead. The car was currently traveling at the speed of 50 miles per hour, as if headed towards Highway 103. If there were no unexpected events, then there would only be 20 minutes left before the car passed through Ring Road and entered into a sparsely populated section of the highway. "Listen to the party''s command and follow the party!" The guy with the grey jacket rolled his eyes. "Hello? Hello? Hello?" Chen Fan stood at the entrance of Catherine''s Love with a gloomy expression. He did not manage to find Wu Ruoyu, despite having walked around the whole place. And, although she had answered his call later on, there had been no response on the other end even after he had said hello for quite a while. What is going on here? Chen Fan returned to his car. The reason why no sound could be heard from the call was not due to a system error from the telecommunication company. The fact that he had heard the occasional sound of horns from cargo trucks in the background allowed Chen Fan to understand that Wu Ruoyu was purposely refusing to speak after answering the call. After saying hello two more times, Chen Fan hung up the call gloomily. Could it be that it was not convenient for her to pick up my call, because she is currently driving? Or could it be that she was taking her revenge for the previous incident by not showing up? Chen Fan thought about it for a while, then felt that it was neither of those reasons. It was not as it she was racing on Autumn Mountain with nine consecutive cornerings, so how could she have no time to speak after answering the call? If she planned to stand him up, then the effect would have been better if she had simply made up a reason versus silence. Chen Fan sat in the car, bored. He then started to listen to music, deciding to call again in five minutes. "Little girl, I suggest that you speed up a little!" The guy with the grey jacket smiled gently, but his dark brown pupils had a cold look in them. "Big Big brother!" Wu Ruoyu''s body was trembling under such immense pressure. "I I am afraid that I cannot control the car if I drive too fast" "Haha" The guy with the grey jacket felt an inexplicable sense of delight. To him, this was even more pleasurable than blocking a girl in an alley at night. As he was unable to resist it, he laughed. "Foreign girl, your Mandarin is excellent. Which country are you from?" "Bel Belgium!" Wu Ruoyu replied, strategically choosing a lesser-known small country. "What kind of a weird country is that?" Liu Zi stretched his head to the front again. "Big Brother, now that the cars have turned on their headlights, I can''t see anything!" "Then, you just behave yourself and sit down. Don''t talk nonsense here. This incident is more serious now, based on the news that I saw this afternoon. So, we need to hurry up and lay low at Lao Shan''s place, at least until it blows over." The guy with the grey jacket let out a long sigh. Now that the three of them were seated in the car, it would be best for them to behave themselves. Even they had to admit that, if they forced this foreigner to become anxious, it would not be beneficial to anyone. Vroom Vroom Vroom Just when the car fell into silence, the phone in Wu Ruoyu''s pocket started to vibrate again. "Cough Cough" Wu Ruoyu quickly used coughing sounds to cover it up, before using the prior method to gradually increase the sound of the roaring engine. "You should use the tip of your toes to gently step on the clutch, otherwise it will waste a lot of gas!" Without the bustling environment and the sound of honks, the guy with the grey jacket was able to hear the change in the engine sound. However, he did not suspect anything. Instead, he rolled up his sleeve to look at the time, before continuing to gaze outside the window. "Cough cough" Wu Ruoyu patted her chest. Then, when there was a flash of white light shining from the car''s headlights in front of them, thus preventing everyone from opening their eyes, she took the opportunity to quickly insert her hands into her pocket to press on the accept call button. "Hello Hello" Chen Fan was sitting in his car, frustrated. After Wu Ruoyu answered the call, she remained silent. "Liu Zi, get me a cigarette!" The guy with the grey jacket snapped his fingers. "Ah, Big Brothers, there are policemen in front of us. Please don''t use me as a hostage!" Wu Ruoyu suddenly pointed to the front of the car, screaming loudly. "F*ck!" Liu Zi slapped Wu Ruoyu''s head with his palm, before placing a knife horizontally on her neck and shouting, "What the heck are you shouting for? You scared the hell outta me! That is just a stupid traffic police booth that is used to catch and issue summons to cargo trucks. What the heck are you shouting for, when your car is not pulling any cargo? Don''t pull any tricks! Just drive steadily, or I will slash you with my knife." "Did you hear me?" Liu Zi shouted beside Wu Ruoyu''s ear with his rough voice once again. "I hear you" Wu Ruoyu''s whole body was trembling. The immense fear and pain from her head caused her eyes to well up with tears. Wu Ruoyu knew that this rare chance would only come once. If the call was not from Chen Fan, or if Chen Fan was not as smart as she thought he was Wu Ruoyu did not dare to think further Is there any point, even if Chen Fan reported her missing to the police, or chased after her himself? As long as the hoodlums noticed something was wrong with the situation and slashed her with a knife, she would still need to bid farewell to the next day''s sun. The guy sitting in the back seat was right. The two policemen, who held torchlights, did not even spare a glance at the white Audi A4 that slowly drove by the police booth. After the car passed by the police booth, Wu Ruoyu stared ahead quietly. Then, an incoming light from afar directly shone on the windscreen Instantly, Wu Ruoyu bit her lip, while she quickly inserted her left hand into her pocket to press on the speaker button, just at the precise moment when everyone could not open their eyes, due to the flashing light. ... Chen Fan did not do anything that would worry Wu Ruoyu, neither was he a fool. The moment he heard Wu Ruoyu''s scream and another guy''s roar from the other end of the call, he immediately realized that things had taken a turn for the worst. The dialogue replayed back in his mind... "Big brother, there are policemen in front of us, please don''t use me as a hostage..." "F*ck! That is just a stupid traffic police booth that is used to catch and issue summons to cargo trucks. What the heck are you shouting for, when your car is not pulling any cargo? Don''t pull any tricks! Just drive steadily, or I will slash you with my knife." These two sentences, together with the horn sounds from the previous call, implied that Wu Ruoyu had been kidnapped by two people and was traveling somewhere in Zhongyun. Chen Fan quickly wound up his car windows before maximizing the volume on his phone. His anxious and brooding expression was like a storm brewing on the ocean, getting worse as time goes on. "Turn left at this junction!" There was a clear voice coming from the other end of the phone. "Big Big Brother, I think the road sign showed showed Canglong Hill. Why are we we headed there" The sound of Wu Ruoyu''s tearful voice could be heard from the phone. "Don''t be afraid, little girl. Nothing that you are worried about will happen, as we are just passing by that route!" Canglong Hill? Chen Fan quickly scanned the car once, before pulling out a towel that he used for wiping the car. He then cut out a strip of cloth to tie his phone around his head, just like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle! He then fired up the black BMW and rushed towards the motorway. Residents of Zhongyun would remember Canglong Hill, because of their specialty, which was a fish that glows in the dark, known as the Night Pearl. Chen Fan only knew that Canglong Hill was faced towards the south and the north, but this did not prevent him from accurately identifying its location. After using his fingers to quickly tap a few times on the GPS navigation installed in the car, the shortest route to the destination was marked. It showed a distance of 47 kilometers It then instructed Chen Fan to head north for six kilometers, then take the fifth loop... The BMW was electronically limited to traveling at a speed of 250 kilometers per hour, but in reality, it could go up to 300. With Chen Fan driving it, the car completely erupted, cruising at a speed that made people tremble! It overtook cars, one after another, as it sped through the lanes with a loud roar. Chen Fan forcefully drove 120 kilometers per hour, even on an asphalt road with a speed limit of 50. After speeding through seven consecutive red lights, Chen Fan suddenly slammed on the brakes with a screech. After leaving two long marks at the corner, the car rushed towards the Fifth Ring Road! ... As time passed, Wu Ruoyu''s face turned increasingly pale. There were still 11 kilometers to go before they would reach Canglong Hill. Aside from a few cars that occasionally passed by, there was nothing else on the road. Originally, there was no beautiful scenery that would attract people to Canglong Hill. But one day in the year of 1998, a person with nothing better to do decided to camp for a night in Canglong Hill. But, when he woke up to pee in the middle of the night, he surprisingly found a deep swamp not too far away, which was filled with many glowing fish. The region then became instantly famous, which is how it caught people''s attention, and how it received its moniker. Now, the government has built three highways in the area. One of the highways leads to Canglong Hill, while the other two lead to Guanhua Town and Sihe Township respectively. Late at night, places near the abandoned mountain area are the perfect spots for killing and burning... If I wait until we reach the foot of Canglong Hill, then what awaits will be First physically taken advantage of, and then killed... These nightmarish thoughts slowly washed over Wu Ruoyu''s mind. "Two Two Big Brothers! We will reach reach Canglong Hill in another 11 kilometers. When the time comes, can you release me?" The only thing that Wu Ruoyu could do now was to keep reporting her current position aloud for Chen Fan''s ears on the other end of the hidden phone. But, the issue of whether the call had been hung up or not was out of her control. "Turn left to head towards Guanhua Town, once you reach Canglong Hill. Naturally, we will release you once we arrive there." The guy with the grey jacket, who was now polishing his nails with the knife, raised his head and spoke with a light smile. As she looked at the meter, which was jumping bit by bit, the uncertain hope in Wu Ruoyu''s heart was gradually lessening. This was because she understood that the direction in which this man was referring to did not lead to Guanhua Town at all. Instead, it led to Canglong Hill. After 12 minutes, the lights were no longer shining boundlessly. The side of the road was starting to become more rugged. Those big shadows at the cornerings were continuously implying that this place belonged to steep mountain terrain. When the car reached the T-junction in front of them, Wu Ruoyu''s heart fell. There were still no signs of any action being taken! It truly did look like this could really be where her life ends! "Big Brothers, where should we go now?" Wu Ruoyu asked calmly, as she slowed down her car. "Turn to the left!" The guy with the grey jacket sat up from his seat and pointed at the pitch-black road ahead with his knife. "Okay!" Wu Ruoyu nodded her head, keeping focused on her surroundings. She had come to Canglong Hill before, and she remembered that there should be plenty of large rocks at the side of the road. She could just find a large one, then crash into it with the car. After driving for about 30 seconds, Wu Ruoyu found her target with the car''s highlights, as she was taking a turn at a cornering. It was a large rock that was three meters tall and two meters wide, which was sitting just one meter away from the road. Just another 200 meters. The car is now at third gear, going 50 kilometers per hour. If I completely step on the accelerator and use the remaining distance of 50 meters to shift into fifth gear Wu Ruoyu was contemplating her target. The Audi A4 could definitely increase to a speed of 130 kilometers per hour from this distance, and 130 yards would definitely be enough length to... Due to the dark interior of the car, the guy with the grey jacket failed to notice the fiercely determined expression on Wu Ruoyu''s face. Otherwise, he would have immediately suspected something. Hopefully, this safety belt is not that safe. Otherwise, being half dead would be a pain in the a*s Wu Ruoyu gently placed her hand on the car gear and took two deep breaths. Then, she aimed the car at the large rock. With the tip of her toes taut, she prepared to step on the accelerator, pushing it straight to the floorboard until the end. Honk honk Honk honk At this moment, there was a loud sound of a roaring engine and honks heard from behind them. It nearly caused Wu Ruoyu''s nerves, which were already tense, to completely snap! There were different expressions on all three of their faces. Wu Ruoyu was touched, as a huge hope suddenly rose in her heart. She immediately relaxed her taut right leg in order to observe through the rear mirror. She had to see if her savior had arrived! On the other hand, the two hoodlums were shocked and suspicious. They had not met a single car for over 10 minutes, so how could they not be suspicious when one suddenly appeared? This car that had suddenly appeared could not be seen clearly, due to that intense white headlight. One could only guess that it was a small car, based on the sound of the engine. Honk honk Honk honk Honk honk The car behind looked as if it wanted to overtake the car in front, as it was blinking its headlights and honking continuously. Per the official traffic regulations, this represented the universal signal for: "I want to overtake your car." "Move aside and let him pass!" The guy with the grey jacket had a gloomy expression, as he pointed a knife at Wu Ruoyu''s stomach. The fact that the opposite party wanted to overtake the car coincidentally fulfilled his wish of observing its origin. The road was on the narrow side and simply could not allow two cars to drive side-by-side at the same time. So, Wu Ruoyu slowly moved the car to the side with her trembling hands, waiting for the moment which could determine her fate! The car behind overtook the white A4 car in a provocative manner, with a roar of its engine, followed by an ear-piercing grinding sound. Rumble! Upon overtaking the white A4 car, this black car immediately vanished within just five seconds, like an arrow! The only thing it left behind was the grating sound of the roaring engine, echoing in the mountains. "D*mn this jerk! He dares to participate in a road race in these mountainous terrains at night! I think this guy is tired of living!" Liu Zi scolded that unknown person, before signaling Wu Ruoyu with his knife to continue driving. The guy with the grey jacket shook his head, "Didn''t that Takumi in the movie drive in these mountain terrains at night as well? But, I don''t think that he can be Fujiwara Takumi, but maybe he''s that Itsuki Tachibana, who had his car overturned! That would be more suitable!" As if to prove what he had just said, the roar of the engine that was gradually becoming distant suddenly turned into a vicious braking sound. Then, there was a grating screech that lasted for five long seconds. Then, it got replaced with a large booming sound. "Hahaha" "Oh my God, this is so hilarious" The two men in the car kept hammering their thighs non-stop. Their expressions, which were initially human-like, now twisted into something irregular and out-of-shape, due to all of that laughter. Liu Zi even laughed until he rolled down from the seat! "Hahaha Speed up! Quickly, speed up! Haha I want to see the aftermath of his crash!" The guy with the grey jacket laughed, his whole body shaking vigorously. He only managed to complete his sentence after a while. This sentence was like the last straw for Wu Ruoyu, who was trembling, as tears kept on whirling in her eyes. That car belonged to none other than Chen Fan! He really had rushed over. He came alone, without reporting to the police first, just to create an opportunity for her, without the slightest care of his own safety! Wu Ruoyu worked hard to control her emotions, as she increased the speed of the car. After the white A4 had driven over a few hundred meters, that BMW that had smoke coming out from its front came into view. The car was in a really bad condition. It had crashed unexpectedly into a large rock, and the front of the car also looked as if a transformer had stepped on it, as there were parts of the car flown all over the ground. The position of the car was also very strategic. With its horizontal position, it coincidentally took up nearly the entire space of the road. Hence, if the A4 car wanted to drive through, it had to trample across the wild grass at the side. "Jerk! Who asked you to imitate Takumi''s mountain drift!" Liu Zi''s eyes were filled with excitement as if he had just seen a pretty lady without her clothes. "Big Brother, you are really good. He crashed right after you finished speaking! I wonder if he is dead?" "Haha He will be crippled, even if he''s not dead!" The guy with the grey jacket burst out in grating laughter. After being satisfied from watching the show, he swayed the knife in front of Wu Ruoyu twice. "Step on it!" As if she''d been paralyzed, Wu Ruoyu just stared at the car blankly, without any response. Pak! Liu Zi then slapped the back of Wu Ruoyu''s head again. "Step on it!" 158 I’ll Leave This for You to Settle "You are ignoring my words?" Liu Zi in the back came near and said in a strange tone. "Are you only going to be happy if you are cut?" "Yes Yes Ah, no!" Wu Ruoyu struggled out of her lethargy and spoke softly. "Chen Fan, Chen Fan, where are you?" Wu Ruoyu could only start the car again with a silent sob in her throat, but she believed Chen Fan would have some way to save her, although she couldn''t guess how. The car slowly pushed over the yellow grass on the road. Wu Ruoyu was very anxious as she drove slowly. Creak! Creak! Just as the A4 was halfway up the back of the BMW, there was a sickening sound of friction under the car. Without words from Wu Ruoyu, both men understood the car''s chassis was scratched. "Speed up!" The man in the grey jacket sat in the front seat, and the car itself was low with the weight of three people. Under these circumstances, it was not uncommon to scrape to the bottom of the car against the gravel. "God bless, God bless!" There was a great hope in Wu Ruoyu''s heart that she could be saved as long as the car was stuck here. Bit by bit, Wu Ruoyu was ready to try to stop the car whether it could move or not. Creak, creak, creak. Again, an uncomfortable scraping sound was heard. After a few shakes, the car pressed a drive wheel on the cement road to get off the ground. The right drive wheel lost power balance, turned a few times and plunged into the pit that it made. It kept turning, unwilling to come out. "Big... Big brother, it''s stuck!" Wu Ruoyu''s fair forehead was covered with cold sweat. This was a matter of life and death! "Damn!" the grey jacket guy muttered. "All of you get out!" Liu Zi in the back row was the first to get out, pulling the door open on Wu Ruoyu''s left side. He threatened her with a knife, indicating, don''t try any tricks like running away. "Liu Zi, you look after her!" The grey jacket guy opened the trunk and took out the jack. It wasn''t a good time to get her. They had to get the car out and get away quickly after committing the crime. Standing in front of the two cars, Wu Ruoyu did not care about the knife that could kill her anytime. Her eyes constantly, anxiously scanned the black BMW. Miserably, Wu Ruoyu now was not sure if Chen Fan could withstand the tremendous impact force. The dark night sky and the black windshield made it impossible for Wu Ruoyu to see the inside of the car. "Tut! Tut! Tut!" Liu Zi clicked his tongue and looked at the black BMW. He stretched out a finger to rub his chin. "Sh*t man, driving the BMW! I''ll see if the man has anything valuable." As soon as he finished his sentence, he glanced at the girl and there was a surprised expression on her face. Then, he felt chills down his spine and without thinking, turned around. His pupils expanded six times and before he could respond, a big fist appeared in his sight. Bang! A sound was heard and Liu Zi suddenly saw a blur before his eyes. He felt as if his body were as light as a feather, followed by the feeling of his soul flying up in the sky. When this illusion disappeared, he was surprised to find himself lying beside the car''s trunk. The knife had obliquely flown far away and then severe pain came to his body. He first felt a pile of hard bumps on the mouth. He knew it was the punch that had taken out his teeth. The powerful smell of blood flooded his senses. "Gollum...Gollum." Blood flowed wildly from Liu Zi''s mouth and nose, his frightened eyes looking at the culprit. "Wuwu..! Chen Fan, you finally came!" Weeping with joy, Wu Ruoyu put her arms around Chen Fan''s waist. Her tears were falling like strings of pearls. The gray jacket guy, who had just risen from the bottom of the car, felt as if a temple bell had been banged so hard that his head was buzzing. He instantly understood he was cheated. They mistook it as a race crash. More than half of the car just blocked the road, leaving only a part of the road to pass through. All this was actually the twenty-year-old fellow''s act. The idea may not have been brilliant, but neither of them would have guessed it was all about saving lives. Because it was too difficult, if ten people were to repeat his action, nine would be unable to save anyone. Instead, he would need others to save him. "Good... good..." Gray jacket guy kicked the lifting jack that was in his way, clapping as he walked to the side of the road. His left hand flapped open his jacket and his right hand conveniently pulled out a 30-centimeter knife from his lower back. "Stay back!" Chen Fan gently pushed Wu Ruoyu backward and then pulled Kunwu out, provoking him. There was no threat from the one who was thrown away, and now there was no concern they might hurt Wu Ruoyu. Chen Fan was one hundred percent sure that he could take down the man with the knife. The gray jacket guy spat out a sigh, failing miserably at a very easy taskseeing if he could slay both of them. Otherwise, when they got back, they could immediately provide clues to the police and establish his identity. With a strong shout, the gray jacket guy pointed a dazzling knife and dashed to Chen Fan''s neck with a clean set of movements. Kachang! The eyes of the gray jacket guy were rigid and shocked. He looked at his hand; the high profiled trident fighting knife was cut off. He was stunned, but due to the agility of long training, he managed to save his own life. He avoided the dagger that was about to stab him and by tightening his right leg, he aimed to kick his opponent''s crotch. Bang! Chen Fan''s leg bent and lifted, blocking the leg with his thigh muscle. The grey jacket guy didn''t hit his target, but immediately raised his fist to smash Chen Fan''s head. All he saw was a black dagger with its intricate patterns, laid across his neck, sticking him in place. As soon as he tried speaking, the grey jacket guy was hit by Chen Fan''s elbow on the joint between his left cheek and neck. Dong! After a dull thud, the grey jacket guy was like a stake with rotten wood, plodding down the road. This move was the kind that he learned from Wang Bing, a technique the recruit used to kill an enemy, but Chen Fan did not use full strength. He just smashed the guy to knock him out for a few hours. "Hu!" After fighting against two people, Chen Fan turned to look for Wu Ruoyu. He hadn''t seen the fallen robber getting up again and taking Wu Ruoyu away while Chen Fan was not looking. As he passed the boy who was lying nearby clutching his mouth and howling, Chen Fan left a footprint on his stomach. He howled and rolled around in a huddle. Wu Ruoyu stood not far away. When she saw Chen Fan turn his head, she immediately dashed into Chen Fan''s arms. "It''s alright, it''s alright," Chen Fan said as he cradled the shivering Wu Ruoyu into his arms and stroked the back of her head with his left hand. "I... I thought I would... never seen again... the sun tomorrow" Wu Ruoyu buried her face in Chen Fan''s chest and sobbed. "The results are clear. You can see the sun tomorrow!" Chen Fan patted her on the shoulder with a smile. "I had already followed you even before you reached Changlong mountain. The traffic was too heavy and I had no other way, so I decided to just follow until I arrived at this path. I decided to pass." "Then... Then... Why didn''t I notice you? I almost ran after you when I saw your car pass, and then I heard you slam on the brakes and hit a rock. How could you be so reckless? Are you hurt?" "I was about fifty meters behind you, but my lights were not on. There was no one on the road. I just depended on your light!" Chen Fan gently wiped the tears away from her cheeks with his cuff, looked at her very closely and with a sly smile said, "Yes, I had a big injury! After the crash, I immediately let go of the seatbelt and jumped down. I fell down when I ran onto the grass to find the stone." "Where?" Embarrassed, Wu Ruoyu lowered her head. The two of them were too close. Her heartbeat gradually slowed down and she felt embarrassment in the air! "Behind!" Chen Fan''s eyes were sly. He turned and exposed his whole back to Wu Ruoyu. Although Chen Fan was prepared, under the heavy impact just now he still felt dizzy. However, in times of crisis, Chen Fan could only clench his teeth hard and fight. He released the tight seatbelt, lifted his head from the airbag, opened the door and ran in the bushes. Unexpectedly, he stepped on a stone while running and flew two meters across. Fortunately, Chen Fan twisted his body in mid-air and landed on his back to reduce the damage. If it had been only grass, Chen Fan would have had no injury, but he had hit the small stones and the stone''s edges made two long bloody marks on his back. "Does... Does it hurt?" Wu Ruoyu burst into tears. The two wounds, about 20 centimeters long, were half a centimeter deep. "Psst... Don''t touch it!" Chen Fan grinned into a cold shiver. Could it not hurt? It''s just because the beauty was beside him, so he clenched his teeth and bore the pain! "Then hurry to the hospital!" Wu Ruoyu pulled Chen Fan''s arm into the car. "Wait!" Chen Fan shook his head. "I can still bear the pain. First, clear the mess." After listening to Chen Fan, Wu Ruoyu only then realized that there were two people lying on the ground and a car that should be delivered to the scrapyard. "These two... How should we deal with them?" Wu Ruoyu followed Chen Fan with trepidation. The trauma they had caused her was too great. Chen Fan thought for a while, then took out the phone to dial Wang Bing''s number and had him hurry over. After hanging up the phone, Chen Fan pulled off the belts of the two unlucky souls on the ground and tied their hands and feet together. "It''s too cold outside. Let me take you to sit in the car." Wu Ruoyu held Chen Fan''s arm like helping an old woman across the street. As both of them climbed into the back seat, Wu Ruoyu pulled out a clean towel from the front storage box and told Chen Fan to take off his coat and lie on her lap. "It''s okay it''s okay. The more you touch, the more painful it gets, leave it so. We will get it done when we get back." "Then I''ll cover the wound for you first!" Wu Ruoyu folded the towel and pressed it against Chen Fan''s back. Wang Bing came quickly by taxi. In less than an hour, he rushed from the dark mountain road to Chen Fan. Chen Fan asked him to get out of the cab a little way off and then run over. Otherwise, the taxi driver would immediately report it to the police if he saw two people tied up on the ground. "Boss, did somebody rob you?" Wang Bing stared at the broken BMW and then at the two people lying on the ground. His eyes were full of sadness. It wasn''t the pain of seeing the boss hurt, it was the pain of the BMW that looked like it had just been ravaged by transformers. "Robbery? Yeah, right!" Chen Fan said the matter over again avoiding the serious part. "You get the job done here. The two of them were most likely the men who robbed the gold shop, which was shown on TV at noon." Chen Fan grinned and put his hands on his waist. The pain in his back was now killing him even when he made only a little movement. Wang Bing was saving the Audi A4 with the lifting jack and hoisted out his head. "Boss, do you want to tell the police they also carjacked Wu Ruoyu?" "What do you think?" Chen Fan asked Wu Ruoyu, who was holding his arm. "Leave it... Anyway, they robbed the gold shop, and one of them was seriously injured. It is enough to be sentenced to life!" Wu Ruoyu shook her head. "Then boss, I''ll get them out of the way and hide them. You can call and have the car towed away." Wang Bing took out two stones from the bottom of the A4 car and patted them on the palm of his hand. "Well!" Chen Fan nodded and called the shipyard''s Jiang Shui. He said he hit a rock and asked him to bring two employees in a van to tow the car away. "I''ll leave this to you!" Chen Fan groaned and ducked into Wu Ruoyu''s car. When Wu Ruoyu left with Chen Fan, Wang Bing went to the two men and crouched down, cracking his knuckles. "Two young thieves, you have guts," he said. Wang Bing smiled and patted both of them. "I heard anyone that sends you to the police can get a 30,000 RMB reward!" When Liu Zi heard they were about to be sent to the police station, they threw themselves at Wang Bing''s feet like toads. Wang Bing couldn''t even get them off his leg after a few shakes. He was very depressed and was in a bad mood. He suddenly grew enraged and knocked the guy over with a backhand. Looking at the messy bundling method, Wang Bing shook his head and then slowly loosened the bundle. One of them, who just wanted to run, was hit to the floor with a palm and was strapped up again with the belt. Wang Bing gave a sinister smile. "Come, I''ll give you a taste of split-tendons and dislocated hands!" ..................... Chen Fan said the injury on his back was neither serious nor mild. When he arrived at the hospital, Chen Fan refused to let the doctor sew the wound, only asking him to clean the wound and bandage it. The doctor did not insist, and after prescribing several anti-inflammatory powders, told him to use them once a day until the wound scabbed. It was past eleven o''clock at night when Wu Ruoyu sent Chen Fan home. In order not to wake Yunmeng, Chen Fan opened the door and entered the room like a thief. After being nervous for a long time, Chen Fan laid down on the bed and in no time, slept and snored. The next morning, at eight o''clock... Chen Fan grinned. Inside his mouth was a small steamed bun Yunmeng had bought in the morning. His posture was stiff like a statue. A 52-inch LCD was broadcasting a "morning news" special feature. A plump female host was excited to interview several policemen. Her tone was like waves surging, her chest going dramatically up and down. At the bottom of the screen, the caption also seemed to have gone mad and was keep repeating, "Justice has long arms! Two criminals who robbed the gold shop yesterday were captured by a brave citizen of our city near Canglong mountain." "F*ck, this bad?" Chen Fan grunted. Two faces that looked pitiful on the screen, like two men who just crawled out of their graves, were being escorted into a police car by the police. Nearby, a public security officer who looked like the leader, explained the incident. Both of the robbers had panicked expressions. Their clothes were stained with weeds and mud. The original color of the clothes was completely covered. It looked as though they had encountered a Tauren tribe, then had been made to work. They did not look like they had encountered a kind, good citizen like the police said! For the sake of the safety, the police did not say who was the citizen was. They just briefed about the story, saying the good citizen was someone who had just honorably retired from military. When he went to watch "Night Pearl" in the Black Dragon Mountain in the evening, halfway there he met the two gangsters and then after a hard struggle, finally captured the robbers. Of course, Wang Bing did not mention Wu Ruoyu''s case and the gangsters were happy about it. They were even ready to carry it to the end and would never admit robbing a gold shop if the there was no full and solid evidence presented. Just then, the doorbell chimed and when Chen Fan went down he saw that Wu Ruoyu, dressed in a brown windbreaker, was standing at the door. "Does it still hurt?" Wu Ruoyu held Chen Fan lightly in her arms. "I can still walk, small matter!" Chen Fan grinned and did not break away from her. "This small injury does not constitute any obstacles for a man." "Okay...Okay" Wu Ruoyu helped Chen Fan into the living room, found the medicine that the doctor prescribed and let Chen Fan lay on the sofa. She gently lifted the gauze on his back. The dark red blood clung to the gauze, pulling it gently. There was quite a lot of blood immediately oozing out. She gently wiped off the oozing blood with a cotton ball, then slowly spread the medicine over it. The wound was slightly painful and a bit cool and uncomfortable. Chen Fan blew out a cool breath. The expression on his face was unreadable whether it was painful or comfortable. A wisp of hair slid down behind his ear, and Wu Ruoyu reached out her hand and touched his hair. "Is it still painful?" The tone was somewhat painful and reproachful. Then she blew lightly onto the wound. "Is that better?" "Oh, don''t blow, it''s itchy!" Chen Fan wiggled a few times. Wu Ruoyu took a piece of clean gauze and put it on. After it had been covered with medical tape, she helped Chen Fan to put on his coat and sat there with her eyes in the mist. "Chen Fan, take my car!" Wu Ruoyu pulled out a key from her pocket. "When my uncle comes back, I''ll ask him to lend me money to buy you another car." "No, just send the car to the garage for repair." Chen Fan put the key back into Wu Ruoyu''s hand. "I have ordered a better one. It will arrive tomorrow." "How can that be? You took the risk to save me." Wu Ruoyu shook her head. "Don''t say that. How boring it is to fight against each other!" Chen Fan casually found a topic to interrupt. "You called yesterday to say you have something to ask. What was it?" When Chen Fan mentioned this, Wu Ruoyu suddenly remembered her original intention. "I... I want you to go to America and get something back for me. "It was commissioned by a friend of mine. I actually intended on using my uncle''s freighter. But my uncle told me the U.S. customs is very strict about taking some of the contraband goods," Wu Ruoyu said, embarrassed. "America?" Chen Fan thought for a moment and felt that it was not a big problem. The electric eel''s last trip also went into the territorial sea. He could be consignor as long as the goods could be sent to the designated place and the electric eel could safely get the goods back. "So what''s your friend transporting?" 159 The Coast Guard "That''s a few units of fully automatic precise laser welding devices!" Wu Ruoyu turned her body to the side and said. "Did you know Xia Qingqing, from Zhang Xueyang''s birthday party that last time?" "Yes! I booked two ships with him!" Chen Fan said without thinking. "Isn''t the family running a shipyard? These few devices were bought by her?" "Yea, there are 2 sets of devices, all made by the Nance Machinery Manufacturing Co., Ltd. in the USA." "How big are the devices?" he asked. "A set is about two meters height, five meters long, and weighs about ten tons." Wu Ruoyu pondered aloud, "Actually, there were some domestic devices in their shipyard, which were enough for them, but they received some big order a while ago, and the owner had a high demand for their precision parts. So, they decided to import these few units of high precision laser welding devices." "Twenty tons Then, what will you use for the loading location?" Chen Fan considered that this could be loaded on a small submarine. "The location is in California!" Wu Ruoyu said shyly. "They are offering three million to cover your transportation fees for two sets of the devices. Do you want to accept the job?" California was located on the west coast of the US, which was only five thousand and five hundred nautical miles away, assuming that the Electric Eel departed from Zhongyun and crossed the North Pacific Ocean. Five thousand and five hundred nautical miles If the Electric Eel charged with full speed, it would reach its destination in a little more than a day. Although three million is slightly too little for payment, I will try to help just this once for Wu Ruoyu''s sake... "No problem! I will give her a call to later to discuss the details!" Chen Fan laughed, which caused him to immediately grimace in pain, as it had pulled at his wound. "Didn''t the doctor tell you not to fiddle around? Otherwise, your wound could open up again." Wu Ruoyu was chattering to Chen Fan, just like a kindergarten''s caretaker scolded her young pupils. "What do you want to eat this afternoon? Since you are injured, you''d better not cook." Wu Ruoyu asked, more relaxed now after sharing her worries to Chen Fan. "Usually, Yun Meng cooked for me, so I never needed to do it!" Chen Fan smiled at her complacently. "What? How old is she? What''s more, it is the most arduous moment of her third year of studies, so how can you bear to make her cook for you?" Wu Ruoyu knocked his head hard. "I buy the dishes, she boils the rice. How could it be holding up her studies, if it''s just for just a few minutes?" Chen Fan shrugged innocently. Two o''clock in the afternoon, central part of the seabed reef in the middle of Zhongyun sea area. Suddenly, a huge explosion came from an extremely deep hole. Then, a monster with black scales came out from inside, only to disappear amid the turbid ocean current! Meanwhile, Chen Fan discussed the process of loading with Xia Qingqing. They were currently somewhere in the Encinitas Sea. While the fully automatic precise laser welding devices can be made by several countries in the whole world, the difference between the products lies in the precision and quality of their welding. Although these types of devices were not strictly monitored by the US, they would not sell such a high precision device to China. After taking the submarine model from the dock, the Electric Eel was bringing it to the North Pacific Ocean. Nowadays, the Electric Eel had grown to eighty five meters long, with a huge body that weighed a hundred tons. It was towing a small submarine, which Chen Fan felt was not interesting enough. So, he went to the shipyard and asked Jiang Shui to make a bigger iron shell. Chen Fan searched and found some pictures of an American Seawolf-class submarine from the Internet, and also discovered various parameters for building one. Then, he asked Jiang Shui to make a one-to-one model, using 50 percent titanium alloy steel. The model''s exact specifications were: a Seawolf-class submarine, one hundred meters long, thirteen meters wide and eleven meters tall. It would be very handy for loading or hiding any traces of the Electric Eel. Although it was quite a big project, it was still ten times easier to make, compared to the luxury submarine that they had tackled last time. Even the lights did not need to be installed on this new project! Six days! Jiang Shui promised that it can done in six days! At eight in the morning, the next day, they finally reached the California coastline. It had been a long sleepless night for the Electric Eel. America is the country with the most stringent sea defense in the world. There are countless sonar surveillance devices under the sea, so it was the nightmare for the submarines of every country to navigate their waters. As such, no large military submarine was willing to cross this restricted area, since their underwater soundprint might be recorded by someone. But, of course, an Electric Eel does not have sound print, so even if its noise was detected by Sonar, people would simply think that it was a passing whale. Chen Fan was preparing to go to sleep, when the doorbell rang. He knew that it was Wu Ruoyu, coming to change his dressing for him. Chen Fan did not tell Yun Meng about his injuries, since he didn''t want her to worry about him. It was enough that Wu Ruoyu was here to help him. He opened the door slowly, then rubbed his eyes and went to lie down on the sofa in the living room. Chen Fan''s body was recovering well, especially with the added benefit from the medicinal powder. His wound was healing after only two days! If he continued to avoid strenuous exercise, he would have no further problems. When she was removing the gauze, Wu Ruoyu realized that there was some soft tissue that stuck onto the gauze. If they had been in the hospital, the doctors would readily remove. But, as she was not ruthless, she gently dipped a cotton swab in iodine solution and wiped at it slowly and steadily. Wu Ruoyu spent a long time doing this, but only managed to separate it a little. It was at an uncomfortable angle for her, the way that Chen Fan kept reclining his body. So, Wu Ruoyu patted Chen Fan''s arm and asked him to lie on her legs instead. Chen Fan would not reject this request, naturally! After he adjusted his position, Chen Fan''s passed his hand along Wu Ruoyu''s back and cuddled her soft waist. Instantly, Wu Ruoyu''s face flushed red with a bit of anger. She tried to pull away, but Chen Fan did not want to let go. After trying a few times, Wu Ruoyu had to give up. "Chen Fan, you are holding too tight. I can''t breathe." After finishing the dressing, Wu Ruoyu protested, while using her scallion-like finger to draw circles at Chen Fan''s back. "Hum!" Chen Fan whispered leisurely, as he loosened his arm only a bit. He had an irresistible urge to hug Wu Ruoyu into his chest mercilessly at the moment! The pair just sat quietly, remaining in this strange position. One was intoxicated, smelling the other one''s body, while the other one was drawing circles behind the other''s back... "Boss! Boss! The new car is coming! The new car is coming!" Wang Bing was excited, patting the white steel door and shouting loudly. "Stop shouting! Coming, coming!" Chen Fan unwillingly got up, extracting himself from Wu Ruoyu''s proximity. "Pfftt!" Wu Ruoyu was laughing nonstop, when she saws Chen Fan''s frowning face. But, her smile froze immediately, turning to disbelief, then incredulity. This was because Chen Fan had smooched her on her lips when she was not paying attention! Wu Ruoyu''s beautiful face was blushing. Then, she looked at Chen Fan and exclaimed, "You are a little rouge!" Wang Bing was excited, as if he had won 50 million in the lottery or married the jade emperor''s daughter. He was bursting out a frenzied yell, when Chen Fan showed up. "Boss, I picked up the car!" Wang Bing exclaimed proudly. "What are you shouting at? You are disturbing my mood!" Chen Fan gave a slap to his arm. His tone was complaining, but his expression was the same as Wang Bing''s, one filled with excitement. This car was a Maybach 62s Zeppelin. It was more than suitable for flaunting, as it looked like a Mercedes-benz or BMW, but was a little bit bigger. But, compared to the exaggerated curves of a sports car, it was honestly a lot more like an iron shell! But, if one were to sit inside it, they would find it as luxurious as the first class cabin in a Boeing 747! It had an automatic bulletproof glass, which completely separated the front and rear rows. Under the glass, two LCD screens were installed. Under the hand pillow center of the backseat, there was even a mini freezer and a multimedia audio and video system. The large and comfortable backseat could also be adjusted to a beach lounge mode. Moreover, it could be very comfortable to sit in, even if Yao Ming was also sitting inside. Of course, if you think this this was a classic car that merely pursued comfort, then you would be making a big mistake, as the power output of its 6.0 cc 12 cylinder turbo engine might even be greater than a Ferrari f430! The car was ordered by Chen Fan several days ago and was paid for in US dollars. It was said to be a limited edition, as there were just a few issued to China on a first come first served basis. Chen Fan was exhilarated, as he got into the car and kept playing with all kinds of switches. It was like seeing a young child with a new beloved toy. "Boss, how is it? Is it interesting?" Wang Bing was staring at the car, a smile spreading on his face. "If go out to pick up some girl, I guarantee that there would a lot of celebrities begging to come inside." "Interesting!" Chen Fan interrupted Wang Bing roughly. "You can get lost now, as I would like to drive it and have all the fun!" "Please don''t, boss. I will be driving you around!" Wang Bing felt wronged all of a sudden, like an abandoned sorrowful woman. "No, no, no!" Chen Fan waved his middle finger back at him, then sent him away. After driving away Wang Bing, Chen Fan went to Wu Ruoyu and said, "Beautiful lady, may I invite you to go for a ride with me?" "You little rogue! I knew that you weren''t a good fellow from the moment I saw you!" Wu Ruoyu was blushing and reached out her hand to knock on Chen Fan''s head. "I still have work, so you can enjoy your ride alone!" "Hehe!" after Wu Ruoyu left, Chen Fan rubbed his chin and smiled. Just now, since Wu Ruoyu was not angry, it meant that their relationship had improved by a huge leap! If I keep this up in the future, just maybe... "Hehe!" Chen Fan was already thinking of all the possibilities! Midnite, Encinitas, California, USA They were on a white sand beach by the sea, and the whole beach was empty and quiet. However, floating in the sea, not far from the beach, were two big boxes. "F**k you! These darn conscienceless businessmen chose to make the deal in the middle of nowhere!" On the brownish gray patrol boat, Bowditch yelled to an underling beside him, "Carl, what do you say about their idea? They throw things away and leave, so are they idiots? Or, do they just think that our coast guards are eating sh*t?" "Cap, is this a scam? It''s not impossible to sail and hang two pieces of equipment, but they can''t get out from the US territorial waters at all. That is, unless they are planning to transport these devices from the western US to the east." Carl was 24 years old and had joined the coast guard not long ago. The fact that he was a newbie was written all over his face. "So, I think that the chinese businessman was cheated. The other side must have run away after they took the deposit." "Regardless of whether they were cheated or not, we are now just feeding the mosquitos out here!" Bowditch was angry and swung his hand out, yelling, "You! Go and grab us some food." Bowditch, who was the captain of the sixth detachment of the third team of the coast guard and a Major, had uncovered a total of 43 smuggling cases so far in his service, so undertaking something like this should be a snap for him. However, they received new intel yesterday, which said that there was a Chinese businessman in Encinitas, who had bought two laser welding devices from a US manufacturing company. Originally, there would not be any fuss about this, as laser welding machines are not laser cannons. Hence, as long as you have the money, no one would try to control you, even if you bought ten sets of them. But, what was strange was that this Chinese businessman was opening a hypermarket, causing everyone to wonder why he had chosen to buy this kind of laser welding machine. Therefore, the local Business Investigation Division began monitoring his phone. Then, a cross-border smuggling case had gradually surfaced. The shipyard from China had entrusted them to order these two welding machines. They had wanted to ship the order back to China via smuggling operation. Bowditch smiled curiously, as he thought of this. Was this group of people out of their minds? They thought that they could avoid the powerful US Coast Guard, just by choosing to make their move at night? As long as smuggling ships entered the observational range of the night vision device, their 15-meter-long patrol boat would use four high-powered shipborne searchlights to illuminate them. Then, Bowditch would capture the criminals easily. Bowditch looked at the watch on his wrist. It was pointed to the 12 o''clock position. It was the official dealing time of the criminals. However, ten minutes passed away, and nothing happened. On a green LCD monitor, the two big boxes were still sitting there safely. At the edge of the night vision range, there was still no movement other than a dull, green shimmer. He took out the cigarette, but just before he lit it, he realized something immediately and put it back in his jacket. In order to not be discovered by criminals, Bowditch had ordered that all the lights on the ship be turned off. The engines were also turned off, leaving only a few air conditioners, which were rotating slightly. Of course, the night vision screen would not make this mistake! Its placement location and light blocking cover could ensure that its light could never be observed from the outside! "Cap, bread is coming!" Carl placed a few donuts in front of Bowditch. "Cap, there''s still no movement?" "Not even a bird sh*t!" Bowditch stuffed a donut into his mouth and spoke vaguely, "Maybe you are right. These stupid birds were cheated by someone." Both of them kept watch for about half an hour more, yet the screen stayed the same. Except for the rolling waves, nothing was moving. "Carl, help me for a while. I want to take a nap!" Bowditch said, while yawning. "Wait, Cap, there seems to be some movement!" Carl suddenly spoke with a low-pitched voice, as he pointed to the green screen. At the edge of the night vision monitor, there was a fuzzy figure slowing coming into view. Due to the distance, the night vision device could not clearly decipher what it was, but the only things that could run on the sea were undoubtedly ships! "F**k you! Finally, these monkeys are coming!" Bowditch excitedly grabbed Carl''s arm, the residual crumbs in his mouth squirting onto the screen. "Cap, let''s turn on the searchlights to catch them!" Carl was trembling excitedly, while he pointed at the shadow on the screen. "What are you rushing me for? Wait for them to get closer. Otherwise, what would we do if they ran away?" Bowditch gave a slap to Carl''s head. "Hurry up and inform everybody to stand by and wait for my orders." This shadow was moving fast, slowly entering the effective observational distance of the night vision device. But, puzzled Bowditch was that this extremely high-tech night vision device had a working distance of 700 meters...And, since the other ship was about 20 meters long and more than 500 tons, it stands to reason that, within this distance, it would be impossible to hear the sound of the engine! In fact, he had not heard any sound from it. Bowditch even suspected that his ears were clogged, but dismissed this hypothesis when he heard the wondering whispers of his men. "Did they turn off the engine to reduce their noise, thus depending on inertia to cruise?" Bowditch heard this whisper from a crew member and thought that it was 99% possible. The inertia of the ship was the largest among transportations. A huge ship could even travel a few kilometers by inertia alone. The image in the night vision device was only green, so Bowditch could not judge the model of the ship by his intuition alone. When the ship slowly stopped beside the two big boxes, Bowditch rubbed his palm and slapped the control board. Swissh...swissh... Four high-powered searchlights illuminated the entire sea. The Coast Guard, who had stayed in the dark for hours, could not see anything in front of them now. Toot toot... "We are the US Coast Guard! Please stop the boat for inspection immediately!" Bowditch grabbed the microphone and shouted out the same exact words that he had repeated 43 times before. However, when the Coast Guard on the ships adapted their eyes to the strong light, their pupils enlarged ten times and their mouths exhaled cool air suddenly, "Arh arh" "Oh my goodness! This means big trouble!" Bowditch''s forehead was now flowing with cold sweat... 160 Big Misunderstanding A logo of an eagle holding the flag with its beak was printed on the ship that was anchored. The ship with an all-black hull; metal, hermetically sealed cabin; six high-powered overhead searchlights and sharp metal angles at its head was a sign that it was anything but good. Even if the ship had been set up with rocket launchers, Bowditch would not be worried. Attacking the Coast Guard was equivalent to attacking the entire American Navy - and attacking the American Navy was insane. No one would do it unless they were seeking death! What really distracted Bowditch and the seven other members of the guard was the image of the ship! It was not a terrorist''s badge, it was not a super-family totem, it was a symbol that everyone yearns for. Bowditch, who knew all about the Navy '' s ships, recognized it at a glance as the HWK-2 assault ship of the United States Marine corps! If there''s a Marine assault ship. What does it represent? Does it mean the Marines were happy to help them catch bad people? No no no. . . This could fool the children but truly knowledgeable people, especially Bowditch, who was Naval personnel, would certainly contend that the ship inexplicably ran into the assault craft here, which was either absolutely carrying a confidential transportation task or was responsible for performing a confidential battle plan. Isn''t that ridiculous? One of the most elite combat teams in the U.S. Navy would join their small fish in the game of catching shrimp? It was really ridiculous. The two boxes were indeed a laser welding machine, no doubt, because the guard personnel had already monitored their actions. Also similar to the telephone content, it couldn''t be filled with things of any threat to U.S. defense sophisticated materials. Why would the Marines want to get involved? Bowditch felt as if he had been poked in his head with a stick, his brain stirred around and turned into paste. "Boss... boss, what should we do?" Carl ran up, pointing at the assault boat. The coast guard management model was completely the same as the Marine corps''. If there was any misunderstanding between the two systems, it might be strange but it was not impossible. After all, their operation was a normal squatting operation that didn''t require a high level of reporting, and the Marines hadn''t come here to bother "little shrimp" like them. Now that it was cool, he exposed the whole assault boat out of the water with a searchlight, his reckless head, howling with a loudspeaker. "This is the Coast Guard." "Breach of military secrets,""disruption of military operations..." The words kept coming to Carl''s mind, and the final scene was set on the bench of the military tribunal! "I. . . We. . . The. . ." Bowditch''s throat felt like it was stuck with a lump of lime, dry and almost speechless. Just as he was about to send someone to the head office to explain what had happened, a sudden change occurred. The assault craft was 20 meters long. Where they docked coincidently blocked two boxes; however, after a slight shaking, the anti-smuggling ship dragged a white line on the water, sinking fast into the depths of the sea. The two big boxes were gone, too. "Chief, would we. . . would we be sent to court martial?" Carl asked, trembling. "That depends on the seriousness of the incident!" Bowditch turned off the patrol lights and the boat''s lights, and sat down in the cabin with cold sweat on his forehead. It''s too late to do anything about it, so wash your hands and wait for the anger from the military. . . The whole cabin was filled with frozen gases. Seven of the coast guard personnel just froze like a dozen eggplants. Someone stopped smoking. Someone dropped, lying on the chair. There were those who bent their knees, laid on the cabin door and sighed. Didi. . . didi. . . A radio call broke the silence. Bowditch stood up in despair and turned on the call button. "Coast Guard, captain of the sixth unit of the third team, Bowditch." "Are you guarding near Aslan''s beach?" "Yes. . . Yes. . ." Bowditch uttered these two words with great difficulty, exclaiming in his heart, It''s over. It''s over. "Closely monitor the nearby waters. We have just received intelligence, Mexican Juarez cartels are preparing to make a big deal in the sea tonight. There are eight tons of drug production raw chemical materials. Their trading vessel, an HWK-2 assault ship disguised as a Marine, will arrive within half an hour." "What!" Bowditch''s pupils expanded six times. He growled in a voice that bears would sigh at, "A Marine HWK-2 assault boat?" "Yes, the information is infallible!" Five seconds later, Bowditch shouted, "The ship is heading southwest, 132.323.21, please send someone to chase it immediately!" "F**k, got it. We''ll send someone after it immediately!" "Sail, Igel, sail now!" "Wait!" Next, to him, Carl suddenly clapped a nervous hand over his mouth and pointed to the night vision screen, trembling. "Captain! Look, look at the beach!" Bowditch suddenly stopped, and then his hot blood was tingling and rushing to his head. His adrenaline was like a thermometer in magma that kept rising. On the originally quiet beach, suddenly a huge person with a flame resistant helmet came out from a distance and looked through a big telescope for a while. Then his arm swung up hard. "Night vision!" Bowditch could easily guess what was in his hand: mirror night vision goggles, up to 400 meters. The effective distance was far from the night-vision goggles equipped on the patrol boat, which had a 700-meter working distance. An extremely low engine roar sent two Mercedes heavy trucks slowly approaching the beach. Eight men, each with a German HK556 automatic rifle, jumped down from above. After a few gestures, eight mysterious men with covered heads separated, two to guard front and back. The few others, generally silent and nimble like civet cats, took out a few metal frames from the truck. After assembly, it was a small crane that could be pushed by a human. Their professional presence and speed were reminiscent of the terrorists in, "Hidden Killer." Bowditch was stunned. If not for the message just radioed by headquarters, he might really think that these guys were Marine Corps members carrying out a special mission. Look at the agility, look at the equipment. It''s definitely too f**king professional! "Igel, you operate the M240 machine gun. Everyone else, wear body armor and get ready to fight!" Laughing, Bowditch went to the weapons rack and clapped. ............... In what was supposed to be a quiet building, the alarm suddenly rang in the Encinitas Coast Guard and the officers on duty jumped as high as three feet. Five minutes later, two HH-65 "dolphin" patrol helicopters rumbled their propellers and roared away as they passed over the top of the five fast patrol boats that were moving at sea. Searchlights, radar, night vision and both helicopters used every means of searching they could and after ten minutes of searching, they found the target. "Dolphin One finds the target position ~ Dolphin One finds the target position!" The helicopter''s co-pilot was heard on a public radio channel: "The other side is running fast towards the coast of Mexico and is expected to arrive in Mexico in 40 minutes." Rumble. . . Ten minutes later, another helicopter came roaring in and the two choppers used powerful searchlights to lock on the fake assault boat and guide the speedboats out of the water. "This is the Coast Guard. Please stop the ship immediately for inspection. . . Please stop the ship immediately for inspection!" the pilot shouted into the microphone. Unfortunately, the assault boat ignored him! The assault craft dragging the two big boxes traveled at the rate of about 40 knots, while the Coast Guard cutter could run 50 knots. After half an hour, the five following light patrol boats gradually encircled the anti-smuggling ship. "The ship ahead, please stop immediately for inspection or we will take military action!" The two helicopters circled left and right, holding the assault boat in the middle. The assault boat, however, was stubborn, and instead of slowing down, it fired a torrent of red-hot metal at the helicopter on the left. There was a clanging metallic crash and a series of bright sparks burst from the steel plates on the side of the "dolphin" patrol helicopter. And then the light burst. Another helicopter momentarily turned off its searchlights, giving no chance for it to attack, and then used an onboard night vision device to find its target. Tutu tutu tutu Six shots, twelve millimeters in diameter, plowed a blackened line directly into the center of the fake assault boat. "Stop at once, stop at once!" the pilot shouted into the microphone. Dadada. . . dadada. . . The fake assault boat still used machine guns at will but unfortunately, the two helicopters had put out the light. In the dark night sky, the bullets missed. "I see you belong to a lobster. There is excrement in the skull!" The pilot pulled the trigger again without another word. TuTuTu. . . The bullets, which were shot in turn from the barrel of the gun, made a brilliant track in the air, converging into a dragon of fire visible to the naked eye. The assault ship, with its apparently unassailable shell and steel armor, was like a piece of butter that melts in the presence of a thousand red iron sticks. For ten seconds, ten full seconds, the helicopter pilot fired all the bullets in one breath before rolling moodily. Grumble Grumble Sea waves brought out thousands of bubbles. In less than five seconds, the ship was like a honeycomb. The assault craft left no trace. Even the ship''s rail dragging the two big boxes was also doomed, sinking into the sea. ............ The next day at 3pm. . . Encinitas, the white building Coast Guard office! Colonel Bedemore, who was gulping down strong coffee, frowned into the steam; not because of the bitter coffee, but because he was depressed. The two cases, which were different from each other, had merged. As it turned out, the fact that China''s smugglers could reach the U.S. coast without anyone knowing it was a ridiculous joke - but the Chinese believed it. But... when they foolishly took things to the beach, they were robbed by Mexican drug lords as a source of drugs. These drug dealers were doing all they could. Military aircraft, super yachts, small submarines didn''t just move the rockets, now they made a counterfeit of a whole Marine assault craft. It was too innovative. It''s just so funny so surprising Knock Knock Just then, there was a knock on the door and a 1.95-meter tall black man entered the office, accompanied by Bedemore''s permission to come in. "Sir, this is the profile of the Chinese businessman!" He placed the thick stack of papers in front of him. Looking at the pile of material, Bedemore was not even interested in rummaging through it. "What''s wrong with this man?" "No problem. According to our investigation, the chances of this person being a drug lord are almost nil." When he had sorted through the data, he said in an interrogative voice, "Sir, do you want the police to arrest this man?" "No, he was robbed, so to speak. You sank his goods." Bedemore waved. "Have the staff monitor his phone for a month. You don''t have to keep following him if there''s no other clue." The other side bought two low-tech laser welders and was fined two years in prison for attempting to export them illegally to China under federal safety law. But now he was not guilty of smuggling and it was clear that he has been duped. The guards, having captured the drug lord, had continued to spend the night guarding and did not find out anything. As for China, Bedemore had no interest in investigating. It was not the United States. If he wanted to get more information, he would need to send spies to infiltrate inside the shipyard or to monitor the surveillance camera for twenty-four hours. But for two small laser-soldering machines, to invoke intelligence agents lurking in China? Bedemore didn''t think he was that stupid. Of course, his boss would not grant such a foolish request, either. ............... The biggest beneficiary of this was lying in bed dreaming. In fact, when the electric eel arrived yesterday, it found the patrol boat thousands of meters away. His first reaction at the time was that this had been detected by U.S. police. Then he drove into the street and called Xia Qingqing with his new mobile phone card, telling her the deal was off because a patrol boat was lurking in the distance. Xia Qingqing who received the call, immediately worried. She said the two things were really very important and asked Chen Fan to think of something, even adding a million for the transport fee. Chen Fan considered for a moment and did not agree. It was not that the money was less but the risk of this matter was relatively high. If it was serious, the Americans were sure to find clues that pointed to him. But the results were dramatic, with a fast ship coming out of nowhere to the side of two large boxes and running with them. The electric eel, trailing behind the speedboat, was completely lost when it saw two helicopters chasing it. What the hell had happened? It was only when the two sides exchanged fire that Chen Fan came to his senses and realized it was probably a misunderstanding. But by the time he had recovered from his thought, the battle was over and there was only a scrap of iron and two large crates sinking slowly into the water. At twenty meters long, six meters wide, the assault ship, even if let Chen Fan go to shoot, would not miss. What''s more, was there a trained pilot equipped with the fully automatic fire control system helicopter? So the electric eel directly got the benefit and waited for the two big boxes to sink a dozen meters into deep water. Chen Fan quietly controlled the electric eel, dragging them and fleeing. The speed reached 170 knots in five minutes. Now two large boxes had been brought by the electric eel to the dock in Zhongyun. Chen Fan was ready to wait for two or three days and give them to Xia Qingqing. After all, the speed of 170 knots absolutely could not be achieved by a ship. When the goods were taken, it could be explained as the ship was not far from the United States, but the return trip was actually from the United States to China. Due to the time difference, the sun was shining brightly in the United States, while the moon was shining freely in Zhongyun. Chen Fan had worked hard for three days and he slept until noon the next day. When Chen Fan narrowed his eyes and went downstairs, Yunmeng had placed the hot food on the table and was looking at Chen Fan with a smile, with her hands on her chin. It was great to have a beautiful girl to do housework. Stretching lazily, Chen Fan took a piece of stewed beef and threw it in his mouth. He said feeling relaxed and happy, "Not bad. . . not bad. Your cooking skills have improved." Some people say that Chinese men are the best men in the world. For a Chinese man, marrying a wife is like marrying a "living bodhisattva." Apart from the financial burden, the rest of the household chores are almost completely done by his wife. Therefore, when Chen Fan was served as the "Maitreya Buddha" by Yunmeng, he would feel very happy indeed. It is, of course, necessary to praise the diligent "little novice monk" from time to time. Two dishes and a soup - it was not sumptuous but was warm. While chewing rice, Chen Fan, who was perverted thought, It would be nice if Wu Ruoyu could sit by my side. Ding dong... ding dong... "I''ll open the door," said Yunmeng, who had almost finished eating. She put down her chopsticks and ran into the yard. As if heaven granted Chen Fan''s request, Wu Ruoyu entered in a white casual carrying a bag. So, coincidence? Chen Fan thought this in his heart but he said, "Have you eaten? If not, let''s eat together. We''re just getting started." "The rice in the bowl was about to finish, and you say you just started?" Wu Ruoyu unmercifully exposed Chen Fan''s hypocrisy. "You eat, I have already eaten." Yunmeng was clever. She knew that Wu Ruoyu came to find Chen Fan regarding some matter. She put down her chopsticks and said sweetly, "I''ll go upstairs to study." 161 Super Huge Cave Chen Fan dispatched the rice quickly, and as he burped, he took advantage of the situation to sit beside Wu Ruoyu on the couch. He smiled, "Did you miss me, after not seeing me for two days?" "Damn you!" Wu Ruoyu hit him hard on his head, then said bashfully, "Youryour car is fixed, butbut" "But what?" Chen Fan wore a doubtful look on his face. "This is for you, and the password issextuple eight!" Wu Ruoyu''s cheeks were flushed with red. She wanted to tell him that, since his car was wrecked, but she could not afford to buy him a new one, that she would try to repay him at least the depreciated value. But, she could not, as her words were stuck in her throat! She could only give him her banking card. Chen Fan was slightly stunned for two seconds. Then, he caught her meaning. His lips curved upward, as he replied, "The car was spoiled because of me, so why are you trying to pay me?" "But, it was in order to save me, wasn''t it?" Wu Ruoyu was still in shock. "How could I let you, the savior, pay for the repairs?" Why don''t you pay me by being my girlfriend? Chen Fan''s head was full of malicious thoughts! After pushing the card back and forth between them for a long time, Chen Fan failed to persuade Wu Ruoyu to keep it. Thus, he finally accepted the banking card gracefully. He planned to keep it until her birthday or some other moment, such as Valentine''s Day, then return it to her creatively somehow. Their relationship was awkward at that moment, so it couldn''t be said that they were a couple exactly. But, there was at least some intention and affection shared between the two of them. It was difficult to make conversation at this stage, as sweet talks were apparently not suitable yet. Likewise, small talks seemed equally strained. So, the both of them just remained awkwardly silent for a while. Then, when Wu Ruoyu was getting ready to stand up and leave, she was suddenly grabbed by Chen Fan! He took her passionately in his arms. "Chen Fan, don''tdon''t do this, Yun Meng is upstairs!" Wu Ruoyu''s face was as red as a cherry. She was twisting her body to run away, but she also seemed to be hesitating. Ultimately, she couldn''t get loose from Chen Fan, even after struggling for a long time. "It''s okay, as she is studying upstairs!" Chen Fan moved himself closer to Wu Ruoyu, switching on the television as he did so. What''s important wasn''t what was airing, but more the atmosphere that he was trying to create by watching the television. In fact, Chen Fan was even too lazy to change the channel, instead putting his arms around Wu Ruoyu quietly. Slowly, Wu Ruoyu laid on Chen Fan''s chest, just as a kitten. She reveled in feeling the warmth and firmness of his chest. The television was showing the drama "Struggle," but it was unclear which episode it was. However, their thoughts had flown to some faraway kingdom, so they hadn''t a care for what was on the television! But, when the scenes on the television changed suddenly, their attentions were attracted. The scene in the drama was just like them! It portrayed Lu Tao and Xia Lin, who were hugging on the field of Beijing Sun Palace Park. Then, the pair slowly kissed. Chen Fan could only feel thirsty, as if he was watching the scene alone. But what if there was a beauty in his arms? Chen Fan looked around, now gazing at Wu Ruoyu. Wu Ruoyu, who was also feeling something, wanted to turn away her reddened face, but she was too late. Reaching to gently hold Wu Ruoyu''s porcelain face, Chen Fan felt exhilarated. "Let let me go!" her voice was filled a mixture of some shyness, some anger, and some fear. Feeling the warm of his breath on her neck, Wu Ruoyu''s heart beat faster. Her face reddened, and she was thirsty and weak. In fact, she showed many symptoms, but what she felt was too embarrassing to be shared aloud. "No!" Chen Fan replied to her with determination, as he rushed to nuzzle into her beautiful hair! Wu Ruoyu''s pupils dilated, then slowly blurred. Finally, she laid in Chen Fan''s arms, weakly resigned. "God will give all the love to her." Wu Ruoyu was alarmed, and her blurry eyes instantly focused! "Chen Fan, can we not do this?" Wu Ruoyu turned away her reddened face. Her words was as weak as a little lamb. "But, we already did it!" "It was good to just lay together quietly, but you ruined the atmosphere!" Wu Ruoyu put her face on Chen Fan''s chest, speaking with resentment in her voice. "You only know how to take advantage on me! Even lovers would not behave like you. Besides, I don''t even know whether you have a girlfriend or not." "Hehe, of course I don''t!" Chen Fan laughed, while grabbing Wu Ruoyu. Her words reminded Chen Fan of somebody, who had once told him the same thing. It was the girl that Chen Fan had gotten her first kiss from. He did this by bribing her using candies, way back in kindergarten! Her name was Zhang Xiaoxue, and their relationship has always been good, ever since they grew up and studied together. Then, in grade 10, when Chen Fan''s family had bought a computer and had access to the internet, Chen Fan was addicted to unhealthy websites, causing his lust to grow a astronomically! He tried to have this game with Zhang Xiaoxue. It was a moment when they were kissing, and Chen Fan wanted to get a step closer, so he made his move. She promptly gave him a hit on his head, then said, "You think I want it too, when I''m almost controlled by you most of the time, but I do not!" However, when Chen Fan turned over a new leaf and was ready to implement his new battle plan, her father was facing persecution from his company, due to his indecent actions at work. So, out of the blue, he decided to escape to the USA with his family! Both of them kept in touch online initially, but after awhile, they lost contact. Besides, Chen Fan thought that she did not want him to bother her anymore. Otherwise, she could easily contact him in this modern era. As time passed, her shadow faded away from his mind. In fact, he probably never would have remembered her, unless Wu Ruoyu had not talked about such things this day. At that moment, light footsteps passed along the corner of the stairs. Wu Ruoyu was stunned. Immediately, her cheeks reddened and her heart beat faster. Struggling to get off of Chen Fan''s chest, she sat up properly and tried hard to pretend that nothing was happening. Yet, the redness on her face obviously betrayed her. People always say that females are sensitive towards certain things. Though Yun Meng was younger, she still could sense something from the atmosphere and Wu Ruoyu''s expression. "Chen Fan, I''ve to go. For the contract, we shall proceed with what we discussed just now." Yun Meng stared at Wu Ruoyu nervously. Ruoyu managed this sentence to hide her embarrassment, then went out, closing the door as she exited. "Ruoyu seems unusual!" Yun Meng said, jealousy filling her voice. "I think so, too. She was okay when she arrived, but her expression was unusual after picking up the phone." Chen Fan stayed calm and shook his head. "Now, quickly go to school, you''re going to be late!" Chen Fan was actually looking at the stairs, when he had just been kissing Wu Ruoyu. He did this so that he could stop in time, just in case Yunmeng saw them and got jealous. Later that afternoon, Chen Fan laid in bed with his eyes closed. For sure, he did not have the habit of sleeping in the afternoon, but he had shifted his thought towards the eel... By the eel''s explosive digging, which was like his own version of TNT, he had cleared more than 700 meters deep of the area in the mysterious hole! Then, when the eel made some holes on the sand by the long spear, then filled them in with some greenish explosive liquid, the brownish grey stones were finally exposed from the cover of the sand! Success was near! Chen Fan gritted his teeth. He cleaned the mud on the stone wall thoroughly, before the eel emptied its poison sac in its abdomen. The hole was 780 meters deep, with a diameter of 103 meters. On the stone wall, which was wholly constituted of jagged rocks, a cave with a diameter of 13 meters was exposed on the bottom. The cave was circular, and the smooth stone wall was stuffed with mud, making the eel unable to gage the conditions inside. Looking at the huge cave, Chen Fan sunk into deep thought. Beyond all doubt, it was the cave in the hole that had attracted the ancient people here. When the eel was setting up the explosions furiously, Chen Fan had seen some fragmented bones. This meant that there were many people who had come towards the cave in the past, and that it was possible that there was something valuable in the cave. Otherwise, there wouldn''t have been as much fighting here, or as many signs of people''s presences from the past. Being as the cave was 13 meters wide now, the eel was able to go inside and explore. So, after taking a breath, Chen Fan controlled the long spear in the eel''s paw, slowly clearing off the mud at the hole''s entrance. The cave was not too big for the eel, as it continued to dig minutes, managing to reach another 10 meters in depth. Pwossh! When the long spear was inserted into the mud once more, Chen Fan felt an unusual resistance. He only realized when the long spear was pulled out, that the mud that covered the cave was only about 10 meters deep, and that sea water on the other side! Chen Fan controlled the eel to poke out the mud several times. He was delighted, as a deep cave''s mysteries had just been thoroughly unlocked by an eel! To enter, or not to enter? That was the controversial question currently posed to the eel. With a width of 13 meters, even if there was a dead end after the eel entered, it could still crawl out in reverse with its claws. After thinking this through, Chen Fan decided to utilize electromagnetic induction to probe the internal environment first. With a high voltage of 36,000 volts, it was not a problem to probe a distance of about 2,000 meters. Peng The eel''s body was shining, almost like an illusion, as a ray of dusky blue light spread to the surroundings in a circular form. It moved with a speed that the naked eye could not even follow! However, the result obtained by the eel via the electromagnetic induction had trapped Chen Fan in a geometric formula. It was a formula too complicated for even Archimedes to solve! The internal part of the cave was unexpectedly formed by a cylindrical channel that had a length of about 1500 meters. About 90 percent of the channel had a diameter of 10 to 15 meters, and only few parts of it were narrow. Thus, if the eel wanted to pass through it, it needed to use the long spear to widen the space, which gratefully wouldn''t take too much effort. However, this was not the main problem. What made Chen Fan really confused was that the range that the eel could detect was 2,000 meters, while the length of the channel that could be detected was 1,500 meters. However, the electric current that the eel released did not touch any stone wall or mud, but was shaded by air instead. To better explain this predicament, imagine if a bottle was put vertically into water. The water could not enter into the bottle, due to the air''s being unable to be released. The air pressure would then increase as the bottle went deeper in the water. The sea water would finally add pressure to the air inside, until the bottle could not withstand it, thus causing the bottle to crack. However, the stone would not crack, as it was able to withstand the atmospheric pressure. As he was pondering all of this scientific data, a suddenly fear arose from the bottom of Chen Fan''s heart. He was thinking of the undefined species that dashed onto the shore with a zip, after being stimulated by the voltage. Its body was about two meters long, and although Chen Fan could not clearly define its shape, he could tell that it was similar to that of a crocodile, having thick and hard greenish scales, with a long tail. Hence, it was extremely abnormal. Compared to this monster, the human bones that were spread around seemed kind and friendly! "Maybe this is another self-forming ecosystem cave, somewhat like the Tonga Trench?!" 162 Crude Oil Quotas Was it not important to make an ecological environment in a cave? The key was to see if there was enough space in it and whether the living environment was good enough. If possible, Chen Fan was prepared to control the electric eel, to have it go in and look around to see if it could find a place and make it its camp. After all, today''s technology was so advanced but an electric eel could only hide in the water, unable to experience the pleasure of moving ashore. However, wouldn''t it be possible for the electric eel to come ashore if the space was large enough? Of course, that depended on how much space there was. If it was small, then there wouldn''t be enough room for the electric eel. Determined, Chen Fan was ready to let the electric eel widen its path to the unknown space. As for the unidentified creatures inside? No matter how strong an ant is, it can''t beat a dinosaur! It was more difficult to dig stone than to dig soil. He could not be rough and only could dig slowly with the spear because being rough would make the stones collapse. Fortunately, there were no twists and turns in the passage; otherwise, the 30-meter spear would not be able to be used inside. After estimating the area to be excavated, Chen Fan thought it would take two days'' work. The cave was narrow after the electric eel went in, so it could only use the power of forward collision to gouge the rock. While using the spear to gouge the rock, Chen Fan sighed with emotion. If there were a terrorist inside, then it would be tunnel warfare. Titanium spears were strong enough and the electric eel was strong enough, too. A single spear could break a ton of heavy rock without a problem. Rumble... Rumble... ... Chen Fan couldn''t resist his sleepiness after working until late at night. Early in the morning on the second day, Chen Fan stood in front of the mirror, carefully getting dressed. He was going to do a formal thing today, so he purposely put on his black jacket and most expensive shirt. This jacket was completely black without much decoration, and the wool felt comfortable. It was said that it was the latest style from Milan''s international fashion week and cost more than 70,000 dollars. Dressed, Chen Fan walked down the stairs. Wang Bing, dressed in a black suit, stood like a javelin beside the car looking quite a bit like a bodyguard in, "Sea Palaces." But... When he saw Chen Fan coming out, he immediately tore off his disguise and showed his true face. "Boss, you in these clothes is truly d*mn cool. I''ll also go and buy a jacket to wear tomorrow." Wang Bing smiled, reached out his hand and surreptitiously touched Chen Fan''s clothes. "So smooth, nice texture. . ." "Well, it was seventy-two grand. Go and buy it!" Chen Fan ostentatiously shook his jacket with a flourish. "It''s in the Armani shop on Yuanbao Street." "Hey, it''s a nice day today!" Wang Bing opened the back door flatly. "Good sh*t, I''m freezing to death!" Chen Fan exhaled a white mist and ducked into the car. The 26,000-ton oil tanker from Saudi Arabia was due to arrive in Zhongyun tomorrow, and Chen Fan was going to help the owners find a buyer today. The Zhongyun Refinery and Chemical Factory was affiliated with the southwest oil and gas field branch of China Petroleum & Natural Gas Co. LTD. This was an enterprise invested in by the Zhongyun government. The company had more than 2,100 employees and could produce five major categories, 70 varieties and 120 brands of petroleum products but unfortunately, had always been in a state of low production efficiency because there was not enough oil for processing. The factory was introduced by Ma Rongtao and Chen Fan was ready to negotiate the selling of petroleum. Strictly speaking, Chen Fan''s behavior was already part of the smuggling of crude oil. Because he did not get the crude oil import quota and production schedule, his oil was not officially recognized. But that wasn''t a big deal. Yesterday, he called the company and said he had a huge amount of oil coming to the dock and asked if they wanted to buy. When the officials there heard this, they knew it was crude oil smuggling without Chen Fan mentioning it. Isn''t smuggled crude oil still pure crude oil? It was not stolen from China and who cares if it was legal? As long as the price was reasonable, why not? "Boss, what will you say if they want to keep the price down?" Wang Bing turned to Chen Fan on his way to the petrochemical factory. "The ship is now just near the Hainan. If they bargain, I''ll sell to foreign countries. I can sell to Vietnam, the Philippines and a bit further, it can be sold to Japan or South Korea." Chen Fan lounged in his seat. "We have crude oil in our hands and a tanker. Why are we worried if there are buyers?" ............ With his legs crossed, Wei Zhixiu''s posture was not gentlemanly. He was so bored that he kept drinking his tea. At just 39 years old, the director of the oil refining chemical factory in Zhongyun could enjoy a lot of benefits but instead he was sitting at home, like a little old man waiting for his wife who dressed up and went out in the middle of the night. Full of worries, stretching his legs and drinking a cup of tea, he wore an expression of bitterness and depression, and it looked awkward. The crude oil index sent to them every year was not little but the actual quantity was, which made their factories hungry all the time. Even buying some oil residue or buying crude oil through an illegal path was never enough for the factory that consumed so much. Yesterday, he received a call from someone who claimed to have a considerable amount of crude oil and asked him if he wanted it. "I''ll take as much as you have!" Wei Zhixiu''s tone at the time was domineering. "My crude oil is a bit expensive. Ah, I am afraid you do not have enough money!" The other side''s tone was full of contempt! Chen Fan did not tell him how much crude oil he had because it was privately owned. He was covering himself in case the deal failed. "Oh my god, please give me a well that never dries up!" Wei Zhixiu put the teacup on the table and went downstairs. There were still more than ten minutes left to make the appointment. He wanted to see what kind of person he was and why he could be so arrogant. The Zhongyun Refining and Chemical factory had been in the same state of profit and loss for several years but when the crude oil supply was insufficient, it accumulated 300 million in funds. "Three hundred million! What an astronomical figure! He could have bought the oil and the tanker!" Wei Zhixiu happily lit the cigarette while staring at the gate with boredom. Halfway through the fun of smoking tobacco, a black car drove into Wei Zhixiu''s sight. "D*mn! A Maybach 62S Zeppelin." Wei Zhixiu didn''t even notice that his cigarette fell out of his mouth. Is that too f**king outrageous? Owning the world''s most limited-edition luxury car. . . Would it be a car which was remodeled? Wei Zhixiu watched the car stop. When the driver pulled the back door open and a young man in his twenties stepped out of the car, he was completely shocked. "Hello, hello, I''m Manager Wei. Welcome, Boss Chen!" Wei Zhixiu hurried up and warmly greeted him. "Hello, Manager Wei!" Chen Fan shook his hand. When the three of them entered the office, Wei Zhixiu first sent the young female secretary to make three cups of tea, and then he tried to make friends with Chen Fan. "Manager Wei, may I ask, how much crude oil can you buy?" Chen Fan was too lazy to talk too much with this guy. What''s so nice about two big men trying to play tricks? Wei Zhixiu turned his eyes leisurely and unhurriedly. "Tens of thousands of tons of crude oil would be no problem." "Tens of thousands of tons? What about more, like 100,000 tons?" Chen Fan touched his chin, just tens of thousands of tons, a little less! "A hundred thousand tons?" Wei Zhixiu was speechless and laughed. "We can buy 100,000 tons, but the key was there hasn''t been that much to buy." "Brother, you are in this profession. It is not that you don''t know the domestic crude oil market. With crude oil, of course, the more there is, the better. But the situation can''t be helped because the supply is less than demand. In recent years, many small refineries have closed down because of lack of oil." "Haha, I know. That''s why I''m in this field!" Chen Fan smiled, with a calm look. "Manager Wei, can you give me a bottom line, what are the most tons of crude oil you can buy?" Hearing this, Wei Zhixiu hesitated. He was not a fool. The other side said this. It was clear that they were not satisfied with his offer of 100,000 tons. A hundred thousand tons is not enough. Was he an Arab oil tycoon? Millions of tons? "The money in my factory can buy between 120,000 to 130,000 tons. Of course, if Mr. Chen has much more than that, I can also find a way to borrow money from the bank." After saying this, Wei Zhixiu''s mouth immediately felt dry but got better after drinking two gulps of tea. Instinct told him there was big business coming in today. "How much per ton?" "Two thousand eight hundred dollars a ton!" Wei Zhixiu quickly said the price. The regular channel crude oil price was 2,835 dollars a ton. The private oil price would generally wipe out the zeros. "Fifteen dollars more!" Chen Fan was decisive. "No, it''s too much. I can only add two dollars at most!" Wei Zhixiu shook his head like a rattle. "Ten dollars!" "Three dollars!" "Five dollars!" If a peddler saw this, he would laugh his head off that a billionaire and a factory owner would chatter away for a few dollars. But what about the actual situation? Don''t look down upon the fraction of a few dollars. With 260,000 tons of crude oil, 15 RMB extra for a ton is 3,900,000 yuan. Five dollars extra a ton is 1,300,000. "Five, five at the most, more can''t be added!" Wei Zhixiu was as firm as an indestructible hammer. "Ok!" Chen Fan nodded, then touched his chin and said, "I have a total of 260,000 tons of crude oil. Can you buy it?" At the price of 2,805, Chen Fan could earn about 50 million RMB this trip. "260,000 tons!" Wei Zhixiu''s eyes were about to pop out. Although he had been prepared for the supply of goods, he was still stunned when he heard the number. Two hundred and sixty thousand tons could fill up most of the factory''s capacity. Wei Zhixiu scratched his face and said, "Boss Chen, let''s see if we can do this. I will add ten RMB to each ton, but can I owe you 60,000 tons on credit?" Ten yuan was equal to 2.6 million yuan in total, but if it were 60,000 tons, it was equal to 160 million yuan. "I''m afraid not!" Chen Fan shook his head. What if he defaulted? How could a smuggler report to the government? Wei Zhixiu also understood the truth but was short of money. The crude oil was not easy to get. The rich loved to invest in real estate. There were only a few involved in the oil tanker business, and with Somali pirates along the way to contend with, even fewer were involved in this dangerous business. Why would he want to give up 60,000 tons of crude oil when he caught a rich owner this time? The feeling was just like he met his wife again after 20 years in prison. "Yes!" Wei Zhixiu suddenly smiled happily. "Boss Chen, how about this? Our factory just had the unused crude oil import quota and production schedule this year, and I will transfer it to you so that your crude oil becomes legal." "Crude oil import quotas, and production scheduling?" Chen Fan narrowed his eyes. This was attractive to him. With their own crude oil gain legitimate, they could sell to anyone and the price would be tens of dollars higher. "What''s the quantity?" "If you want, I can buy a lot for you from other factories, but at a rate of twenty dollars per ton." Wei Zhixiu smiled happily. "Our trade this time would be 2,815 RMB per ton. I''ll help you to make an official document, then sign an agreement, so you need not be afraid that I will break the agreement." Twenty dollars a ton? Chen Fan calculated the sum of the amount. This price, in addition to crude oil becoming legal, was not much different from the price of the sale of private oil. Of course, if there were differences, Wei Zhixiu would not be so kind to help him. "Ok, I will unload the 260,000 tons of crude oil to you after you get the documents for me." "Then wish us a pleasant cooperation!" Wei Zhixiu said joyfully. It was probably because Wei Zhixiu was in such a hurry that after they had discussed the details, the guy dragged him to deal with the oil import quota documents and production schedule, and then kept asking when the tanker would arrive. Chen Fan didn''t come home until after eight o''clock in the evening. Actually, the two documents were not too much trouble. They were similar to contract documents and could be completed within a few hours. The problem was the time used to travel to different places. The five oil tankers would arrive in Zhongyun around noon tomorrow. Their company had a special pipeline to connect to the dock. They would plug in the hose directly and it would be finished. After a hot bath, Chen Fan transferred his mind to the electric eel. In about two to three hours, the electric eel would be expected to have cut the passage width out of the cave, so Chen Fan decided to work overtime to finish tonight, and then let the electric eel venture into the unknown space. 163 The Ancient Crocodile Dragon Three to five hours for Chen Fan, who had become accustomed to long hours, was no problem at all. In the past, when rushing to Russia and the Tonga Trench, it was calculated on a weekly basis. As the rock was chipped away, Chen Fan found that the bottom temperature of the pit was already nearly zero, but as the cave went deeper, the temperature was rising. When all work was done, the temperature rose to about 15 or 16 degrees. The temperature was a small problem, but the unknown space was the main issue. Onshore, if there were any monsters, the electric eel could only rely on mere fighting, because the air was not conducive to electricity. The lightening relied on the powerful internal voltage that did not effectively travel through the air. And the electric eel now has to release the current at close range, not remotely. "I hope you don''t get a bite out of your head when you go out!" Chen Fan said to himself and then controlled the electric eel from a distance 20 meters away, quietly putting the spear in the air ahead. After 10 seconds, the spear didn''t have any movement, and Chen Fan was satisfied and nodded. "Safe!" As the electric eel came closer to the unknown hole, Chen Fan found the water not far away seemed to be emitting a faint glow. Poof! When the electric eel''s eyes were above the water... Chen Fan was completely surprised and shocked... What idiom could be used to describe Chen Fan''s feeling now? "As dumb as a piece of wood," "To be struck dumb," "To be ill at ease and full of dread," "Frightful billows and terrible waves"? NO, NO, NO! These idioms were only used to describe the general state of the human mind. And the scene that Chen Fan saw, very obviously, absolutely did not belong to normal feelings. He would not feel this way even if he saw something bizarre like Ultraman and the little monster mating. Damn! What a scene it was! Under the electric eel''s excellent vision, a wide, multicolored space was completely exposed to the electric eel, which was about 100 meters high with no geometrical explanation. Everything was paved with brilliant gold and in gold fluorite minerals, which were mixed with other colorful crystals. White, red, green, blue, purple, yellow, and a lot of crystals, emitting a bright luster. But that was not all! In this gorgeous space, unexpectedly still lived the crocodile-like creature that Chen Fan saw for the first time. And beyond the line of sight, there was an unknown lake. Even more confusing for Chen Fan: beside the lake, there stood a golden stone tower up to 10 meters. "The paradise, the Kunlun fairyland?" Chen Fan was completely lost. Immediately, he woke up again and then puffed the electric eel back into the water. Because there was a monster of 10 meters long, with a green, squiggly face coming toward the electric eel''s head with a big mouth open that surely meant to behead him. The monster was similar to a crocodile, but the shape was much bigger, and the head was not the flat kind of a crocodile but was similar to the dinosaur, a stereoscopic triangle with two rib-like horns behind its head that made it look even more imposing. "Roar!" The monster saw the electric eel go away, roared, and jumped into the water. And then... It was completely stunned, struggling to escape. The electric eel had just shown its two eyes, and the crocodile monster didn''t know what it was. But when it got into the water, it turned out it was a monster of over 80 meters long. "Now you want to run after you come in?" The electric eel''s eyes glared, and then the front part of the spear flashed blue arcing light and poked swiftly toward the crocodile monster. The speed of the spear was so fast that the monster had just touched the shore when it was struck by the electric eel. The monster''s scales and muscles were very hard. The spear had only gone through halfway and was stuck in the bones. But this did not prevent it from striking as much as 30,000 volts into it. In not even five seconds, the monster stopped moving. Shaking the monster off the spear, the electric eel backed away for a few tens of meters, then stared at the hole. The gold ore in the hole Chen Fan knew its origin. It was called the golden mica. It was a kind of rock mineral, and its appearance was pearlescent. it had good electrical insulation and resisted heat, acid, alkali, pressure, and performance. There were many applications for it in life, especially in engineering and electronics. It is not unusual to find a large number of mica mines in rocks. Although the gold mica is as pure as the Yellowstone, it has a wide range of parts in China and only the purity was a concern. But associated with the golden mica, the colorful gems that glow and don''t shine, are undeniably valuable. The interior of the cave had no other light sources, suggesting that they are permanent luminescent gems and contain a large number of luminous radioisotopes. And that kind of gem belonged to a rare breed. During ancient times, nobility had broken their head to buy it, and a lot of Kings inlaid it in the palace or wore it on the crown. There was no discussion of these valuable gems, and there were many of the world''s karst caves, or mines, that have similar minerals, but these were only a few. What about the big number of monsters? What do those monsters eat in isolation? Did all the demons follow the practices of the Jindan period, able to deny the valley and absorb the essence of heaven and earth? Of course not. The electric eel had just used a spear to kill the Jindan monster. Wouldn''t that make the electric eel not a god? The electric eel''s line of sight did not find anything that could feed the monsters, so the monsters were probably hungry and went to the lake to hunt for food. The only explanation was that there were a lot of nutrients in that lake, and the plankton ate the nutrients, small fish ate the plankton, big fish ate the small fish, and monsters ate the big fish. What about that beautiful stone tower? It must have been erected in the ancient times when humans used the ore to build it or cut it out directly from the large ore. It wasn''t hard to explain why there were a lot of human skeletons in the pit and in the tunnel. The ancients worshipped religion and god. Perhaps a wizard, or a tribal leader ordered the construction, and then lived in it. But at the end of the day, there was a bit of a disaster and the place was flooded. Isolated caves and the living organisms that survived must have a separate ecosystem. The source of this ecological system was the lake. To get an understanding of the existence of the large number of creatures, the electric eel dove into the lake to take a look. Taking a deep breath, Chen Fan struggled out of his thought, then again controlled the electric eel. Looking around, there were no big monsters in the vicinity, only a few small ones, and the electric eel could kill them with just one look. Gently taking a deep breath, Chen Fan found out that the air pressure there was not as high as he expected it was, only a little atmospheric pressure and no harmful gases in the air. Chen Fan thought that his own body could even spend some time in it, too. Stay for a while? Chen Fan looked at the stone tower in the distance, and a bold idea came to mind. What if he made it the base of operations for himself and the electric eel? The thought made Chen Fan happy. The electric eel could easily survive in such an environment and the lake was the best place to live. What about him? His goal was the 10 m high stone tower, but now he was too far away. The electric eel could not see clearly the special structure of the stone tower, but the circular profile and the flat structure above was certainly the best habitat for him. Even though Chen Fan didn''t understand why the atmosphere there was not as high as his own calculations, it was not a problem. As long as he made it his home base, would he be afraid anymore if he had any major enemies coming after him? The security of it was comparable to that of an anti-nuclear bunker. There were electric eels there to guard and no enemy could come in. Not to mention that the entrance was more than 1,000 meters underwater. Even a submarine couldn''t dive that depth. Even if it could, thought, the electric eel would strike it with the spear. To transport himself there was very simple. He could use the small, customized, thick titanium alloy submarine, or the electric eel''s mouth. But after he thought about it, Chen Fan decided to use the titanium alloy submarine. Going into the electric eel''s mouth was a little too embarrassing. It''s a waste not to make the best of it. Now the only thing the electric eel had to do was to use the force of violence to bring down the monsters there. The antelope would run away if it saw the leopard because it knew the leopard was strong. The electric eel would have to stay around for a while, and the animals would naturally see how strong it was and run away. After seeing the power of the monster, Chen Fan controlled the electric eel and climbed to the shore. Crocodile dragon. Let''s call them crocodile dragons. They''re like crocodiles and dragons, anyway. A few of them saw the electric eel and immediately looked at it with curiosity, crawling around it. "Roar!" A dry, hot breath of air, came out from the electric eel''s mouth and terrified some of the little crocodile dragons. The electric eel did not have an organ to emit sound, it could only rely on a large amount of rapid airflow to vibrate the mouth and make a thundering sound. Because it was not a proper amphibian, the electric eel''s four claws were powerful, but they were still crooked as if they would break if they were touched. Behind the electric eel, was the colorful rock with no end, but the front was endless space. The stone tower was about three kilometers from the electric eel, and there was about a dozen alligator dragons between them. The small ones were only one or two meters, and the large ones were more than 20 meters long. The world''s largest cave is the Mammoth cave of the Appalachian Mountains of North America, a full 64km long. Along with other branches, it was 250km long, just not as wide. Located in the city of Lichuan, Hubei Province, there were four large lakes, five sections of an underground waterfall, more than 300 holes, and it was more than 230 meters deep. Inside the water, there were turtles the size of a tank, bats the size of an umbrella were everywhere, and the local residents said that there was a trail of wolves and tigers. The terrain still had not been fully explored. Wujia, a big cave in the water city of Guizhou, the highest point, was almost 430 meters deep. The hole was large, but it was not so special in scale compared to the rest of the world. It''s just that the environment and the structure were very strange comparatively. Chen Fan wanted to control the electric eel and walk to the stone tower to see if it was suitable for human habitation. Crawling over the land, the electric eel, with its spear in its mouth, swung right and left to the stone tower. Water is an inorganic substance composed of hydrogen and oxygen. And electric eel could use the electricity in the body, to decompose the water, into oxygen and hydrogen, so in the electric eel before losing the body moisture could definitely stay on land. Moreover, the electric eel had drunk a large amount of water. The 85-meter-long electric eel, weighing 100 tons, was an absolute monster on land. It acted slow, but its moving speed was not slow. "Roar!" When he reached the front of a 15-meter-long crocodile dragon, it opened its mouth in defiance and shouted at the electric eel. "Small creature, see how I will treat you!" The electric eel held the spear in his hand, then slowly moved to the crocodile dragon. The crocodile dragon stared at the spear quizzically, and when the spear touched its head. It tentatively touched it with its claws. Bang! With a flash of blue light on his spear, the crocodile dragon shook violently and then began to cry and run away. It was so shrill that, seven or eight crocodile dragons in the neighboring area had turned their eyes on the electric eel and began to crawl toward it. Boom! The electric eel raised its head, opened its mouth, and squirted out a clear green poison. Half-a-meter-thick venom, like a water gun, spurt the crocodile dragons that were not able to run away and soaked them. Although the electric eel''s poison could not kill the large creatures, the stabbing pain made a few crocodile dragons rolled hard on the ground due to the pain and emit a scream that buzzed the electric eel''s ear. It was like poking a hornet''s nest. Between him and the golden stone tower in the distance, all the crocodile dragons that lived in the area turned their heads around and stared at the electric eel. Hum! The electric eel gave a loud roar! Boom! Dozens of crocodile dragons, as if they were angry tankers, wagged their tail and ran toward the electric eel. There were three big guys which were about 20 meters long. Looking at the army of crocodile dragons that was approaching, the electric eel again opened its mouth, a clear green venom spat out, then flashed the electricity out of its mouth, and the clear green poison immediately was on fire. He was like a ferocious dragon. The dragon fire, which splashed out at a distance of 20 to 30 meters, was thrown into an arc by the electric eel''s head, landing in front of the crocodile dragons, and pushing the brakes on the dozens of high-powered "crocodile dragon tanks." The fire was so efficient that the flames leaped seven to eight meters, and the heat was so intense that even the electric eel in the distance could feel it. Chen Fan did not want to kill these organisms. They might be the world''s only crocodile dragon group. They would become extinct if he killed them. It was better to stay there, then make them soldiers, and the eel would be their king. Of course, he needed to see if the crocodile dragons'' temperaments were brutal or not. If it was a group of stubborn creatures, and if they would not learn a lesson, the electric eel would not kill all of them. It would just kill all the big ones, leaving only the smaller ones. About five seconds later, the fire that the electric eel spat had extinguished. Of the crocodile dragons that were blocked a distance away, none of them wanted to be the first to show their claws and teeth to the 85-meter-long monster. The electric eel held its heads high and stared at them. Finally, after a dozen seconds of stalemate, one of the largest of the crocodile dragons, howled and crept forward. The electric eel did not move, it just watched as it was getting closer and closer to it. Rumbling, the 23-meter-long crocodile dragon, a few dozen meters away from the electric eel, dropped its head and showed its two horns, about five meters long, and tried to dash into the electric eel. The electric eel''s action was simple, with a long spear and a half of body twist, Bang! The crocodile dragon was swept to a dozen-meter-distance and knocked onto several others that were there. "Haha! "The electric eel howled, tugged the spear, and charged at the crocodile dragons. A man of two meters tall may be beaten up when encountering a dozen kids. But what if the strong man had a crescent moon broadsword in his hand? The electric eel was in the similar situation, carrying a titanium alloy spear 30 meters long and weighing 40 tons dashing into the group of crocodile dragons like the man with the broadsword who dashes into a kindergarten, and kept attacking them causing them to scream in pain. Boom, boom, boom, boom! The spear threw away four to five of them, and its tail swept away about the same amount. It was always possible the electric eel wouldn''t be so cool with the dozens of small crocodiles, if only one could find a chance to bite it or to stab it with the long horn on its head. The result was quite the opposite. Instead of taking a bite, the crocodile dragon fled. Because of the electric eel''s voltage that was up to 38,000 volts, the crocodile dragon, which got just close enough, would be hit by a powerful arc, and then all they could do was run away. Although the electric eel couldn''t release the lightning current over a long distance, when high-pressure ionization conductor is close, the short-range air around will be an instantaneous breakdown, forming a conductive electric arc, hitting the crocodile dragons. It was like with a lighter''s electronic fire device, which had a very small voltage, but when you''re very close to it, you''re still struck by the white arc that it releases. Up to 30,800 volts and more than 100 amperes of current. Its power was very, very big. With one blow, the crocodile dragon didn''t have to attack again. They only could flee to a distance with a painful scream. 164 White Shadows in the Deep Ang Ang Ang...The crocodile dragons were rolling away after being struck by electricity. A few of them were unable to escape and fell to the ground, roaring in pain. "Huuuu" Seeing the crocodile dragons had escaped, the electric eel let out a long sigh of relief. The liquid in the poison capsule was already used up and even the electricity discharge muscle was sore. After all, it had been dozens of crocodile dragons, not a few sheep. They were very tiring to fight. More than a thousand meters from the stone tower, the electric eel rested for half a minute and then moved to the stone tower, swinging from side to side. When the electric eel stepped on the mica floor, it felt like stepping on gold. Chen Fan really wanted to change his career but unfortunately, mica was very common and not worth much. There was a 700 or 800-meter tall gold stone tower divided into three floors. The bottom floor was about two meters high with an arched door 1.3 meters wide and a window on each side. The second floor had three windows and the third floor had no windows. The closer he was to the stone tower, the wider the electric eel''s mouth opened. The stone tower was carved out of large, highly pure gold mica, and had many abstract lines on the surface, most of them of an abstract figure riding deer, being worshipped, standing on cliffs, praying... He guessed this was the owner of the stone tower. Judging from the lines that were noticeably slimmer than others, it was supposed to be a woman! "Witch''s magic tower?" The electric eel''s eyes were the size of two water tanks as they latched onto the view ahead. He looked in as if he were an artist looking at the Mona Lisa. There was nothing on the first floor but a rough staircase connected to the second floor. On the second floor, there was a stone bed carved from mica and a golden mica table with gray pottery on it. There was no window on the third floor, so the electric eel could not see what was in it. It looked at the stairs connected to the third floor for a long time and then gave up. From these depictions and the pottery jars inside, Chen Fan estimated that the history of the stone tower was more than 10,000 years old, built around the Neolithic age. There was no metal smelting in those days, but things like pottery, wood tools and the carvings had begun to appear. Unable to see what was on the third floor, the electric eel simply straightened up and surveyed the huge lake ahead. Sapphire Lake The area was so vast that if the electric eel didn''t look closely, it couldn''t see the end far away. As far as the electric eel was concerned, the hole at the bottom was 10 kilometers long and six kilometers wide. He was unsure about the size of the other side of the lake. Jumping into the lake, the electric eel found that the water was as salty as the water outside. Seawater has an average of 35.7 million tons of minerals per cubic kilometer. That''s right, you saw that correctly: it was more than 30 million tons, about the size of the cave''s lake, and that''s why the crocodile dragons were still alive today. Of course, one of the most important elements was how oxygen circulates. But when Chen Fan saw the algae in the water, he thought for a moment and understood. The earth''s main oxygen is released from algae in the ocean. The lake was also home to large amounts of algae. Although some of the algae was yellowed and not as big as other algae in the ocean, they were actually a species of algae that could still release a large amount of oxygen. Why do plants release oxygen? That''s because in the photosynthesis process, they could take advantage of the plants absorbing an external light source. The carbon dioxide (or hydrogen sulfide) and water can be converted to organic matter and release oxygen or hydrogen. This photosynthesis action requirement was very low, as long as it was not monochromatic. You just had to have red-orange light and blue-violet light in the light wave. Any light source at any wavelength could do that. Like with out-of-season flowers, artificial light was used to control the flowering period. Although the light source of the cave was not very bright, it could hold the illumination 24 hours a day. When colorful lights were combined, the resulting light could cover all wavelengths needed for photosynthesis. People often use "craftsmanship" to describe the workings of nature. Chen Fan thought for a long time and felt that only three words could generalize this underground cave. Those words were, "d*mn good craftsmanship!" In the lake, the electric eel also found other nameless fish, small as tiny as fingers and also big with a length of six or seven meters. The crocodile dragons, on the other hand, occasionally dove under the water, catching fish. But when they saw the electric eel, most of them obediently hid far away. A few dared to come near, but eventually sobbed and ran away after experiencing the great electric shock. Chen Fan wanted to send the electric eel to the other side of the lake. Although there were roads on the shore, the electric eel was an aquatic creature. It was not only slow using the land but doing so was also tiring. Unlike the shore, the bottom of the lake was made of mud and rock. When the electric eel swam about a kilometer, the lake''s depth dropped to more than 300 meters. After swimming for a few breaths, the electric eel felt something wrong ahead. Just as the electric eel was about to increase the voltage output to probe, a huge splash of water burst from the shadow. "D*mn!" Chen Fan''s eyes were about to pop out. It turned out to be a giant crocodile dragon. How big was it? It was 60 meters long and behind its hilly head, there were two round feet and ten meters of sharp horns. Ang! The crocodile dragon also spotted the electric eel, an outsider. After roaring, it wagged its tail and dashed toward the eel. This giant crocodile was extremely fast, traveling 700 or 800 meters in just three breaths. Looking at the two gray horns, Chen Fan had no doubt that it could easily pierce the electric eel''s scales. The whole lake and the earth quaked with a bam. The electric eel started attacking. He used the 40-ton spear and rammed the crocodile. Then without waiting for it to turn back, the electric eel with blue light flashing on its body and an output of as much as 38,000 volts, suddenly swept around the place. The giant crocodile was huge but it roared after being attacked with more than 30,000 volts. Before the electric eel could attack with the spear, the crocodile fled into the distance. The crocodile had acted fierce in the beginning but changed into a coward after the attack. This deprived the eel of its fun and made it feel gloomy. Throw your weight around! This was the best portrayal of the crocodile dragons, but it''s also the primary criterion for being a good follower. How could he beat them when they were brave and fighting? Ten kilometers was just a few breaths effort for the electric eel. When the electric eel got up to the shore, its mouth opened wide enough to swallow an elephant. Seven hundred meters in front of the electric eel, there was a huge cliff about 200 meters wide and 400 meters deep. The cliff directly cut the cave in half horizontally and was still paved with gold mica. Like mountainous terrain, the cliff blocked the electric eel''s line of sight to the other side. But judging from the dome above the electric eel''s head, there was still plenty of room on the other side of the cliff. All of this was too shocking, too surprising as if this were a different world than Chen Fan had fully experienced during a bit of plane travel. From the hole to the entrance of the cave, minus the slope angle, was a length of more than 1,100 meters. The distance from the end of the cave was 13 kilometers for a total distance of 14 kilometers from the hole. The cliffside was blocked by mountains, so it could not be seen how far it lead. For the time being, the cave was still a little behind the world''s top specially graded caves. However, it certainly would be one of the world''s top 10. At the bottom of the 400-meter-deep cliff, there was a bottomless pool of water. It looked as if there were some deep-sea dragons living in it. The broad-brimmed electric eel could not get over the cliff at all, and it had no lizard''s skill in climbing. "Big mouth" was probably the phrase people would use to describe Chen Fan. However, he was thinking "Deep-Sea Dragon" would be a cool nickname. His daydreaming was cut short by a sudden surge of huge waves. He saw a scaly, white as snow, snake-like creature flash away. The white abdomen exposed to the water was like the body of Madame White Snake rolling in. "F**k I''m sure there''s no blood orchid on the cliff!" The electric eel drew back as it gasped. The unknown was always frightening, especially deep in the earth. Chen Fan felt his mind''s eye was not enough to see a white snake in the abyss. It''s creepy just to fantasize about it with your head, let alone to see it with your own eyes. He definitely would not let the electric eel track down that white python''s path. He would return first and honestly manage the big lake behind it! Dub dong... dub dong... dub dong... Lying on the ground in a daze, the electric eel seemed to hear a disorderly tap coming from behind. It looked back in disbelief. "D*mn, what the mother f**king...!" Chen Fan scolded secretly and hurriedly made the electric eel climb up. There was a herd of crocodile dragons attacking unexpectedly. The herd was led by a 60-meter-long crocodile dragon and included about 40 to 50 crocodile dragons, each about 20 or 30 meters long. They gathered and dashed towards the electric eel. Chen Fan suspected the herd contained all the big crocodiles in the lake. After all, the lake was limited in size and if there were too many crocodiles, they would starve to death for lack of food. If the electric eel was the absolute king in the water, when it was on shore, its power was reduced to the warrior level. The giant crocodile, the leader of the field, moved at a speed that was significantly more flexible on land than underwater. If it fought one to one, the electric eel wielding a spear would be sure to kill the crocodile dragon. However, it was now a major mass brawl and the electric eel''s most effective means of attack on landthe poison capsuleshad been used up. Behind them were cliffs so he was unable to escape. Even if the cliff hadn''t been a problem, the electric eel still could not escape these creatures. Chen Fan simply controlled the electric eel''s spear and decided to give the big guy a lesson. He rushed out of the encirclement and ran to the lake using the electrical conductivity of the water. He let them see a wide range of lightning storms! Rumble... Rumble... Looking at the electric eel moving in slow motion on land, the giant crocodile''s dragon head immediately sped up. It tilted its head down, ran forward and used its 10-meter-long horn as a weapon. What made the electric eel''s jaw drop even more was that the giant crocodile dragon turned abruptly 200 meters from the electric eel and with an arc around the spear, attacked from the electric eel''s side. Humph! When the giant crocodile dragon rushed to its front, the electric eel suddenly tilted its upper body up and gave a hiss. The spear in the electric eel''s claw slammed into the crocodile''s back. Boom! An earth-shaking sound was heard. The giant crocodile dragon quickly evaded the spear, and the golden mica surface was smashed out of a ravine half a meter deep. A hit! The electric eel immediately changed into a sweep, as if Zhao Zilong were doing stuns with a silver gun in a magnificent way. The impact was a line, the sweep was huge and with the weapon''s advantage, the giant crocodile could not escape. How does it feel when a spear hits a crocodile dragon in the stomach? Chen Fan felt as if he had hit a mountain. The shock from his spear was almost beyond the electric eel''s control. Of course, the spear was charged! So this crocodile dragon was even worse than a cat whose tail had been stepped on. It jumped three feet high with the electric shock. After landing, it wanted to charge again but coincidently stepped on the spear. Humph! By the time the giant crocodile dragon jumped again, the electric eel had suddenly turned its voltage up to its maximum. In the empty space, its s-shaped body was swinging back and forth into the herd. Many of the crocodile dragons had learned their lesson after being attacked by the electric eel. When they saw their leader was hit and roaring, they also saw the blue light on the electric eel. They hurriedly scattered and escaped, as they didn''t want to be shocked, too. It was as if a weasel had been thrown into a chicken stall. These inexperienced crocodile dragons were whipped by a high-voltage electric arc just five or six meters from the electric eel. Immediately... The electric arc made a thunderbolt striking sound that would make the eardrum of a person itch. The sound lingered... When the electric eel hopped into the lake, it immediately turned into a crab on the shore, erected two claws and ran amuck! "Come on! Come on!" The electric eel was half out of the water, making provocative gestures. As soon as the crocodiles touched the lake, they jumped with a bam. The giant crocodile dragon, howling on the shore, was afraid to get into the water. It wasn''t until all the crocodile dragons wandered along the shore, not daring to come in that Chen Fan was satisfied and made the electric eel swim away. The electric eel could reach 175 knots in the water at its fastest speed. Even the dragon-crocodile mother gave them eight more legs and they couldn''t catch up. They had been here for hours and the electric eel was so exhausted that it swung to the exit and temporarily left the mysterious hole. When he reached the pit, Chen Fan had electric eel curl up by the channel to conserve energy. Underwater, the electric eel, whether one-on-one or in a group fight, was almost invincible, but not on shorethe current could not be conducted in the air. So if it wanted to have a stronger group fighting ability, Chen Fan should make a greater weapon... Everyone knows that metals conduct electricity, so Chen Fan decided to make the weapon with that in mind! 165 Baoxin Por At 10 o''clock the next morning, Chen Fan got up and dressed in the black wind coat, and after washing, he went downstairs. Five tankers were now in the Zhongyun City''s coastal area and were expected to enter the port in an hour. The ships enter the port of Baoxin, which was directly connected to the port''s oil pipeline and could pump crude oil directly into the refinery. As soon as he got out of the gate, Chen Fan saw Wu Ruoyu was carrying two shopping bags in her hands, walking in his direction. "Beauty, did you buy something nice to eat? Give me some!" Chen Fan, waiting for her to come near, reached out and gave a snap. "Would you like some soap?" Wu Ruoyu smiled and gazed at the guy who was in her almost-boyfriend zone. "Where are you going dressed so formally today?" "On a blind date!" said Chen Fan, pointing to the nearby Maybach. "Go on your damn blind date!" Wu Ruoyu was slightly angry and used her shin boned leg to kick Chen Fan, but Chen Fan did not feel pain. Instead, she felt pain and almost squatted down. "Hehe!" Looking at Wu Ruoyu''s look of pain, Chen Fan smiled and took the shopping bags from her hands. "Going to the port. There are several ships coming back from Saudi Arabia to unload the goods there. Why don''t we go together?" "Are your oil tankers coming back?" Wu Ruoyu bent gently to knead her calf and frowned due to pain. The shin bone has no muscle wrapping it. A little impact will cause major pain, and she just happened to strike Chen Fan''s shin, which showed immediately who was strong and who was weak. "Well, the owner of the goods has been contacted. And they would take the good when he arrives. Are you free after this? Come play with me if you are free!" Chen Fan looked at the beautiful woman of mixed blood, and he felt warm in the heart. "No!" Wu Ruoyu stood up and combed her golden hair and asked with some hesitance, "I... Is it ok for me to go?" At the end of the day, she still wanted to be with Chen Fan, and for some reason, after that, her mind was filled with Chen Fan''s strong back, even a few scenes of him molesting her that day. It flashed like a movie in the mind. She not only did not felt disgusted, instead, she felt a little shy. "Sure, why not?" Chen Fan put her shopping bag in his yard, then locked the door and pulled her hand. In the car, Wu Ruoyu found out that Wang Bing was also going, and he could not help but blush in her cheeks. Just now she had thought that Chen Fan wanted to use the opportunity to take advantage of her when they are alone in the car! "Boss, let''s go?" After Wang Bing had started his car, he turned back and laughed like a weasel. "Go!" Chen Fan snapped, and he casually pressed the controller that was under the armrest, and very thick glass slowly rose. The interior of the car was completely separated into two worlds. "This Maybach is expensive, right?" Wu Ruoyu looked around, and though she didn''t know the series, she knew that the price of the long-form Maybach was absolutely staggering. "Ten dollars a car with a car driver!" Chen Fan squeezed to her side from his side of the seat. "This car is very wide. It''s a single seat, but if you''re not two fat people, you can sit down." Wu Ruoyu was ashamed and pushed him twice, but when she was unable to push him away she anxiously said, "Wang Bing will see this." "All the glass in the car is electrochromic. We can see into the front and outside, but the front and outside can''t see us. And it''s bulletproof and soundproof!" Chen Fan laughed and banged the glass. "Hum!" Wu Ruoyu pinched his arms, and her face was burning red, but she did not struggle anymore. Chen Fan held her gently, looking through the glass at the front, he still felt a kind of strange feeling. Although he couldn''t see the back, it was still a bit cool to see Wang Bing driving while shaking his head. What is the concept of building cars now? Humanized! The designer has already taken into account all the needs of the client, so Chen Fan only needed to pull up the curtains on the glass. With his hands under her arms, he held her in his arms. Chen Fan, sniffed her golden hair and said, "It smells good!" "Don''t... Stop that now!" Wu Ruoyu pulled her head back, not giving Chen Fan a chance to take advantage. The hot breath had hit her ears and made her feel itchy and ticklish in both her ears and heart. "Ok!" Chen Fan answered, and then lifted her hair, gently rubbing her earlobe with his index finger and thumb. Very warm. Also very soft. The originally white ear turned red immediately at a speed that was visible to the naked eye, and it felt warm when pinched gently with the fingertips. "Emm..." Wu Ruoyu was like a domestic cat. After exhaling twice, she squinted and even deliberately buried her body in his chest. They were like this for about half a minute. Wu Ruoyu, who was biting a small bundle of her hair, began to pant, then slowly opened her eyes, which were embedded with lust. Then her hands caught Chen Fan''s arm with a slightly pleading look, and she shook her head. "Hehe!" Chen Fan fanned his forefinger gently across the tip of her nose. Noticing, Chen Fan was very considerate not to continue, and let her be embarrass. Wu Ruoyu closed her eyes, and her shortness of breath gradually calmed down, but the flush on her face did not fade. The car was steady. Chen Fan reached out and push the hair off her cheek and held her quietly. He did not make any other move. The time passed quickly, and they soon arrived at the port. "We''re here. Are you coming down?" Pulling the curtain open, from this position, Chen Fan could get a glimpse of the outline of the five oil tankers, moving slowly toward the pier like a hill. "No, I''ll sit in the car!" Wu Ruoyu smiled and showed her two beautiful dimples. After being held for so long, her body was still soft, and she could not speak loudly. "Well!" Chen Fan nodded and pulled a pillow from behind and handed it to her. When he got out of the car, Wang Bing said, "Shutting the window as soon as you get in the car. I''m sure you were up to no good back there!" "Hehe!" Chen Fan was not embarrassed at such things and he looked pleased. After they went to the management office to pay port charges and taxes, the tankers announced their arrival at the port with a blow from the horn, and then switched off their gas turbine engines, letting their own inertia guide them toward the dock. It was an extremely difficult task for a large ship. Some large tonnage ships even need a tow boat to reach the shore. There was only one pipeline connected to the refinery. The tankers were lining up, and a hose would be hooked up between the them, pumping crude oil into the one pipeline. After waiting for quite some time, the several ships succeeded in landing side by side. Then the crane on the deck of the ship was moving, lifting the hose from the ships into a string and connecting it to the port. About 10 minutes later, Chen Fan managed to join it, and he was squatting on the side of a tanker. "The oil pipeline over there has been successfully tapped," said Wei Zhixiu, who called on the phone. Just as Chen Fan hung up the phone, three men, two of them with high noses and golden hair, came up to Chen Fan and began to speak in front of him. The man with the yellow skin was not a Chinese man, but a South Korean with a sausage looking mouth. The South Korean could barely speak Chinese. His two thick and dark lips muttered for a long time, and Chen Fan and Wang Bing finally understood their intentions. Wu Ruoyu, who was sitting in the car, noticed the movement and got out of the car and walked to Chen Fan. 166 The Situation Is Very Complicated Wu Ruoyu, who was wearing a coffee-coloured windbreaker, made a few foreigners'' eyes brighten up. The initial inattentiveness on their faces was now filled with a peculiar expression. However, Wu Ruoyu soon committed an action that disappointed them. She naturally walked over to hold on to Chen Fan''s arm. He had his hand in his pocket at the moment. Although she this was not a clingy act, their relationship was obvious now, even to a blind person. The two Europeans probably did not know how to speak Mandarin, so they kept on standing there silently. This made Chen Fan unsure as to which country they were from. He only could see that the Korean was talking non-stop! Their intention was simple. Baoxin Port was a bi-purpose port for both cargo and oil. Although there were a lot of docking areas at the port, they were quite diversified. There was a bulk cargo area, a natural gas area, a container area, a crude oil area, etcetera. Thus, there was not a lot of space for each set up. Chen Fan''s five tankers were docked side-by-side at the port. The first three were at the tanker''s dock area, the fourth was at the container pier, and the fifth was at the bulk cargo area. This group of foreigners also had a cargo ship on the verge of entry into the dock. They had reserved a dock, but because the tower crane that was ashore had broken down, they were unable to unload their cargo. As the other container areas did not have any vacant spaces, they wanted to have a discussion with Chen Fan, asking him to move his ships away and lend them his container docking area. Once the tanker''s fuel-transfer hose was connected, it would be a hassle to cut and reconnect it. This was because it was first necessary to seal off the connector with a blind flange in order to to avoid any oil leakage from the oil pipe. Then, it would have to be retrieved, using the crane on the ship. Not only was this a waste of time and energy, but it would also halt the entire oil pumping process! Moreover, the pipes would have to be reconnected. Then, the newly joined oil pipe would have to be pressurised. Also, as the ships'' tonnage was too big, it would take great technical skills to maneuver in that port, which was filled with ships that were constantly moving around! Although the tanker was only at dock currently, the fees for its place was already paid for! That was why Chen Fan had told them that he could only offer them the position after these five tankers were done pumping the crude oil. However, for the five tankers to complete the pumping of the crude oil, it would take them roughly one to two days. "This cargo ship carries a batch of machines that our company urgently needs. Can you make way for us? The relevant fees are not an issue." The Korean introduced himself as Xun Jinjun, a Korean enterprise''s purchasing manager. Although the words he used made this a simple discussion, his tone was very stiff, like he did not know how to speak casually at all. "I am really sorry. This batch of crude oil is also quite urgent. Our factories are waiting for it to go be sent back and rescue them!" Chen Fan shook his head, showing that there was nothing that he could do. If the opposite party had been Chinese and had spoken politely, Chen Fan might have agreed to it, but this foreignerWhy would Chen Fan want to help them? Xun Jinjun got a little anxious. Only after saying a bunch of words in his mother tongue, did he remember that this was China. He then changed to speaking Mandarin. "What if I pay you double the docking fee?" "This is not an issue of money! There are only a few people looking after the machines on the boat, while the rest are on vacation." Chen Fan looked around once, then waved his hand impatiently. "Go and look for the staff at the dock. Ask them to solve your issue!" "We looked for them, but the other container areas are all unloading cargo. Only your tankers can be moved." Both of Xun Jinjun''s small eyes were almost fixed together, as he loathed that he could not personally drive the tankers away. As for this matter, the port''s management did not have any method to request other cargo ships to leave, as they had already paid for their spaces. So, they could only tell them whose ship was more convenient to request relocation. As to whether they were willing to leave or not, that would depend on the requestor''s own eloquence. "Just because my tankers are the most convenient to be moved, you expect me to give give way to you? You guys have a lot of money, right? So, just go find some other container areas! I will never hand mine over to you," Chen Fan was getting angry now. "We already said that we are not handing it over, so why are you guys being such a bother?" Wang Bing also irritatedly waved his hand at Xun Jinjun. "Hello, beautiful little lady! Could you help us to persuade him?" One of the foreigners directed a smile at Wu Ruoyu, who was standing beside Chen Fan. He spoke in English. "Such a beautiful lady like you, I am sure your boyfriend would definitely listen to you!" "Sorry, I am afraid I can''t help you with this." Wu Ruoyu shook her head, which was a sign that she could not help, even if she had wanted to. Although tankers were relatively more convenient to move than cargo ships, moving them would still be troublesome. Thus, she did not want to help these outsiders, especially under such circumstances. "What is this guy talking about?" Chen Fan had a puzzled expression, but judging from that guy''s angry look, he knew that it was definitely not something good. "He said that he really feels like dumping this group of monkeys into the sea!" Wu Ruoyu furiously translated. The Korean language was derived from Mandarin, so it was not hard for her to learn it. Also, Wu Ruoyu used to have a Korean housemate, so she could roughly understand what the opposite party was saying. "What nerve!" Wang Bing took two steps forward, his back straight, while he stared at Xun Jinjun from the side of his eye. "Go ahead and try us!" If this would have happened at any other normal time, Xun Jinjun would have just grit his teeth and bore it, as he was no fool. With the opposite party''s luxurious car and tankers displayed over there, it was obvious that he was someone influential. Otherwise, he would not have used Korean to scold him. But, he did not expect the pretty lady to actually also understand Korean! There are some things that, when done in front of an especially gorgeous lady, would make a man''s ego become as fragile as a chicken egg, and make him lose all rationality. Undoubtedly, Wu Ruoyu was precisely such a supreme beauty! Xun Jinjun heard this, then raised his legs and kicked towards Wang Bing''s chest. Of course, this kick did not even touch a single strand of Wang Bing''s hair. Wang Bing merely needed to suck in his abdomen to easily avoid it. "Hpmh!" Wang Bing raised his eyebrow, then turned his head to look at Chen Fan. After seeing him nod his head, everyone''s vision blurred for a moment. Then, suddenly, they heard a loud crispy sound. They then saw Wang Bing standing there, as if nothing had happened. Xun Jinjun''s face swelled up quickly. Half a second later, his eyes went wide, as he held onto his cheeks with both hands and squatted down. He then vomited a mouthful of blood and even coughed up a few teeth! He had never been treated in such a way! Feeling furious, he wanted to rebuke them, but suddenly, he felt a sharp pain on his cheeks. As the pain was unbearable, he instantly kneeled on the floor, then covered his mouth and rolled on the floor, while making a terrible moaning sound. Wang Bing''s slap was aimed at his facial nerves. The pain was enough to make a person go crazy. Yet, no one could blame Wang Bing for being so cruel. As a foreigner, they had insulted someone as a monkey in front of them. How could anyone not burn in anger at these words, which were clearly discriminatory and covered with many hidden meanings? If this had happened in the wilderness or a more remote place, no one would have cared, even if they were murdered or buried! Once the two foreigners saw how things had escalated to the current situation, they stood there speechless, not knowing what to do. They were just ordinary technicians, who were in charge of helping the factory fix the machines. They were not experts in combat! Besides, they did not have the obligation to do so! "Stand up!" Wang Bing walked right up to him and squatted down, full of provocation. "Ah!" Xun Jinjun immediately let out a miserable shriek, just like a pig being slaughtered. He stuttered through his teeth, which were now filled with cracks from hits, "Ah! You stepped on my hand!" "I did that on purpose!" No matter how hard he struggled, Wang Bing did not lift up his leg. Looking at Wang Bing''s arrogant face, Xun Jinjun felt like he had just chewed a mouth full of iron teeth. Of course, it was just his teeth chattering, which were making the sounds. "How dare you glare at me?" Wang Bing moved his leg, which made Xun Jinjun''s eyeball nearly pop out, due to the pain. The fight was too sudden, so the staff at the port could not come to help in time. Only when Xun Jinjun was rolling on the ground, did they quickly rush over. Wang Bing saw this, then thought that it was not a good idea to continue beating him, since the beatings thus far were definitely enough to make him go home and suffer in pain for up to six or seven days! He would even have to go to the dental hospital to replace his broken teeth. "Go to the car and wait for me!" Chen Fan smiled at Wu Ruoyu. He then walked to the front of Wang Bing. "Great job!" Chen Fan patted him on his shoulder. That guy really had deserved a beating. "What happened? What happened?" The port''s security personnel came rushing over. Looking at the person, who was speaking in Korean on the floor, and then at Wang Bing, Chen Fan, and the two other golden haired and blue-eyed foreigners, he suddenly felt a headache coming on. Wang Bing stood up, then told the whole story, careful to add details and emphasize that it was the opposite party that had started this fight first! "I want to call the police!" Xun Jinjun crawled up from the floor, blood on his head and face. Maybe it was because of the presence of the public personnel, but he now had the courage to point at Wang Bing''s nose and scold him, hoping to get back some of his honor. "How dare you beat up a Korean..." His sentence could only reach its halfway point, before it suddenly became an "Ugh Ugh" sound. This was because Wang Bing had kicked him in the stomach, right in front of everyone, which had immediately made Xun Jinjun curl up like a dried shrimp! He instantly fell to the floor, his mouth wide open. The port''s security guards immediately called for the police''s help. After all, they were not in a position to settle matters like this! A group of policemen rushed over quickly. When they saw the scene, they also had a headache instantly. On one side of the debacle was a foreign company''s personnel, while on the other side, there was a tycoon from Zhongyun, who was worth a lot of money. So, they could only try to not offend either side. Thus, they used a relatively nice tone to invite both parties to the police station. Since both parties had their own cars, they followed the two police cars, which led the way. "Chen Fan, do you need to call your uncle to inform him?" While seated in the Maybach, Wu Ruoyu brought out her phone, asking Chen Fan. "No need. For trivial cases like this, we will just end up going to the police station to write a statement for their records, then be released after paying some under-the-counter money." Chen Fan was pleased with himself, as he sat with his legs crossed. If the one that had been beaten was an American, things might have been more troublesome. But luckily, it was only a Korean. Since it was such a small country, nothing much would happen. "You only know how to fight. I''ve already witnessed you fighting three rounds!" Wu Ruoyu pinched his arm, teasingly. "But none of those were my fault!" Chen Fan said, defending himself. In fact, this was pretty true. Upon their arrival at the police station, after the policemen were told the whole story, they started to joke around and play Tai Chi, then stated that both parties were at fault. The Korean side should not have started beating people, whereas Chen Fan''s side had been a little too brutal. But, as it was considered to be an act of self-defence, Chen Fan had to compensate the other party by covering 20 to 40 percent of all medical fees. Xun Jinjun was obviously not satisfied with this, as he kept making a ruckus, saying that he wanted to go to court to sue Chen Fan instead. The policemen shook their heads, which was a sign that they were willing to help, but unable to do so. They simply explained that they were only in charge of investigations, and not responsible for handling cases like suing someone else. In the end, one of the policemen got frustrated and glared at him. "Go ahead and sue, if you are capable, but don''t say that we didn''t warn you. By just looking at that display of splendor, with those cars and bodyguards, if you sue him, you will probably be the first to be out of luck. This place is a police station, after all. If you continue to make a ruckus, then I will make you sorry you were ever born!" "Boss, how about we block that person here, then wait till he''s out, so we can get our money back?" Chen Fan and his people had just walked out from the main door of the police station, when Wang Bing secretly moved close to Chen Fan''s ears to whisper his thoughts. He felt that the compensation of 5,000 Renminbi was really too much. "How could you come up with such a bad idea!" Wu Ruoyu rolled her eyes, when she heard what Wang Bing had just said. "We won''t be able to look for such a place that easily, especially in broad daylight. So, let''s just forget about it!" Chen Fan also felt a bit unhappy with such a silly thought. "Sigh!" Wang Bing closed his mouth tightly, then shook his head, while letting out a sigh. "Hehe You did a great job today!" Chen Fan waved his hands, trying to boost his spirits. "Let''s go! Let me treat you to a big feast to reward you." "OK!" Wang Bing brightened up with joy, as he made some gestures before entering into the driver''s seat. Sitting in the car, Chen Fan embraced Wu Ruoyu. Although his mouth was talking about serious matters, his hands kept roaming across her body. "Stop that! I''m ticklish!" Wu Ruoyu blushed, as she reclined her body halfway towards the other side, while covering herself with her arms tightly. "Then, tell me which area isn''t ticklish, and I will touch that place!" Chen Fan shamelessly kept comin at her. Just when he wanted to do something bad, the ringing from the phone in his pocket disturbed his plans. Taking it out and looking at the number, Chen Fan immediately was embarrassed. Noticing that Wu Ruoyu was not paying any attention to him, he quickly pressed on the accept call button. "Brother Chen Fan, will you still be coming back for lunch?" The little student Yun Meng spoke in a soft tone. "I have something going on over here at the moment, which I am not able to walk away from." Maybe it was because Chen Fan felt guilty, but when he spoke, he sounded like he had something to hide. He wanted to let Yun Meng know his intentions, without Wu Ruoyu noticing that the call was from her. "Oh" Yun Meng sounded a little disappointed. "Is that Yun Meng?" Wu Ruoyu turned her flushed face over, then pouted playfully. "Let her join us. How could you have the heart to leave her at home?" Due to the Nokia phone''s good audio quality and the fact that the car was so quiet that even the engine could not be heard, Wu Ruoyu had managed to hear the voice on the other end of the line. However, she had always thought that Yun Meng was just an adopted daughter, who was taken in by Chen Fan''s family, so she didn''t think much more about it. However, Yun Meng had also heard the voices on the other end of the line "Are you together with big sister Ruoyu right now?" Yun Meng''s voice had a sad tone to it, for seemingly no reason. "Yup!" Chen Fan''s throat and eyes started to turn dry. His scalp was getting numb, as his thoughts quickly operated at 1,000 spins per minute! "Just now, I was with your big brother Wang Bing and big sister Wu Ruoyu. We were settling some troublesome matters regarding the ships at the dock. We just finished, so how about I come back to pick you up, then we can all go out for a meal?" Chen Fan was praying strongly that she would not accept, but his facial expression remained just as usual, without any irregularity to be seen, as he did not want to Wu Ruoyu to get suspicious. He also wanted to be sure to let Yun Meng understand that there was nothing happening between them, other than just a normal business relationship. "Now, because of business matters, I have to treat her for a meal. Since, Yun Meng, you are so understanding, I am sure you would not hold up beautiful big sister''s time and make us to purposely return to pick you up, right?" he cooed into the phone. "No need, no need. The rice is already cooked. It would be a waste for me to not eat it." Yun Meng really did not disappoint Chen Fan! But Wu Ruoyu did disappoint Chen Fan "Let her come too, okay?" Wu Ruoyu shook Chen Fan''s arms. "We shall go to the restaurants beside the Polan District. There are a few restaurants there that serve tasty food. It is also nearer to your home!" How can you be so stubborn? Chen Fan helplessly thought to himself. What should I do now? Saying any more would definitely result in a worse outcome, since it would seem like he was trying to hide something. Once she got suspicious, she would simply need to talk to Yun Meng for a while, then she would know everything! After all, Yun Meng and Wu Ruoyu were not fools. There was a 100,000 percent chance that the both of them would understand the situation at the same time. He was having two lovers at the same time! The consequences were so serious, that the results of their both finding out would be extremely unpredictable! "Yup, that''s a good idea!" Chen Fan agreed with a smile, then said in the call, "We are going to eat at the district entrance. Wait for us at the main entrance of the district. We will be there in a while." Hanging up, Chen Fan smiled in an extremely natural manner. "Later, don''t tell her that we just had a fight with Koreans, because she would definitely report it to my parents." "I know!" Wu Ruoyu intimately pinched Chen Fan''s nose. Chen Fan smiled, as he pressed on the control button for the front mirror to roll down, so that he could tell Wang Bing to head back to the Polan District. Twenty minutes later, after the Maybach had just arrived at the main entrance of the Polan District, they could already see Yun Meng, who was waiting in her school uniform. It was undeniable that Yun Meng could already make countless females jealous. Her tender white skin and slim yet curvy body could leave countless boys in awe. Her beauty was somehow innocent, attractive, and seductive. 167 A Lesson For The Crocodile Dragons "You have to believe in yourself!" Chen fan secretly gave himself some encouragement in his heart, then asked Wang Bing to park the car at the gate of the garden, to prevent anything from happening to the car. When he got out of the car, Wu Ruoyu was ashamed, did not hold Chen Fan''s arm, and just walked with him. Then she smiled and scowled at Yun Meng. She was ashamed, of course, that the little girl was more embarrassed and went to Chen Fan timidly, and they walked, one on either side. "Let''s go here. The seafood barbecue is very good." Before he had taken a few steps, Chen Fan simply pointed to one of the shops. The restaurant, which was located next to the Bolan Garden, was certainly good. It was a very beautiful full-service seafood barbecue restaurant. Chen Fan had brought Yun Meng there several times. All four of them were young people, and of course, there was no objection to eating seafood barbeque. Entering the hall, Chen Fan casually said, "To the room or in the hall?" They were not sure who he was talking to. Wang Bing was the only one picky about his food, and Yun Meng would do whatever Chen Fan decided. Wu Ruoyu, upon seeing that nobody replied, looked around and discovered that the hall was not crowded and said, "In the hall. The room is a little too cold and cheerless." "Okay!" Chen Fan pointed to a position near the window and said, "That''s a nice position, near the window. There are only a few people nearby. You all go and sit down, and I''ll go to the bathroom." Chen Fan was very cunning. He pointed to the position of four people. If he let them sit down first, Yun Meng and Wu Ruoyu who would sit together, then he would not offend either one, and he could sit with Wang Bing. When he came back from the bathroom, and the three people had not disappointed him. Wang Bing was sitting alone on one side, researching the menus with his two sparkling eyes, while Yun Meng and Wu Ruoyu quietly looked at Chen Fan. "Whew!" Chen Fan took a deep breath and then walked quickly to Wang Bing''s side and sat down. Suffering a major setback due to carelessness was the best way to describe Chen Fan''s mood at the moment. Seeing South Korea being beaten up was so great, and had an exciting moment with Wu Ruoyu, apparently, in the end, forgetting Yun Meng. The table was quickly filled up by the server, and all varieties of fish and prawns were sizzling on the hot iron plates with puffs of smoke, and the fragrance made them drool. Wang Bing was impatient. The shell of the shrimp was not completely golden, and he just took his chopsticks and took two and tasted them. "You like to eat half-cooked, too?" Chen Fan not knowing whether to laugh or cry, thought, Is this guy that hungry? "Shrimp is best when it is half-cooked so that the shrimp roe is not condensed. It is like drinking half-cooked egg yolk, it tastes good!" Wang Bing raised his eyebrows and continued to eat his shrimp. Kicking him with his toe, Chen Fan secretly made a "you don''t just eat" expression. Wang Bing was also a smart man. He knew what was in Chen Fan''s mind, but he just laughed and gave two ah sounds. He ignored Chen Fan to show that he couldn''t help it. So soon, Chen Fan''s troubles came In the past, Chen Fan had been here with Yun Meng a few times. Chen Fan liked to eat the shrimp, and when the shrimp was almost ready, Yun Meng would clamp a few, spread the seasoning, and then give them to Chen fan. Wu Ruoyu certainly was not jealous when his adopted sister did this. As his girlfriend, of course, she also wanted to express her feelings, so she took a few pieces of squid and handed them to Chen Fan. As soon as she did this, Yun Meng immediately looked at Wu Ruoyu nervously and naively. Yun Meng, although she was young, understood Wu Ruoyu''s actions quite clearly, and felt they had exceeded the actions of an ordinary business friendship. Then she felt a bitter feeling rising in her belly, spreading out across her chest, and her whole chest felt sore. Wu Ruoyu blushed a little when Yun Meng stared at her with her two beautiful sparkling eyes which then looked at Chen Fan, accusing him of not telling Yun Meng her identity. But Chen Fan would not dare look directly at her, kept his head down and kept eating the shrimp in the saucer. Slowly picking up the cup, Wu Ruoyu, who was blushing, had to drink water to hide her embarrassment. While she was drinking, Wu Ruoyu suddenly felt something was not quite right. Yun Meng''s look... Once a certain idea pops up, the more one thinks about it, the greater it becomes. For example, the monk Dharma, sat and meditated while saying that he wouldn''t entertain foolish ideas. But the more he thought it, the more he would keep thinking of it. Another example was when the boy accidentally saw the beautiful woman walking, in his heart he would say to himself that he should not peak, but he could not help himself since the devilish thought kept coming up. However, Wu Ruoyu was confused. She sensed the obstinate expression on Yun Meng''s face, Chen Fan''s deliberately evasive action, and everything felt wrong. But it was not the time to question those things. For the moment, she could only suppress her doubts. Everyone was in their own thoughts, and there were a few glancing looks here and there during the meal. Wu Ruoyu bit her lip and gave Chen Fan a questioning look, Chen Fan could only try to avoid eye contact, and he urged them to eat quickly and leave, even though he had not filled up his stomach. Of course, his desire to hide something only deepened Wu Ruoyu''s doubt. Inexplicably, the leading actor and actress walked slowly together, without speaking. Wang Bing had already wiped the oil from his mouth and drove back to the villa. When they got home, it was already 1:20 pm, so Yun Meng had to say goodbye to the both of them and carried the rabbit bag to school. "Why are you looking at me like that?" asked Chen Fan, who sat on the sofa. "How did the barbecue taste?" "You''re feeling guilty!" Wu Ruoyu didn''t answer his question. She just stared at Chen Fan deathlike with her big watery eyes. "Didn''t you see the expression on Yun Meng''s face when I dished some food for you? It was as if she had suffered a huge grievance." "Was it?" Chen Fan gave an expression of confusion and ignorance and smiled. "Just now I was too hungry and was concentrating on eating." "What is your relationship with her?" Wu Ruoyu plucked up her courage to speak out. "You are not related by blood, so I am afraid you... you..." Wu Ruoyu felt embarrassed to finish her sentence, but anyone could understand her meaning. "What relationship could there be?" With his tongue licking his dry lips, Chen Fan asked. "She had lost her loved ones at a young age, so maybe she is more attached to me?" "The way Yun Meng looked, was not attachment at all. It was totally it the look only lovers have." Wu Ruoyu gently pushed her hair behind her ear. She was now uncertain. As long as there was no proof, she could not make a conclusion yet. "All right, all right. You''re jealous of the wrong person. Different people and faces show different emotions. For example, when someone is angry they laugh. Others cry when they are angry. You have misunderstood Yun Meng. She didn''t necessarily mean what you thought by her expression." Chen Fan stretched his hand to touch the golden hair of Wu Ruoyu who was leaning on him, and then, and then stroked down her had like he would a kitten. "Let''s take Wang Bing, for example. Wang Bing is lascivious, but it cannot be observed from the expression on his face. Similarly, you can''t just blindly conclude from a few expressions, that I have something to do with Yun Meng!" Wu Ruoyu smiled at the stupid example he gave. Although knowing what he said was wrong, she knew she would not get an answer if she kept asking, and she secretly decided in her heart that she would observe him meticulously from then on. After all, the pure and beautiful Yun Meng was like a piece of sweet and delicious cake there. He was a Wolf, and the possibility that he could not resist it was high. Chen Fan had just used Wang Bing as a metaphor, but now he was beginning to do it himself. His left hand that stroked her hair, gradually began to move downward. "Don''t! Stop that now! I''m going to work!" A pink blush was slowly appearing from Wu Ruoyu''s skin like an advertisement effect of cosmetics products on TV. ........... After Wu Ruoyu left, Chen Fan gave a great sigh! It is true that a man who is noble in his depravity thinks he has the confidence to teach his present girlfriend and his future wife. The problem was both of them live near, and in that kind of environment, it was more intense. He was burying himself in the sofa, thinking about his future, when the ringing phone broke his thought. Chen Fan pressed the key, and pinched his nose and said, "Jiang Shui, are my things done?" "It''s done, boss!" "Well, you call the factory staff and tell them to bring it to the big dock." Chen Fan thought for a while and added, "Have them send it now. Don''t dawdle." Hanging up the phone, Chen Fan tidied up his clothes and went to the garage. To deal with the stubborn crocodile, Chen Fan had deliberately made a weapon in the shipyard to teach them. The structure of the weapon was simple, so it could be finished in a day. The staff in the shipyard had already moved the weapon to the dock, and when Chen Fan opened the dock gate, a small cargo ship rumbled into it sending the thing in. "You two, go and take it off with the crane." Chen Fan pointed to two employees who looked familiar but could not recall name their names. The dock was not only large, but also had two small cranes that could be used to load and unload cargo. "Okay, boss!" The two men agreed, and they climbed up the tower. Shipbuilders were not unfamiliar with simple towers. The difference was only their skills. The crane thundered and lowered the weapon to the ground. Chen Fan took out two packets of Zhonghua cigarettes, and handed to them to them as a reward. "Hehe... Thanks, boss!" The two smokers could not restrain themselves from taking one out to smoke. They thanked Chen Fan, and then quickly took the boat out of the dock. Smiling, he stared at the specially ordered weapon on the ground. Chen Fan''s face showed the inscrutable smile like the warlord head of the Zhili military faction. The weapon structure was very simple but very practical! It was made of 200 meters of soft steel wire, with 2 meters of steel wire at the end of the steel wire. When the electric eel shook like a woman dancing, the crocodile dragon would enjoy a very "happy" electric shock when they were covered in steel wire. "Haha!" Chen Fan roared, then transfer his mind to the electric eel, controlled it to slip out of the big hole, and swim to this side. ......... After 20 minutes, the electric eel was again drilling into the hole, only with a wire of amazing length on its claws. Chen Fan then locked the dock gate and drove home, comfortably lying in bed. Of course, there should be a good environment for doing this. And the dock was obviously not suitable. The two hundred meters of steel wire was not at all difficult to drill down a dozen-meter-wide hole with, and the electric eel "forced the flow" into the mysterious space where the light could not reach. It started looking at the environment and was going to start looking for the crocodile dragon. From the entrance to the lake, there were more than 30 large and small crocodile dragons in action, and the giant crocodile dragon was not seen. It might be hiding in the lake, eating, or had gone to some female dragon to mate with! "Hum!" The electric eel, while using the air to vibrate its mouth, went to the lake with a defiant gesture. More than 30 of them were playing. Once they saw the horrible monster from the day before coming again, they hurriedly gathered together and cautiously fixed their sight on the electric eel. "Hum!" The electric eel continued to give a loud noise and move toward them step by step. "Ang... and ..." more than 30 crocodile dragon were not willing to show weakness. Each opened their throats in response to the electric eel''s provocation. But compared with the first time, there was obviously a lack of feeling. Crocodile dragon''s sound was great, especially in the closed space. All that were at the lake came out and joined as one big force, including the 60-meter giant crocodile dragon. The electric eel and the crocodile dragon''s roared across the hundreds of meters, and more crocodile dragons gathered. Almost 70 of them came out of the lake, forming an arc in front of the electric eel. The total number of adults in the group was about 120. Except for the unexposed young ones, that was about all the crocodile dragon in that space. The average body length was 25 meters. With a total of 120 crocodile dragons, the area they were covering was very, very large. An electric eel that was more than 80 meters was enclosed in the center, like a tiger surrounded by a pack of wolves. "Kill!" Chen Fan roared in the heart and immediately controlled the electric eel to rush at the crocodile dragons! 168 The Third Floor of the Stone Tower It was like an ancient knight storming into a bandit''s den, or Zhao Zilong storming into the Cao''s army camp alone. At more than 80 meters long, the electric eel looked like a terrorist monster holding a long steel wire. The 120 crocodile dragons immediately roared in panic. They put their heads down and with their two horns in a straight line, dashed towards the electric eel. When the electric eel was still more than 50 meters away from the crocodile dragons, the crocodile dragons saw only stars in front their eyes and a steel wire covering their heads. The crocodile dragons, of course, did not know the power of the steel wire and they continued charging like cattle. Boom! A bright blue light burst out from the electric eel and was immediately transmitted to the wire where it spread like a virus. Ang Ang Ang... Immediately, the crocodile dragons were roaring at the top of their lungs and a crackling electric light burst onto their bodies. Because the voltage had formed a strong electromagnetic field around them, the crocodile dragons in contact with the earth formed a natural circuit where the charged steel wires clung to their bodies and could not be shaken off. Steel wire could not cover all the crocodiles, but this group of crocodiles was unable to stop inertia. They knocked into each other one by one and were immediately electrocuted. Crawling backwards at full speed while pumping out the high voltage prevented the howling crocodile dragons from crashing into the electric eel. After about half a minute, the electric eel stopped releasing the voltage and looked condescendingly at the crocodile dragons. The ones in front, including the giant crocodile dragon leader, were lying on the ground, their bodies trembling once in a while. As for the crocodile dragons that were in the back, they sobbed and walked around but none dared to go near the electric eel. Humph! The electric eel raised the front half of his body steeply and with his mouth wide open, he let out a haunting roar. The electric eel was regal but the roar certainly was not regal at all. The roar was meant to shock the crocodile dragons and make them surrender. The crocodile dragons immediately turned their heads and started howling while dashing into the lake. Ho! Without further ado, the electric eel dropped the steel whip from his claws. When several crocodiles slid into the water, the eel gave them a lively "political lesson" in an aquatic setting. It was not a problem for the electric eel to detect distances of up to two kilometers when his electromagnetic induction was fully released. The lake, which was 10 kilometers long and nine kilometers wide, was not deep. With a speed up to 170 knots, it wouldn''t take long for the electric eel to survey the surroundings. Within seconds of swimming, the electric eel tracked down a 30-meter-long crocodile dragon that was scared as h*ll to see the electric eel swimming in its direction. Outwitted by the electric eel on the bank, it would not have a chance in the water. With just 20,000 volts of high pressure electricity released by the electric eel, the crocodile dragon struggled painfully. Its body appeared to be stuffed with bubbles as it gurgled and rose to the surface of water. The electric eel snapped his tail up, smashed it down and then tracked his next target without stopping. He swept back and forth. Including the giant crocodile, the electric eel did not let any go. After raging for a long time, more than 120 large crocodiles all quickly ran away when they saw the electric eel, like when rats meet cats. The jackal, though carnivorous, runs for its life when it sees tigers. The crocodile dragons, who were definitely not stubborn donkeys, had experienced the electric eel''s attack three or four times and had imprinted in their minds that he was absolutely impossible to defeat. The electric eel was tired and the crocodile-dragons were afraid. Chen Fan controlled the electric eel to climb onto the bank and curl up under the stone tower to rest. When he had rested enough, he would go and "impress" the crocodile dragons some more. .................. At two o''clock the next afternoon, Chen Fan drove back to the dock, unloaded all the supplies in the trunk and secretly controlled the electric eel to swim to the dock. After a few hours of mayhem the afternoon before, the crocodile dragons had transformed into good babies. With the electric eel in their territory, none of them dared to venture out. Chen Fan was going to dive into the cave in a sealed titanium alloy diving shell to visit the stone tower and make it a hiding place for himself. The atmosphere there was about five ata. Humans in that pressure would easily suffer from decompression sickness; therefore, Chen Fan went to the diving equipment store and bought a diving helmet with a pressure-reducing valve seal. The helmet was simple in construction and the only technology on it was an electric relief valve with a pressure gauge. At five atmospheric pressuresthe equivalent of 50 meters diving depththe pressure change value was not too big. He only needed to adjust the pressure valve and slowly let the pressure inside the helmet slowly rise from zero to five, or descend from five to zero. The sealed titanium alloy diving capsule had been completed. It was welded with titanium alloy steel up to 13 centimeters thick, which could resist the water pressure at a depth of 1,000 meters. The capsule was a ball two meters in diameter that distributed pressure evenly over every inch of titanium alloy. If there was a problem, the big electric eel could swallow it in his mouth. The only problem was that it would be just a little disgusting. Stuffing everything into the capsule and then putting on the diving helmet, Chen Fan closed the capsule door from inside. The diving capsule did not look good. It would definitely be looked down upon if seen by technical divers. It had no auxiliary equipment except for a bare iron case and there was no electric light in it, either. The electric eel grabbed the diving pod and moved slowly into the tank. It then pushed the dock door against it and moved into the reef. Arriving at the reef, Chen Fan deliberately controlled the diving speed of the electric eel to see if the pressure-resistant shell would have any flaws due to quality problems. Chen Fan, however, was clearly overcautious. There were no quality problems with the pressure-resistant shell, even when it reached the entrance to the cave. More than 20 minutes had passed. In the narrow chamber, air gradually began to become turbid. The electric eel quickly swam through the kilometer-long channel and put the capsule in a place not far away from the stone tower. Chen Fan turned the valves from the inside. Hiss... hiss Due to the pressure, the external air immediately entered along the gap into the cabin. With a splashing sound, the helmet relief valve also showed a slight jump and started to work. At five atmospheres of pressure, there was no discomfort except for the slight strangulation of the rubber seal on his chin. Looking through the glass at the stone tower in front of him, Chen Fan was in complete dementia. From the electric eel''s point of view and from the human point of view, there were two different kinds of feelings. It looked tiny in front of the electric eel but huge in front of the human. The surface of the golden stone tower was filled with the depiction of ancient times and the vicissitudes of life. Just like magic lines full of color, it was a kind of magic that made people feel unconsciously intoxicated by it. He bit his tongue and struggled out of the dementia. Chen Fan sighed at the wisdom of the ancients. He briskly walked to the capsule and pulled out the sheets, tableware, benches, pots and pans, some articles for daily use and so on from it. The space in the cabin was too small, so Chen Fan did not dare to bring too much at once. As the cave was never a dark space, he did not consider bringing the lighting equipment. However, electricity was a thing that people living in the 21st century could not leave behind, so Chen Fan was ready to bring a battery set on the next trip and then get a voltage regulator. He could then use the electric eel to replenish the battery''s energy. In this way, he could use the electromagnetic cooker to cook food or use the computer to play some single-player games. After moving the things into the stone tower, Chen Fan stroked the stone wall, admiring it. Someone must have polished the inside of the stone tower, as the texture was not as rough as he thought it would be. Except for being a little empty, the whole tower looked very good. It was very atmospheric and beautiful. Stepping up the stairs to the second floor, Chen Fan wiped the dust off with a towel and then spread the bedding on it. He took the pottery on the stone table and placed it gently to one side, replacing it with modern white porcelain. Standing from the window, which was half a human''s height, he could see the blue lake in the distance. He could see the crocodile dragons rolling and splashing in the water. However, they were all far from the stone tower and were afraid to approach it because an electric eel, more than 80 meters long, was crouching at the foot of the tower. It was quite a wonder that this stone tower could still exist today. The crocodile dragons, which were over 20 meters long, could knock down the stone tower with a savage blow. The stone tower apparently did not suffer this disaster and even after countless years of wind and frost, it still stood intact near the lake. Looking around, Chen Fan withdrew his sight and began to look at the stairs leading to the third floor. There were no windows on the third floor, so the electric eel could not see anything in it at first. Now he was inside the stone tower and was able to go up and see what was there. Taking a deep breath, Chen Fan stepped on the golden stairs and walked to the third floor. F**k, you aren''t kidding me, are you? When Chen Fan went to the third floor, he was completely speechless and stunned by what he saw. At the entrance to the third floor, a mass similar to amber completely blocked the surrounding area, leaving Chen Fan standing and staring at the entrance. Standing closer and smelling it, Chen Fan was sure that this was made by the accumulation of turpentine but because of time and the loss of water, it had slowly coagulated into this texture. The crisp echo of his hand hitting the yellowish turpentine wall made him realize that the wall was not thick and could be broken open with a hammer. Chen Fan, of course, did not run back to the store to buy a hammer to smash the wall. Instead, he ran outside the stone tower, picked up a piece of gold mica from the ground and walked back to the amber wall. Bang! Chen Fan clasped the mica stone in both hands and hit the turpentine wall hard at chest height. In the pale yellow turpentine wall there immediately appeared a fist-sized broken part with white powder falling down from it. The damage caused by the chisel was about three centimeters thick. Chen Fan blew off the powder and again swung the mica stone at the same spot. Bang! Bang! Bang! After gouging the spot seven or eight times in a row, Chen Fan finally chipped through the turpentine wall. The tapered damage extended to a diameter of 10 centimeters and a depth of seven centimeters. The result after the chiseling was unexpected. There was no colorful light coming from the small hole, nor was there any clutter coming into Chen Fan''s sight. There was only a stream of water with a strong scent slowly coming out from the little hole. The throbbing aroma, like a wine that was sealed for 100 years and like lilac flowers in early spring, made Chen Fan''s cerebral cortex immediately perk up. It was as if he took 10 milligrams of 100% pure opium. His whole body was gently fluttering like falling clouds. It really felt like embracing a pillow and laying in bed. To resist the airy intimacy, Chen Fan ran to the second floor. He tore off a piece of cloth from the bed sheet with brute force, took the bowl on the stone table and ran back again. He placed the bowl underneath the stream and let the fragrant liquid drain into the bowl. When the bowl was half filled, he immediately covered the hole with the cloth. Carefully holding the porcelain bowl, Chen Fan sat down at the stone table on the second floor. Chen Fan stared at the clear, colorless liquid that looked like water in the bowl. What was on this third floor? Was it a wine of the ancients? Chen Fan remembered he had seen a news item that said experts of Xi An archaeology protected cultural relics. When excavating early western Han dynasty tombs, they unearthed 17 pieces of bronze, including two bronze jugs with 51 kilograms of Xi Han Dynasty wine. It was said that when it was first opened, the whole room immediately smelled sweet and refreshing, except that the wine was a slightly different color because it was in a bronze vessel. According to scientists, the two jugs of wine were so low in alcohol that they couldn''t smell the wine''s scent. A wine tasting master came to taste it and immediately gave it a thumbs-up. He said, "Sweet! The alcohol degree is not high. This is the Han dynasty highly graded grain wine!" But here''s the problem! Although China was the world''s first country to produce wine, winemaking so far was only about 2,000 years old. Prior to that, ancient distillation technology had not developed, so they were unable to produce liquid containing alcohol. This stone tower was at least 10,000 years old. It was impossible for human beings at that time to brew such delicious, watery wine. Chen Fan carefully smelled. It was not totally like the fragrance of winenothing that could be described in detail. Only one word could describe this and that was, "fragrant!" Taste it? Such a thought arose in Chen Fan''s mind but was immediately reconsidered. Being sealed for 10,000 years, who knew what it was. After dabbing a bit with his finger and then applying it evenly to a plate, Chen Fan began to see if it would evaporate. Alcohol was a rapidly volatile substance. When exposed to air, it evaporated at a rate visible to the naked eye. Even if the alcohol content was very low, it would volatilize in the air. After waiting for two or three minutes, the liquid on the plate did not evaporate. That meant it was not alcohol. 169 The Taisui And The Tibetan Mastiff "Not wine. What is that?" Chen Fan scratched his head, and still couldn''t figure out anything, so he took the plastic bags that were made to wrap bowls, carefully tied the bowl set and was prepared to take it to land, then find a laboratory to test the components inside. Circling the stone pagoda with the small bowl in hand, it was now just a simple shell. if he wanted to make this a good place to stay, it would be a big project. Chen Fan pulled back his reluctance to leave the sight, slowly walked down the stairs, and then went in the submarine. After the electric eel burst through the cave into the dock, Chen Fan sat in the Maybach, thinking about where to identify the liquid in the bowl. There were many regular biochemistry laboratories in Zhongyun City, like Zhongyun People''s Hospital, Jisheng Pharmaceutical Factory, Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute, Zhongyun University, and so on, that have more advanced testing equipment, and will undertake some external object compositions for analysis and testing. Hesitating for a while, Chen Fan decided to go to Zhongyun University to have it tested, although if the teachers saw him they would babble. But wasn''t that better than an unfamiliar place? It wasn''t a big deal! Do it if you feel like doing it. Chen Fan looked at the time, which was 3:30 p.m. It would be just the right time to go. Thirty minutes later, he was at Zhongyun University entrance! The eight Mandarin characters of the school mottoTo obtain knowledge and practice itshone bright gold under the sun, still hanging on the building. The only thing that changed was the students in the university that came in and went batch by batch. Two security guards squatting in the sun caught sight of the Maybach and, thinking it was a Big Boss, quickly rose from the ground to press the switch for the automatic door. Chen Fan did not pretend and brought the bowl in. From the gate to the experimental building, there was a distance to walk. The students or teachers may recognize him. After two honks, the car drove into the gate at a speed of light. Along the way, there were students who were smoking cigarettes and skipping classes, giving envious looks when they saw the car. Some of them knew the brand and excitedly pointed to the Maybach and screamed, almost unable to keep from dashing forward and touching it. At the white lab, Chen Fan looked around and noticed that no one was paying attention. He hurried into the building with the small bowl. The experimental building of Zhongyun University, though not surprisingly, looked a bit old. But there were plenty of modern items in it. Chen Fan remembered the days when he had just started. The government had allocated 50 million to create a new marine deep water pressure chamber, which included importing a super-powered water grain pressure cabin specially from Germany. The laboratory building of Zhongyun University also took some private cases to earn extra money, so Chen Fan filled out the report and paid the fee, and was taken to the composition analysis room on the second floor. What Chen Fan had not expected was to find, squatting in the laboratory, one of the three famous people in Zhongyun University, Shen Zhengzhi. Shen Zhengzhi, 63 years old, who had a doctorate in marine biology from the University of Pennsylvania, had three research institutes and two universities that wanted to recruit him. But he eventually returned to the Zhongyun City, which was a place he had worked for many years! "What do you want to test, boy?" Professor Shen in his white coat smiled and stared at the white bowl in Chen Fan''s hands. People who came here for testing most commonly tested unidentified objects that were plucked from the sea, to see if they were priceless treasure. Today, unexpectedly, came someone who was holding a white bowl in a plastic bag. It made him very curious. Was the bowl any kind of antique? "Professor Shen, I want to check the composition of the liquid in the bowl." Chen Fan carefully placed the bowl in front of the man with white hair. Professor Shen who had just unwrapped the plastic bag was immediately attracted by the refreshing smell, and was intoxicated by it for a long time before he came back to his senses. "Is it wine?" Professor Shen murmured a few words to himself and then shook his head. "You stay here for a while, young man. The lab is free today. I''ll do a composition analysis for you." "Thank you, Professor Shen!" Chen Fan, with a smile and a nod. He had been lucky to meet him to do the experiment. He was much better than the teachers whose hair had not turned white. When Professor Shen walked into the thick white door, Chen Fan took out his cell phone and read a novel. "Professor Shen, our seven-class paper on algae has... eh?" Just then, a beautiful girl bringing a stack of documents into the room, saw a young man sitting on the seat. She looked at him curiously for five seconds and said in a surprised manner, "You... aren''t you the..." "The name is Chen Fan!" Chen Fan raised his head and immediately recognized the approximately 1.6-meter-tall, slender-figured girl with an oval face. It was Zhou Qi, who had once been Chen Fan''s tutor when he was in school. Since it had been so long, she had forgotten his name. However, Chen Fan had a deep impression of her. She was definitely something different. Chen Fan once saw her put a frog into someone else''s desk, and then she asked Chen Fan not to tell anyone she did it. "Yes, Chen Fan, why have you absent from class for a semester?" Zhou Qi put down the documents and looked at him with a curious expression. She had heard her classmate say that they saw him on the street driving a BMW. Not only that, but that he had an extremely pretty fairy-looking lady in the passenger seat. "Ha, I recently went for a trip overseas and just came back? I''ll be back tomorrow, tomorrow!" Chen Fan lied. "Then why are you sitting here?" Zhou Qi did not care about Chen Fan''s lies. Instead she sat opposite, placed her hands on her cheeks, and stared at Chen Fan with two eyes filled with curiosity. "I came to see Professor Shen, but he''s not around!" Chen Fan felt a little anxious being looked at by Zhou Qi in this manner, so he got up quickly and walked to the door saying "Since he is not in, I''ll leave first. I''ll go to class tomorrow." "Let''s get together!" Zhou Qi grinned and caught up from behind, tapping his shoulder. He quivered and said, "Didn''t know that you had such a fascinating life! The students in the class said they saw you driving a BMW with a beautiful girl!" "That... That''s my sister!" Chen Fan just wanted to quickly get rid of her. His eyes went around and, suddenly thought of a good idea. "Ouch! Oh, I''ve got a stomach ache. I need to go to the bathroom." With that, he hurried to the bathroom. After five minutes, Chen Fan popped out his head, found that the corridor was empty, and then gave a big sigh of relief. He then continued to read his novel in the room. When he came to school, he was afraid of being recognized, and he was still found out even though he had tried to lay low. He would never go back to school. To sit at home was better than to sit in the classroom and listen to a drowsy lecture. Of course, it was because he didn''t understand anything except Mandarin. When the content of the novel was describing the protagonist playing ambiguously with the beauty, Chen Fan was reading with full of interest until someone lightly touched him from the back. Only then did he turn his head suddenly. "Young man, can you tell me where the liquid came from?" Professor Shen confusedly handed the liquid in the bowl to him. "I used element detector tests. It contains 43 kinds of elements. In total there were 34 known elements, the other nine were unknown elements. If you want to know the components of the nine unknown elements, you have to use other devices to detect the spectral lines within the element and the linear range to see what its usage is." "This is something I got from an ancient bottle, so I want to check it and see what it was. Professor Shen, what are the elements in it?" Chen Fan lied a little. "The elements were adenosine invertase, kaempferol, the aldehyde group, proline hydrogen, oxygen, sodium, potassium, and so on. These are nouns that you won''t understand even if I tell you." Professor Shen handed him a stack of newly printed identification and sat down in a chair. "I''ll tell you about the elements that have been identified. First of all, the elements which made this are very complex. I still can''t figure out the composition of the liquid concrete effect, but there are also some elements that only belong to ginseng, very beneficial to human body. In other words, the liquid here, part of it was obtained from water soaked in ginseng. As for the other elements, although I know what they do, it doesn''t make sense to put them together. But in these known elements, no harmful substances were found." Professor Shen touched his chin, and after a short hesitation, said, "There are two kinds of unknown elements we know so far, but haven''t unlocked the mysteries of. The first is called sodium erupted milling, and the second one is peptide ammonia acyl, and these two kinds of unknown elements are found in only a case of their source. It''s called the ''Taisui''. I think you have seen the news of finding a Taisui, which is recorded in the Compendium of Materia Medica and the mountain and sea classics, also known as Rouzhi. There is a saying that eating it over a long period could make your body feel light and immortal. I have a friend who, when he was identifying a Taisui for someone, he secretly buckled the size of a fingernail and had no idea that years had passed, and he had raised it to the size of a walnut. However, the effect cannot make you live longer. There was a resident who found this and planted it in the water. Then he ate a little bit every day. The effect was better than wild ginseng, but obviously it did not cause immortality." "It''s like an animal that can breathe, grow, and regenerate, but it doesn''t have any organs. And is not a plant or fungus either. It usually grows in water or soil. According to the different living environment, its morphology varies. From the present examples, none of them are of the same shape. Some were like meat, and some were like jelly. The color in the general soil is heavy, and the color in the water is light. The better the quality of water, the more the color is like jade." "So this liquid, it''s very likely that the ancient people used a variety of precious medicinal herbs to feed the Taisui." F**k... The expression on Chen Fan''s face was completely divided into a multiplex, and even the IQ of two hundred could not solve it. If Professor Shen is right, then on the third floor of the stone tower, lived a big Taisui? Chen Fan knew a little about Taisui. The emperors in ancient times used to send people to look for it to stay immortal. It is very likely that the woman depicted on the stone tower, in order to pursue long life, especially used various precious medicinal materials to raise a Taisui inside. From the seal of the rosin wall, this one is probably still alive in it. After all, if you are too old to eat a piece of a piece and live forever, how can you tell that it can live forever? "Young man, young man!" Professor Shen gave Chen Fan a gentle push and pulled him back from his imagination. "Have you looked at that bottle carefully? According to logic, it should have a Taisui in it." "No, the bottle is very small, just as big as a mineral water bottle. And then there was only the liquid in the bottle, and I poured it all out." Chen Fan shook his head and pretended an unfortunate look. "Whoever had the bottle owns a Taisui." Professor Shen smiled. "Young man, don''t drink the bowl of liquid. I haven''t completely analyzed certain ingredients in it, and if something happens to you, the hospital won''t even be able to help!" "Uh-huh!" Chen Fan repeatedly agreed that he wouldn''t do that kind of thing. After thanking Professor Shen, Chen Fan thought for a long time in the car and decided to go to the flower and bird market to buy a dog. Then he''d feed him a little to see if the liquid had any effect. Then he would try to find a way to get the Taisui out of the stone tower and see what it looked like. Driving to the flower and bird market, Chen Fan locked his sight in a pet shop selling Tibetan Mastiffs. The Tibetan Mastiff has been touted as a legend, saying it can compete with three hungry wolves at the same time and win. It''s supposed to be so strong, a little poison would not harm it. The Tibetan Mastiffs, which were sold in the store, were all still puppies. After a few rounds, Chen Fan found a small white Tibetan Mastiff. But it had the highest price, 30,000 RMB. Of course, it is not a pure Mastiff. There were only 13 pure Mastiffs in China, and now the Mastiffs have fewer genes than other dogs. After bargaining for some time, the boss insisted on selling it for 28.000 RMB. Chen Fan was to lazy to bargain anymore, paid, and left. The dog was only 20 days old, but the body weight was already amazing, and Chen Fan found the cage was heavy when he carried it. After driving to buy some other things, Chen Fan came back to the house and took the Mastiff out of the cage. The 20-day-old little guy had not opened his eyes. When he felt that someone was holding him, he immediately howled. He put the liquid in the bowl into the bottle, then hold the dog''s head down and pushed the feeding bottle in its mouth. The white mastiff''s head was shaking and he refused to drink it. "Little guy, trying to resist against someone stronger than you?" Chen Fan smiled insidiously. He forced its mouth open with his right hand and squeeze the liquid inside the bottle into its mouth. 170 The Gulf of Aden The clear liquid, like a broken pearl necklace, trickled down the throat of the white mastiff. In the beginning, the white mastiff was still clearly struggling, but after tasting this sweet and refreshing liquid, it immediately whimpered. Its two small paws were holding the bottle tightly as if it were grabbing a chicken wing. "An animal is an animal!" Chen Fan shook his head and stood up from the ground. He had tried to feed it just now and the mastiff had rejected it. Now, he could not take the bottle from it. After carrying the dog with its bottle into its cage, Chen Fan dusted off his hands and looked at the time. He was ready to go on a trip to the deep sea cave to deliver the rest of the equipment and then to take some traditional Taisui soaking liquid out. He went into the cave with the same method. Chen Fan went to the third floor of the stone tower, dragged open the wall cloth stuck in the resin, and quickly inserted a hose into resin wall. He let the liquid inside flow along the pipeline into the eight-liter, transparent water bag he had bought at the supermarket. Holding the water bag, Chen Fan looked at the turpentine wall and dreamed. No doubt, there should a big Taisui, though he was not sure how many years it had been living there. If he wanted to take a peep at the Taisui, he needed to export more than half of the liquid. However, there should be no waste, and that required a large, flexible water container. Ah, I hope this Taisui did not evolve into a monster and eat people as soon as it was released! Shaking off his speculation, Chen Fan tightened the filled water bag and replaced it with a new one. He bought five of these eight-liter water bags in one go, ready to take enough to give the mastiff to drink. When all five water bags were filled, Chen Fan took out a rubber stopper from his pocket and stuck it in the turpentine wall. This time, he brought some necessities like firewood, rice, oil and salt that he bought at the supermarket. There were now only the water and electricity problems left to be solved; then the shelter hidden in the deep sea mountain would be officially completed. Of course, it would be perfect if he could get internet in it. Back home, the small white mastiff in the cage did not incur any unusual condition. It was still alive and kicking. Chen Fan let it out of its cage and continued to feed it with the Taisui soaking liquid. In the evening, when Yunmeng came back from school and saw that they had a "new family member" at home, she was extremely delighted. She held the small, fluffy, white mastiff and hugged it like a child. Her unique women''s aura was perfectly shown. "Brother Chen Fan, does he have a name?" Yunmeng asked. Sitting on the sofa, she played with the paw of the little white mastiff, coming near Chen Fan''s cheek. "No!" Chen Fan''s eyes were fixed on the television. About five seconds later, the corner of his eyebrows lifted. "Let''s call it Xiao Xue!" "But it''s a male!" Yunmeng couldn''t stand Chen Fan''s joke. "Who asked it to be so white? Just call it Xiao Xue!" Chen Fan smiled at her. After continuously feeding Xiao Xue the traditional Taisui soaking liquid for three days, what surprised Chen Fan was that not only did it have no adverse reaction, but instead, it grew particularly fast. Just a few days passed, and it had grown five kilos heavier. Even the texture of its hair was shiny. When it laid on the ground, it looked like a big marshmallow. During these days, Chen Fan also bought 24 lead-acid batteries, a voltage stabilizer, and a charger. Using this when the electric eel rested, it could adjust inductance to more than 200 volts. Holding the positive wire in its back claws and the cathode wires in its front claws, it could convey the voltage to the voltage regulator, sending a stable voltage to the accumulator. Of course, the electric eel slept only in nearby lakes and had limited time on land. Chen Fan bought two wires more than 1,000 meters long and dragged them from the lake to the first floor of the stone tower. The electric eel''s lower body had the positive discharge organization, while the upper body had the cathode discharge organization. Two faint volts spread in dozens of meters of seawater would be too weak to assemble together, so he did not need to worry about short circuiting. As for the leakage of electricity at the junction between the electric wire and the electric eel The loss of that little amount was nothing to the electric eel. Now that electricity was available, all that was left was fresh water. Chen Fan had just brought a small Marine desalination machine from the shipyard this morning. Although it was considered small, the capsule could not hold that big thing which was three meters high and five meters wide. Fortunately, the problem wasn''t too much of a hassle. After putting plastic wrapping on the outside, the electric eel could carry it in its mouth. Twenty-four lead-acid batteriesif he didn''t connect to a desalination machine and just used it to play on the computer and to cook, it would last for half a month. With the water desalination machine, it could only work continuously for five hours to desalinate a ton of water. The basic shelter had been built, and the only thing missing was the network that connected to the outside world. The problem with the network was supposed to be easy to solve. It would be settled as long as he bought several dozen kilometers of long, corrosion-resistant cable to reach to the outside world. This kind of cable was sold in any Zhongyun hardware store, but it was a little expensive, costing 20 RMB a meter. The problem that can be solved with money, is not a problem at all. The key was Chen Fan had not thought of where it would be safest for him to connect the cable to the internet. He just simply stopped thinking because he couldn''t think of anywhere for the time being. Chen Fan took a long time to take the desalination machine into the stone tower and was tired. He laid on the stone bed to rest for a while. While resting, he controlled the electric eel into the lake, looking for a few crocodile dragons to abuse, then got into the capsule and returned to land. As he drove to the garden, Chen Fan was attracted by the phone advertisement on the bridge. He found a way! He could just buy a few mobile SIM cards, make the USB interface more than 2,000 meters long, drag it into the cave, and voila. The internet speed would be a little slow, but he could just avoid playing games! In addition, as early as 1995, Zhongyun city had covered 35 kilometers of the signal area by the sea. Now, it had been upgraded to 110 kilometers of signal area. The SIM card with the network, in fact, was the same as the USB disk but with an antenna a few centimeters longer and a very small shape. He could use his computer to make phone calls and send text messages, which was also good for helping him to hide his whereabouts. He acted immediately after thinking and went to the place where they sold computers. He bought five mobile SIM cards and USB slots in one piece. He also bought the machine card that didn''t need to insert phone SIM cards but that was bound to a number. More than 2,000 meters of long cable Chen Fan went to the hardware store specifically to buy three, three-kilometer cables and prepared to reserve the other two. The tools were complete and the rest was about connecting them. Chen Fan scratched his head and drove to the shipyard. Several workers responsible for cable were confident that they could do it when they heard Chen Fan''s request. Just extend the antenna to two meters long and let it be in the sea. Revealing only an antenna five millimeters thick would be okay. The problem of making it waterproof was handy and effortless work for these experienced workers. Simply connect it to a cable, connect that to a network card and float it a meter under water. It would take about one day for the five network cards to be rebuilt. Chen Fan explained a few things to note before driving home. The next morning, Jiang Shui called and said that the network card had been modified, the connection of the three cables had been completed, and the cables could be easily replaced. Letting them take the things to the dock, when Chen Fan arrived, he pulled one of the heavy bundles of cables into the white yacht and drove it to the rocky sea. The buoyancy of the cable itself was not high; it would slowly sink into the sea. So, the shipyard workers calculated its weight and the time it would take to sink and installed a suspension device in the end where it was connected to the wireless network card. This was so that it could keep the depth of 1.5 meters of underwater suspension. Reaching the top of the reef, Chen Fan sank the end of the cable connected to his laptop into the water, then controlled the electric eel to swim up, gently holding the cable in his paw and dragging it into the cave. Including the distance between the bent road and the stone pagoda, the water''s surface distance was a total of 2,500 meters. With three kilometers of cable, it still could have 500 meters extra. He could still set up their wireless network so that even if someone came here guided by signal tracking, he need not fear. He could let the electric eel drag the cables in or just bite them. Waiting until the electric eel swam to the front of the pagoda, Chen Fan started the yacht and slowly drove more than 400 meters. He threw the two-meter wireless network cardincluding the 10 centimeter circumference floating deviceinto the sea. The main material was a foam floater and was painted sea blue. It dropped vertically to a depth of 1.5 meters and could not be seen at all. As for the thin, soft 0.5-millimeter-thick, non-reflective metal antenna, the chances were about the same as winning the lottery that someone could find it in the vast sea and pull it... Of course, the person would only pull down the thin antenna... After settling everything, he drove the yacht back to the dock. He then cut off a piece from the used plastic film and wrapped the two cables in it. He took the four wireless cards and dove down again in the capsule. After the electric eel took the submarine tank and the wire to the cave, Chen Fan moved everything from the capsule into the stone pagoda. He dragged the cable to the second floor, taped it in position, and then connected it to the laptop. He pressed the power-on button and waited for the laptop to enter desktop mode. The signal was good and after surfing the net for a while, everything else was normal besides a little lag when watching videos. "Great!" Chen Fan excitedly patted the stone table. He didn''t need to worry about communication when he was in the cave. As long as he hid inside, even if tomorrow the ship sank in the United States, he could send an email telling them he was the one who sank it and still not need to worry about his safety. What if they traced his IP address? If they had the guts, why not grab the wire and come into the cave and see what is inside it! ............ North latitude 11.43.42, east longitude 43.32.15. At the junction between the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, five huge oil tankers sailing in a row were making their way to Saudi Arabia. About 1,500 meters behind the five tankers, a 10,000-ton bulk carrier flying a Japanese flag was also sailing. "Are the heads of the captains of these five tankers filled with sh*t? How dare they not even follow a convoy, sailing without arms in the Gulf of Aden?" In the cabin, the 38-year-old captain, Maruyama An''na, had an expression of, I''ve never seen such idiots before on his face. Maruyama An''na was the captain for the carrier of Japanese Inoue Mining Co., LTD. Because of the time, their ships did not catch up with the convoy fleet. He was worried at first but suddenly, he unexpectedly saw five large crude oil tankers sailing side by side in the distance. This made him extremely excited. As long as their carrier followed behind the tankers, even if they met pirates, the oil tankers in front were bound to become the pirate''s first target. At that point, the pirates wouldn''t bother to care about their ship. Maruyama An''na understood the way of piracythat pirates never commit a big crime on multiple ships at once with so many personnel. They would not rob all five tankers ahead, so how would they target his ship? He had been following them for two days. Fortunately, he did not meet any pirates. After today, the ships would enter the Red Sea and say goodbye to the pirates completely. Maruyama An''na went so far as to think maliciously how wonderful would it be if the pirates came and hijacked the five oil tankers ahead of him. Just at that moment, a shrill cry was heard. He saw the first mate pointing to the monitor screen and saying in a fearful manner, "Captain, there are five boats behind coming fast in this direction. Rocket launchers are installed on their boat." "What?" Maruyama An''na jumped up from the seat and went to the monitor. After looking at the situation, his jaws chattered and he said, "Don''t be afraid. They must be targeting the five oil tankers ahead. After all, they''re more valuable than us regardless of tonnage or number of crew!" He had been thinking about what would happen if the tankers in front of him were hijacked by pirates, but now his legs were trembling in fear when it actually happened. The first mate next to the captain was scared and kneeled on the ground, praying in a strong voice, "God bless us God bless us God bless us" Like Amaterasu''s glorious position over the Gulf of Aden, the five boats speeding over 40 knots did not even look at them and instead, passed from both sides of the bulk carrier, toward the five oil tankers in the front. "I see!" Maruyama An''na jumped three feet high and pointed to the tanker in front of him. "It''s so cool. My dear shield, I''ll remember you." "Aha!" "Long live the great god!" "Ha ha!" Immediately, several members of the crew burst into excitement. Their tone of voice was so high, it could almost shatter glass. "Wait ''til we get on shore. I''ll invite everybody to go carousing together!" Maruyama An''na was secretly happy. It seemed that he had the potential to be a godjust concentrating on his desire, it immediately happened! "O choo, Captain Banzai!" "Hooray!" "Captain, I love you!" The crews praised Maruyama An''na, and he was happy. All of a sudden... The crew, who was cheerful at first, instantly changed their mood. Captain Maruyama An''na sat on the ground, as surprised as if a paternity test result said their children were not theirs. He could only see the pirates suddenly turn back in a formation, fiercely dashing towards them. Behind them, there were no shipsnot even a phantom. There was no doubt that the five pirate ships must have come for their bulk carriers! As for why the pirates turned away when they were hundreds of meters from the five oil tankers, he would have to ask the gods! It happened according to the arrangement of God, and Maruyama An''na did not know why. He only knew that his stingy boss would not pay a high ransom for them! 171 Extreme Fear Ten minutes later, inside the cabin. The captain, Anna Maruyama, was crushed by a group of masked men armed with assault rifles that held a gun barrel to his head. "Praise God!" A black man dressed in a brown coat came up, kicked Anna Maruyama''s arms with the tip of his foot, and said in a tongue-twisting English accent, "In order to reduce your pain as soon as possible, I want you to give your boss'' or your family''s phone number to me." "Otherwise, we will be so cruel that even the devil will tremble!" "Why? Why didn''t you hijack the first five tankers? The first five tankers were worth at least $100 million." "Because the five oil tankers are handsome!" The black man in the brown coat showed his white teeth that were suitable for toothpaste advertisement. "I''ll not charge you for this question," he said, "but from now on, every time you ask a question, I''ll add on $100,000." "Captain, our boss is definitely something. He has relations with the Somali pirates, and because we pay the protection fee, we are able to navigate safely!" In the cabin of the last oil tanker, a young man with an oil slick on his face was laughing and smiling at the captain, Chen Qing. "You, boy, have come again to ask for a cigarette!" Chen Qing pulled out two cigarettes from his pocket and handed one to him. He lit one himself, taking a deep breath, and spat out a cloud of smoke. "Yeah, damn. I was almost frightened to death seeing a pirate for the first time. Who wouldn''t be?! This time, there is a small Japanese man in their hands. It really makes me happy!" Yao Yuan, sucking on the cigarette, said with a joyful face, "Is our boss having a relationship with the Somali pirate''s daughter? So, the pirates took care of us?" "Your imagination is too much! You should write a novel!" Chen Qing slapped him on the back and made him cough. "Get the hell out of here, if there''s something wrong with the wheel, I''ll cut you up!" Chen Qing had some potential to become a fortune teller with the way he estimated... When the ship was sailing at the Djibouti coastal area, the 50,000-ton oil tanker had a burst of intense shaking. It was like an invisible hand seized the hull and kept shaking it. After a few sounds of deafening roars, with a bang the ship was shut down in order to protect the engine. Usually, oil tankers used the steam engine as a general power source. The reason was that the oil must be heated enough to liquify so that it can be pumped into the oil tankers. They always kept the heating condition going throughout the whole transportation process so that they could quickly unload at destination ports. The steam engine that drove it was also used to provide steam for heating the oil. Technology had been in progress, of course, and now the engine of the ship was not like a few years ago. Not only was everything automatic, it would also automatically shut down if there was any failure in the power transmission system in order to prevent the tank from exploding. The valve would then release excess steam when necessary. "What the hell''s going on in the wheels?" Chen Qing grabbed the microphone and shouted. "Captain, our propellers seem to be entangled in something!" Yao Yuan had nervous sweat on his forehead. The tanker was not a speedboat. Once the propeller had been entangled, the only way to get out was to be dragged to the dock to clear it. And in this area, there were only African countries, which were poor, and there were no such large docks. "Hey, Chen Qing, what happened to your ship? Why did you stop suddenly?" Several of the tankers in front of him had found out about him and asked for information by radio. "It seems like the propeller is tangled up with something. You all stop, and I''ll see what''s happening in the wheel cabin!" Chen Qing threw away the microphone and threw his feet into the engine room. When Chen Qing panted and ran to the wheel cabin, some of the staff in the room immediately came up with a sad face and kept giving an explanation. "Reduce the steam output, and turn it in the opposite direction with low speed." The sweat soaked Chen Qing''s face, not because he felt hot, but because he was anxious. "Okay!" Yao Yuan slowly pushed the lever and let the clutch gear hold the transmission shaft. "Honk, boom, boom!" The whole transmission system broke out again with a few loud hisses, and the power output rose up to 10,000 horsepower, and the clutch gear could not bear it and flew out. Seeing that the situation was not good, Yao Yuan quickly slapped on the control rod and cut off the transmission gear. "What could we do now, captain?" His face was sad, and his expression was worse than if his wife ran away with someone else. Chen Qing, as though he had never heard it, still squatted there and smoked his cigarette. Judging from the sound, the propeller was deathly tangled by something, and could not even move a little, and it is impossible to judge what was going around the propeller, it is possible it was nets, a chain, or algae. The possibility of large vessels getting winded was very small, because under the powerful drive system, some floaters or fishing nets would just be torn off by the propeller, unless it involved the shaft. About half an hour later, the crew of several other oil tankers came in on a raft and discussed what to do. "Why don''t you dive down and see what happened? If it''s just a piece of junk stuck in the drive shaft, let''s see if we can pull it out with a rope." The fourth oil tanker''s captain touched his nose and said. "If that''s the case, I''m afraid of leaving a residue in it. And then I''ll have to go to the shipyard and remove the sealed shell to clean it." The captain of the fourth tanker, Fei Ning, shook his head. "If it''s sundry, it''s already stuck with mud in it, and now we can only hope it is just a chain!" "Then Xiao Zhang, you take oxygen and dive down to see the situation!" Chen Qing commanded and took a deep drag of his cigarette. "Okay captain!" The man called Xiao Zhang simply agreed, then dressed in simple diving equipment and took a rubber boat to the rear of the boat. A good news and bad news! The good news: it was not some junk that was twisted into the drive shaft! Bad news: A beacon from who knows where, broke at the bottom of it''s chain, then followed the waves there, and tangled in the propeller. It was deathly tangled, and they must go to a large dock to clean it out. It was a decrepit beacon, which was set up by one of the poor countries in the vicinity, and the exterior paint had all fallen off and was used to anchor the same chain in the sea. The tail spearhead was nowhere to be found, and only a bare iron chain wound around the propeller like an octopus. Xiao Zhang observed for a long time, but could only shake his head and climb up the rubber boat. He told everyone about it, and everyone was silent for a long time. "Its okay if the country is poor. Why do they have to harm us?" Chen Qing stomped his foot on the iron column beside him. "The good news is that we are running an empty tank, and now we can only connect the ship with the iron chain, and then pull it away from the main channel and ask the boss which country to go to solve the problem." Fei Ning patted him on the shoulder and said, "as long as it''s not wrapped around the drive shaft, it''s like driving a car." The situation had happened, and the few captains had no better solutions. So they would have to pull the six-ton ship, tied head to tail. Dozens of people after dwelling for some time, were only able to tie the two anchors in place. When Chen Fan got the call, he was sitting on the sofa, playing with little Snow and watching TV. "F**k! Which country''s marker was it?" Chen Fan heard and almost threw little Snow on the ground in anger. He knew a little about ships. If the propeller was tangled, in most cases the one way was to go to a dock. But going back and forth would delay them. It would take at least three days. "There was no sign on it, Boss. It was totally rusted and broken from the propeller, and we could not see from which country it was." The captain Chen Qing said in a depressed tone. "Wait a moment, I''ll think it over!" Putting the phone down, Chen Fan went deep thought while holding his nose. He had two choices now. The first was to let the oil tanker pull the tanker to Saudi''s dock and clean it there, and the other was to control the electric eel to Djibouti''s waters and pull out the coiled chain. The electric eel only needed a day and a half to get there. Going to the shipyard would delay them 10 days. Then when they reach the Saudi oil tanker wharf, all would be ruined, and they would have to pay and wait again... "Tell me your specific coordinates. Stay there. I''ll contact a Saudi Arabian sea operating company, and let them send some frogmen with underwater cutting equipment to cut off the chain." Chen Fan thought of a more reasonable explanation. "Really, boss?" Chen Qing who listened to this was pleasantly surprised. "Why should I lie to you?" "Chen Fan''s mouth twitched. After he had written down the detailed coordinates, Chen Fan turned on the computer and use the Google satellite map to find the bird''s eye view, then controlled the electric eel to the destination without delaying a moment. Djibouti, located on the west bank of the Gulf of Aden, was the main thrust of the red sea into the Indian Ocean, one of the least developed countries in the world. It was a former French colony, and with Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia in territorial conflict, it was a typical doormat until 1975, after the separatist successfully restored peace. Five tankers were now moored in Djibouti bay, 10 kilometers to the south. The channel at its widest point was only 40 kilometers. Eighty kilometers to the west was a typical inland sea. The south and north channel was only a little more than nine hundred meters wide. It was a natural shelter harbor. Whenever ships met the big waves when travelling in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, they would avoid it by sailing there. The electric eel dashed all the way through the moon, the wind, and waves, and endured a day and a half. At 3 a.m. local time, it finally arrived at the five oil tankers. If a Saudi Arabian ship stopped there, it was entirely reasonable because, after all, it was only a few hundred miles from Saudi Arabia. The electric eel, with its spear in its hand, swam stealthily to the tanker when the night was high. The tanker''s propeller had a chain caught in it, and he studied carefully how to free it up. This rusty chain was not thick, but the length was extremely long. I was wound around the propeller and the rudder more than 10 times, and it was a complex entanglement. The only way was to break it by force. The chain was as thick as a child''s wrist. The electric eel with its right front claws grabbed onto it, and its left claws pressed on the propeller, which was the size of a house, and using all its muscles and might, broke it free with a scary boom! sound. After breaking the six chains that were the main tangles, the chain was stripped of its main entanglements and was easily removed from the propeller by the electric eel and thrown into the sea. After a few moments of uncertainty, Chen Fan ensured that there were no other entanglements, and he transferred his mind back and called the maritime satellite phone. The pulling sound of the chain was so poor that no one noticed it. "Hello, boss. Is it the ocean operating company arriving?" In the middle of the night, Chen Qing, who received his phone call, jumped up from the sofa in a hurry like the trigger had been pulled on a Gatling machine gun. "In a strict sense, it''s not that they''re here, it''s that they just left!" "What, what? Boss, I can''t understand you!" Chen Qing was completely confused. How could they be gone if they had not arrived? "I mean, the people at ocean operations have already cut the chain, and are now sailing back to Saudi Arabia." "Ah!" Chen Qing''s mouth opened so wide, he could put a fist in. "Boss, why did we not notice any ship coming near?" "Obviously you''ve all been slacking off or you would have seen a ship came near. If it was a pirate who came near you, you wouldn''t even know that you were being kidnapped," Chen Fan said seriously. "No, no, boss. We have five people on shift!" Chen Qing still couldn''t believe that the problem had been solved. This was really too unexpected. Not even to say hello before cutting the chain? "Boss, did you find a con company?" "Bullsh*t! Now quickly start the machine wheel group and see if the ship can move. I''m waiting for the result before paying them!" There was no doubt that Chen Qing''s loud voice woke the crew. It was not long before he was overwhelmed by the great joy, the dynamic system that moved with the rhythm and roar, which was so pleasing to the ear. After making sure that the ship''s power system was all right, Chen Fan yawned and controlled the electric eel to find a hidden resting place. This sea area was about 300 meters deep. The seabed was flat sand. The electric eel had been swimming eight kilometers north. About two kilometers from the Djibouti seaside, he discovered a huge, coral reef that was suitable for the electric eel to sleep in the center of. A hundred meters away from the coral, the electric eel released a voltage of up to 8,000 volts from the body to explore the coral environment. "Ah!" It was difficult to describe Chen Fan''s mood at that moment. He could only feel a very strong sense of fear, rising from the electric eel''s tail, like lightning drilled into its mind, a hearting sank to the freezing point. And then... In zero point one second, the electric eel did not even care about its spear, and it was thrown away when the electric eel turned 90 degrees away... To reduce the overall weight of the electric eel, and strive for a precious time of zero point one second. 172 Serious Injury Rumble... In an instant, a round gas wave expanded from the coral clumps ahead and in 0.0001 seconds, it was turning into a white cloud. And then... this beautiful white round cloud, as if it were 1,000 horses, swept over everything in its path with destruction. The electric eel felt the whole sea and sky like a hurricane suddenly burst out in a violent shake. Boom! After the sound, the eel was suppressed by a humming sound in its ears. It didn''t wait for his mind and body to respond. The electric eel was completely covered with some unknown stuff from the fragments of the shock wave. What kind of scene was that... An area of more than 500 meters of a large coral plexus was directly wiped out by the explosion. A hole with a diameter of more than 50 meters was blown out. Thousands of tons of seabed sediment and 10,000 tons of water were blown out dozens of meters high by the shock wave. The sea level rose with a huge water column, as if a huge iceberg plunged in the water. Pain... pain... pain... With endless pain, the electric eel was blown a few hundred meters away and his back felt like it was on fire. His head felt like it was being hit with a sledgehammer and he kept seeing stars. That fully 3.5-meters-long, two-meters-thick egg-shaped minethe feeling was imprinted in Chen Fan''s heart for a long time. Yesthere was a huge magnetic mine in the coral reef! The device worked based on an internal magnetic needle fuse. It exploded when it sensed the huge electromagnetic waves coming from the electric eel or when it was ignited by a huge voltage that charged the internal explosive and suddenly burst. What does a mine do? It was a way humans dealt with submarines and ships, and this power was produced by the purest human weapons of war. The mine was an absolute one among weapons, destroying targets in one hit. During the first and second World Wars, up to 5,000 ships were sunk and many men were wounded by mines. Different volumes of mines had different ground damage killing forces. This was just b*llsh*t! The electric eel would have been torn to pieces if it had not been for its distance from the mine''s explosion. These big mines could blow up all types of nuclear submarines in the world within a distance of 10 meters. Even if a ship of 5,000 to 8,000 tons came along, it would be blown up! If the electric eel''s scales and muscle tissue had not been greatly strengthened by the ghost moon incense, the blast would have killed it. At a distance of 130 meters, it was hit by this torpedo. What did that mean for the electric eel? Like a constricted boa constrictor, it crouched on the seafloor, enduring intense pain. It released an electromagnetic wave inside the body to detect the seriousness of the injury. The injury was indeed very serious. It was just hit by the strong shock wave and it directly made the scales of the electric eel''s whole body split out into 21 cuts of different depths. The bright red blood dyed the nearby seawater red. Fortunately, only the external injuries of the electric eel were tragic. The internal organs did not appear to be damaged but injuries from shock are inevitable. The pain caused by even the slightest movement made him felt like crying. The worst wound down its spine was 13 meters long, nearly a half meter deep. Because of the electric eel''s position when it fled, the main destruction of the kinetic energy of the shock wave was made here. The wound, 50 centimeters deep, had pierced into the electric eel''s scales that were more than 20 centimeters thick, wounding its inner muscles. Using the induction, he saw there were seven veins ruptured. However, it did not hurt the aortic blood vessels. After all, the aortic blood vessels were deeply buried in the muscle, so general damage could not hurt them. Many of the other injuries were caused by the sudden pressure of the explosion, which caused a total of four meridians to be damaged with an average depth of about 30 centimeters. Internal injuries could not be treated for the time being, so the first solution was to cure the external injuries. A total of more than 20 large and small wounds all over the body was definitely a big project. The eel''s head was buzzing. Chen Fan could not concentrate and carefully deal with the wounds. He simply adjusted the voltage to 341 volts, then detected all the wounds using the frequency most suitable for cell division to make it self-heal. The induction was definitely something amazing. It was 10 times more useful than the Yunnan white medicine. If he took an optical microscope to observe the electric eel''s wound on the body''s surface, he would see countless fibrin muscle tissues in crazy secretion, and the inside of the capillaries and veins of platelets rapidly condensing. The wound, which was still bleeding profusely, was gradually covered with a white film. That was the layer of accumulation left over when dead and damaged cells were swallowed by new cells. Chen Fan thought that the electric eel only felt like dying now. He was depressed and in endless pain. This kind of feeling was extremely bad. It was just like the big knight on the top 10 of the list of the strongest on the field who was shocked by a certain young boy who had made a start on the field. It was as if a soldier had been trained with all kinds of combat skills to the peak of human ability but on his first day on the battlefield, accidentally stepped on a rusting anti-infantry mine and fell into lifelong disability. In the case of preparation, if it were a direct fight and not a passive attack mine, he could completely ignore it, even if it were the installation of the torpedo turbine engine. If he sped it could not surpass him. If he didn''t feel like running, he could release an effective radiation range of more than 1,000 meters high to blow it up. But who did this? Putting a mine in such place! Djibouti. In a country so poor that even a mouse wouldn''t want to live there, the navy was so pitiful that no one had the intention of bullying thema navy of 60 men, not to mention small submarines. Even the 300 tons of patrol boats were refurbished. It was obvious that the torpedo was a foreign product. As to why it was there, he had to ask the god who ruled this place! The wound was no longer bleeding and Chen Fan was too lazy to continue the treatment. Now the electric eel was burning in pain. It had just been through a violent explosion. The sound was likely to be heard by the residents of the nearby merchant ships and on shore, so this was not technically a place to rest. However, the point was that the electric eel couldn''t move at all now or the wound would break apart again. After thinking about the 60-member naval force in Djibouti, Chen Fan decided that there should be no danger for the time being. Most of the time, things were not as good as we thought they were; otherwise, there would be no such thing as a person who could be unlucky enough to drown in a meter water. Tut tut... tut... In the water that had already calmed down with dead fish floating on the surface, a sudden pounding started indicating there was a large ship propeller in the distance. About 20 seconds passed. The sound was getting louder, followed by the visual of the ship which was 120 meters in length, 15 meters wide and 5,000 tons with a draft of 4.4 meters, coming fast to the area where the mine just exploded. Chen Fan''s first reaction was the international warships in the Gulf of Aden heard the sound, but then he rejected the thought. The distance into the passage of the Red Sea was more than 200 li. Even if 100 mines had burst, they still wouldn''t have been able to hear it. Even if they turned on the passive sonar monitor, it would be too late. As for Djibouti If they had such a ship... it was more credible if Ultraman had come! Dong... The ship was 800 meters from the explosion point, 300 meters from the electric eel. The bottom of the sea suddenly shook and a sound clearer than a big bell in the temple was heard. It shot across thousands of meters in the water. "Mother f**king!" Chen Fan, who had had a similar experience many times, understood it immediately. This was a Navy ship activating their active sonar. The speed of sound in water was 1,433 meters per second and there was no hiding place more than 300 meters away. The electric eel''s body lying on the seabed did not have any stealth coating material and it definitely would be detected! I''m done I''m done. Chen Fan''s heart sank at the moment, not because he was afraid his true identity would be found, but because the electric eel was now very seriously injured and he couldn''t control it to flee away from the sonar range. Dong... Another wave of active sonar was sweeping in! He could not expect it to flee, so it was honestly better for it to stay there. Let them think that the electric eel was a submarine. Since it was a peaceful era, the other side would only try to figure out the model and nationality of the "submarine," and would not rush to attack it! In case the ship dropped torpedoes or mines, the electric eel could immediately release voltage to detonate it at the farthest distance. He would see who would win at last. Facts proved that the ship didn''t have any intention of attacking. When it released the third active sonar detection wave, it immediately shut down the engine and the active sonar. Then a 10-meter-long cylindrical object tied at the end of a cable was slowly dropped from the bottom of the cabin into the sea. Chen Fan could easily guess this was the passive sonar detector! The crew must have spotted the electric eel, and turned off their active sonar and engines to prevent the submarine from locking them in. Of course, if an unidentified submarine were to hide here, it would be too late! A missile frigate and a super electric eel were locked in a motionless standoff, one frightened and the other wounded. Twenty minutes later... This area of the sea was in a noisy outburst. Three different types of different tonnage warships gradually came. The tail of one of the ships was towing a linear sonar array on a wire. The towed sonar array was an updated version of the passive sonar. On a cable a kilometer or two long, tens to hundreds of listening and active sonar were lined up. According to the order bundle, these were currently the most effective tools to detect submarines! Come on, come on, all come over! Chen Fan simply showed a mentality of, what do you think you could do to me? 173 Unknown Weapon At present, there were four warships, two Ferro real class frigates, and two 2,000 tons of offshore patrol ships. Through the dark night sky, the electric eel could penetrate the block of the water''s concrete appearance, to see the real shape of the few ships that had 169, 170, NS04, NS07 several big words painted on the shipboard, but he could not determine if they were navy and from which country. "Bezik, are you sure it''s a submarine?" Captain Paget asked the captain who was in another destroyer through video communications. "Little George, would I, Old Bez, cheat you? I assure you, the submarine beneath our feet, which is not moving, is a submarine. And I am also sure that it is definitely not a European or American submarine! You quickly get someone to listen to the sonar array," he said. "Just record the sound of this unknown submarine, and that''s definitely a big contribution!" ''I warn you, I''ll divorce your sister immediately if you call me little George again! What if this submarine decides to stay here and deal with us?" Paget made a serious face and said stiffly. "Then we''ll see who will win! So we just released a total of three active sonar detection waves, through computer calculation, and found that the submarine is between 80 and 90 meters in length. This type of submarine would not be from a poor country of Africa. If the submarine from another country came here, it means it must be an unlimited range, nuclear-powered submarine." "Would it be possible that it was blown by the mine we left here and had sunk?" "If it can''t even find a 20year-old water mine, how could it be a nuclear submarine?" Bezik shaking his head, looked at Paget with a you''re an idiot look. "They could have also been attracted by the explosion. I have reported the problem to the naval command, to let them investigate exactly which country''s submarine this is, which was so bold to come here." It had to be said that the efficiency of the military is high, when the two were talking, an encrypted file transmitted through satellite, from the French naval command to the two frigates. After their investigation, the European Union had no nuclear submarine which performed combat duty there. The nuclear submarine was not from the United States either. France was a follower of the United States, although they did not know their nuclear submarine course. But if there was a submarine coming to the gate of their base, they would be notified in advance, to let them welcome it. Why did this unidentified submarine come here, they didn''t care, they just needed to record the sound of the submarine! A submarine voice print was equivalent to an ID card number. As long as the dynamic system of submarine noise was recorded, it could easily be detected after filtering the complex sea noise through the computer. They no longer had to use a sonar technician to listen to the noise and determine whether there was a submarine. When two countries are in a war, a sonar array that could be identified 200 nautical miles away was the nightmare of a submarine that had had its sonar recorded. The sound of a nuclear-powered submarine, no doubt, any country would spend a huge amount of money to buy it. Also, they were willing to spend a certain amount of effort to collect it. The four warships that were floating on the water''s surface were all the ships of the French embassy in the Djibouti overseas naval base. When their monitoring station monitored an explosion, they immediately sent frigates to the position, to investigate what caused an explosion. When the active sonar was not released, a long strip of an unidentified object was found lying on the seabed using a computer simulation system. Bezik felt his head buzzing, and immediately ordered the active sonar to be shut down and monitored using passive sonar. It was possible to record the sound of the submarine in the area where the waters are stable and have no underwater volcanic activity. .......... "This is not a drill, this is not a drill, this is a combat mission, the pilot is ready to take off in 10 minutes! Repeat, this is not an exercise..." At the French base in Djibouti, 26 miles south of the electric eel, there was a sudden influx of people rushing into the hangar in a panic. Djibouti was occupied by France in 1882. After 85 years of colonial history, France finally approved its independence. But the French still established large-scale integration of land, sea, and air bases, to engage with the United States to control and lay a solid foundation in the red sea. Soon, three 42-meter long, heavily equipped European A400M transport aircraft with propellers on both sides, moved to the four ships'' position at the speed of light. At the same time, there were three minefields in the naval base. The position of the electric eel was where the channel was only 20 km wide. The naval commander, after receiving the puzzling damage from the sonar, immediately decided to send the mine conveyor and boat to directly block the sea more than 20 kilometers wide, to force the submarine to float, and to get explanation of what weapon was used, so that it could destroy the whole piece of sonar! After all, the mine could be recycled, and there was no waste at all! The first to arrive in the sea was, of course, two large transport aircraft, and they were arranged in two straight lines, flying low and slowly opened the cabin, splashing a mine every hundred meters like pouring rain. When the huge mine hit into the sea, it splashed a full 10 meters of waves. Twenty-three km of the strait, according to a mine per 100 meters, there were 230 of them. Then, in a linear position, there was one every 150 meters. With a total of 460, the whole area would be blocked. "Damn, are they truly fighting against me?" Chen Fan, of course, noticed the movement of the electric eel more than two 2,000 meters away. The mine, which was about the size of the eggs, had been detonated. Bang!Bang!Bang! Smashing into the water, depressing the electric eel! Looking at each of the four motionless warships, it felt as if a thousand rhinos rampaged through its brain. It would take a day for the electric eel to recover its most basic combat capability, but the key was Chen Fan had not slept for two days and was bombed. It was already very lucky that he had not fainted. Now they were not only not moving away, they were blocking him with mines. Chen Fan, while keeping a close eye on the movement, used the electric current to stimulate the wound cells, so that it would cure and regain faster. Half an hour later... The electric eel nibbled at the tip of the tongue, struggling from half asleep, feeling his eyes tearing due to lack of sleep. He couldn''t bear it anymore. If he did not find some place to sleep, he would be bombed to death or be trapped! The exit was all filled with mines, the electric eel that was now covered with wounds was unable to withstand any more pain, and could only move into the straits! .............. Waiting for the the two planes and boat to place the mines, the sonar technician security grabbed the headphones and put them on his head. He tried to distinguish the various band of sound in the ocean under the towed sonar noise, trying to find out if there was a trace of submarine action in it. He was so confident in his hearing that he joined the fleet in the first year of the army, and entered the top three, which impressed all the veterans. He was the first in the following three years. Since it was a nuclear-powered submarine lurking there, as long as he managed to record the sound it would be as easy as drinking water for him to jump three to four ranks higher. However, it was probably his most unlucky day ever. In the ordinary sea noise, there suddenly came a severe electromagnetic acoustic, and he painfully pulled off headset and fell on the ground, clutching his ears and crying. Of course, the other 36 of them, like him, were all covering their ears and rolling on the ground. Du...Du ...Du..., the shrill alarm sound immediately sounded in four warships, accompanied by the red warning lights flashing. This represented the highest level of alarm that could only be activated when a ship was about to be torpedoed or encountered a major accident. "Captain, it''s not good. All our towing sonar has failed, and we suspect that the submarine''s unknown equipment is interfering!" "Quick, into battle mode, open the shipboard active sonar detection, immediately activate the torpedo tank pressurization, set the deep-water bomb to explode at 300 meters'' depth. Once we have targeted, immediately release!" Paget did not bother with what the submarine used to disturb the sonars. It was more important to go into combat mode now. Bang! The active sonar detection wave, mounted on the ship''s belly, had just opened the host, and a cloud of white smoke broke out, and the system immediately cut off the power supply. The release of the voltage of the electric eel due to extreme anger, not only caused the exposed electronic components in the towing sonar to break down, it even completely destroyed the active sonar generator posted at the bottom of the ship! But the results were only limited to that, and warships are very strict about the manufacturing requirements of the shell, not only against seawater corrosion, to prevent the magnetic, high-temperature resistance, high voltage resistance, and three to five layers of quality material would be brushed below the waterline, so the voltage will not penetrate the "turtle shell" that was half a meter thick. "Base, please immediately send someone to increase the export of bray density, to a line a hundred meters deep. The warship''s sonar equipment is disturbed by unknown weapons. We must keep it here!" Bezik''s face was contorted as he shouted into the microphone. Chen Fan, who was now in a rut, could only take the initiative to break through their towed sonar array and move through the channel. The whole body was hurt. Even the slightest movement hurt like being cut by a knife. But now it could only hide and sleep, and wait to recover! The electric eel''s main motion was to rely on the tail swing, but it had a big cut across the top. When it shook, the wound that had been covered by a layer of film, tore again, and thick dark red blood permeated out. The other wound tore when it had not even swum a dozen meters. "The roof leaks in the raining night!" Chen Fan at this moment was too depressed and lazy to get angry. Anyway, this grudge would be born by him. As soon as the electric eel recovered, he would definitely have revenge on the French naval commander! At 6:30 local time, 11:25 in France As commander of the naval fleet command, Admiral Sabourin felt deeply responsible. In recent years, many countries underwater geometric growth, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Vietnam, and Malaysia was equipped with submarines. Of course, the most important thing to pay attention to was the nuclear submarines of Russia and China. Although according to the maritime security agreement, the world''s warships and submarines were not allowed to invade other countries'' territory and overseas military installations, what about running into the no-fly zone? Everything would be fine if it had not been discovered. If you''re really caught, you''ll be unlucky enough and could not use an excuse like a navigation error, or something like that. Of course, the captain would be severely punished, and the reason for the punishment was not why he entered the area, but why he was found out. That''s how he punished his men. But he couldn''t figure out which country developed the latest weapon, which could suddenly interfere with all the sonar? "General, Djibouti naval technology department has analyzed the reason for the sonar damage!" The Adjutant''s report interrupted his thoughts. An update on the situation was on his desk. 174 Break through the Blockade The damage was simple. Almost all of the integrated blocks in the circuit had been broken through! It was a common problem now so designers had to take some precautions when designing the site such as adding a voltage regulator circuit and a current limiting resistor to protect the power supply, and so on. When the technicians took the ground wires between each part of the circuit apart, they found that most of the ground power of the integrated block had low resistance to the ground. This illustrated that a number of integration blocks had been burned. "Pulsed electromagnetic waves?" "High-pressure shock waves?" "An electronic bomb?" Sabin was caught in a tangled situation. Was the submarine carrying some of its country''s newest weapons and swimming deep to test its capabilities? Which country''s submarine is it? Japan? China? Russia? No matter which country it is, since the other party could break through layers of strict anti-submarine blockade to come here, then it means that its stealth performance is excellent. If they could make it float out of the water, they could seize the submarine fair and square, and then let the foreign ministry delay ten to 15 days and use the precious time to study the new technology! "Someone get me through to Djibouti''s operational command department immediately!" Lieutenant General Sabin tidied his collar and strode towards the command room. ............ As the saying goes, "the most dangerous place is often the safest place." Chen Fan endured his pain and controlled the electric eel to slowly move forward into a coastal city eight kilometers away called Tadjoura. He hid there under a seaport wharf. Eight kilometers usually would have taken a few minutes for the electric eel to reach. Now it took an hour to reach the dock, where he almost fell down in the mud. Biting the tip of his tongue to keep himself awake, Chen Fan hurriedly mobilized the electric eel''s electromagnetic wave to stimulate the body tissue to recover more quickly. If he waited until early in the morning, he was afraid the terminal will be dyed red with blood and the world news coverage would read, "...found the body of a great unknown monster on the Djibouti port" Weakness and drowsiness were like two dragons raging in Chen Fan''s mind, constantly torturing his nerves. After only ten minutes, Chen Fan''s head tilted sideways and he quickly fell asleep. Fortunately, the bleeding of the electric eel''s wound was not serious. The flow was almost clean due to the blood clot formed on the surface of the wound. After about ten minutes of stimulation, the bleeding stopped. It was hard to describe the intense comfort of sleep; it was better than holding an attractive woman. The electric eel was asleep, but the French naval and air force base in Djibouti was too busy. This is because the head office ordered the strait to be closed at all costs, and if the submarine escaped, all the officers would be demoted by two ranks. They had a very simple goal, which was to keep the submarine in the harbor and then wait for it to run out of supplies. It would then have to rise to the surface. There were many ways to block a submarine during a war, but if they wanted to intercept a submarine in peacetime, they had only one or two options. One was putting mines everywhere. Another was to use a large number of submarines to intercept. However, the ruby-class nuclear attack submarine docked at the naval base, along with three other conventional power submarines, would not be sent out to carry out this mission. There were closely packed mines, the strait was directly blocked by the military, and all the ships inside had to stay where they were. The mines these days were no longer the single-purpose mines that existed decades ago. They could not only actively identify the acoustic signature of submarines that had been input but could also recognize the passing of ships and submarines in the water. The inductive mines could detect small pressure changes. Others were self-navigating mines, remote-controlled mines, soft mines, and many other types of mines. It took Chen Fan a good 16 hours to recover from his sleep, and by the time he had transferred his mind to the electric eel, its wounds were already covered with red and black scabs. It tickled and it made him felt like scratching. Along with the scabs was the inexhaustible weakness, the lack of food for more than 20 hours, and the amount of energy it took to stimulate healing. The hunger was severe. It had an urge to bite its own claws and devour them. "Eat!" That was all the electric eel had could think! The wound took a night to heal and without large movements, it might not split again. The electric eel surveyed the surroundings carefully and found no ships around. Then it slowly went toward the central channel. Tut...Tut...Tut... When it had just eaten a dozen-meter-long whale, an AS565SA Panther anti-submarine helicopter passed over the sea at 30 meters level height. The shocked electric eel immediately froze on the seafloor. Bang! Bang! Bang! The anti-submarine helicopter dropped a cylindrical-shaped sonar buoy 20 centimeters in diameter and half a meter long just two kilometers from the cabin. A call from the headquarters came over the helicopter''s radio. "Black Panther, Black Panther, any underwater targets?" "Reporting command, no suspicious targets found for the time being!" After three days! 43:071142''N and 4307''E, at 2:00 am local time... After three days of shelter and recuperation, the electric eel''s injuries had mostly recovered. Only a little pain remained but nothing serious. During these three days, there were anti-submarine helicopters passing by above the electric eel from time to time. Anti-submarine patrol aircraft also flew over, but it was not a big threat for the electric eel. The ship that could use the active sonar detection to find the electric eel was not currently sailing. After all, the "submarine" was equipped with an unknown weapon that could destroy the sonar. When the electric eel crept two kilometers away from the mine''s lock line, Chen Fan had only one thought in his mind. Were these crazy people''s mines copied and pasted using a computer? There were three layers of anti-submarine networks. At the bottom were self-submerged mines; at the middle were anchor mines; and at the top were floating mines, not to mention submarines. It would not be a problem to block even whales in this area. One hundred meters was usually the best range between mines for attacking submarines. For warships, 20 meters was the best distance between mines. Beyond that distance, a mine could damage the ship, but it would not necessarily sink it. The electric eel was now two kilometers from the mine lock. If he detonated it within that range, would the shockwave knock him out? Well, let''s find the spear first! Chen Fan hesitated for a moment, then controlled the electric eel to move to the area where the mine exploded. Previously, the electric eel threw away the 40-ton spear to save time fleeing the explosion.The violent explosion''s shockwave at that time not only blew the electric eel away, it also blew away the spear. With the electric eel''s sharp vision, the spear was quickly found. It had been blown more than 700 meters away by the shockwave, and was now slanted into the mud on the seabed. Looking at the spear stuck in the mud, a brilliant idea flashed through Chen Fan''s mind. What if Chen Fan dug a hole to hide the mine? The shockwaves would be absorbed by the earth. At a distance of two kilometers, it would be weakened by the earth. The impact energy transferred to the electric eel would never be a threat! With a few wiggles, the eel swam a distance of 1,800 meters from the locking. The electric eel put down its spear and gently dug a large hole in the seafloor with its claws. How loud was the sound of the electric eel digging? Well, it was below 40 decibels. And what is the acoustic signature of a quiet submarine that is very good at being quiet while doing its job? It''s 90 to 100 decibels. How many decibels can sonar pick up in the ocean? It must above 90 decibels, because the noise in the ocean itself was 90 decibels. If it were less than 90, the strange noise would be covered by the ocean itself! As for the decibels that the electric eel emitted as it swam, they were much loweralmost no more than ten decibels. Because sound travels differently on land than in water, 100 decibels on land equals about 44 decibels under water! After digging the hole, the electric eel completely buried itself in it. Its four claws clung firmly to the earth and it took two deep breaths! Boom... The blue light emitted from the electric eel''s body spread to the mines in 0.01 seconds. More than 600 volts immediately flowed through the iron casting primer detonator and intruded inside. It first lit the chamber and detonator, then detonated the high explosive weighing 1.2 tons. Rumble... rumble the area in the distance was densely covered with more than a dozen mines, resulting in a loud roar within an instant! How frightening were the effects of more than a dozen torpedoes exploding? The electric eel felt as if the earth and the sky had collapsed, and a shockwave that seemed to tear everything apart swept across thousands of meters of sea. "Ah!" Secondary Sergeant Tamifei was at the radio station''s nearby. After seeing the water soar up into a water tube several stories high, his jaw dropped. He could not believe his eyes. After about ten seconds had passed, Tamifei slapped his face, not sure if this was a real event. He felt dizzy and grabbed the radiotelephone and exclaimed, "Bad news, sir. The mine block network we placed five kilometers south has suddenly exploded!" "What?" The commander of the naval base in Djibouti was immediately panicked. Is the submarine crazy? It had been blocked here for just a few days, and now suddenly wanted to dash through the mines? 175 Chen Fan’s Craft And Guile The "submarine" was certainly not crazy, because it was not a submarine at all, but an electric eel that could release a high voltage from a distance. The 11 mines that were affected by the voltage exploded, produced a shockwave, and forcefully moved another 30 mines near by. Of course, the electric eel, which was radiated by the shockwave, was affected too. Its whole back was as hot as if it had been polished by a grinding wheel. Pooh! After the explosion, the electric eel shook the dirt that clung to it and crawled out of the cave. The anti-diving net had been ripped apart more than 900 meters by the explosion. Chen Fan did not hesitate, grabbed the spear and rushed to the torn part. Two days later! Zhongyun City, 10 p.m. local time! The electric eel finally returned to the great hole in the rock after a long journey, and Chen Fan laid in bed, unable to sleep! Almost four days! Not to mention the trauma from the fear, the electric eel was also injured by the torpedo. While trying to find a safe place to recover, it almost succumbed to the excessive bleeding. Now that the electric eel had come back from the blockade, it was time to think about revenge. Otherwise, how would he vent the resentment in his heart? The French naval base in Djibouti! On the second day of the blockade, Chen Fan had figured out the identity of the other party, and now the only thing to consider was how to make them scream in pain and surrender! How to sink their ships? The ship''s surface was more than half a meter thick with a topless armor of a jumble of alloy steel. It had a high-energy explosive weighing less than 500 pounds. Breaking it was not to be thought of. Even with a large hole, the ship''s sewerage system, which was separated by countless doors, would remain unsinkable when the hull was damaged by 20 percent. But there were a number of ways to get revenge, and it doesn''t have to be sinking the ship. That would be an arduous and fruitless task. After pondering for a long time, suddenly a brilliant idea came to mind, and he was so happy that he rolled on the bed and couldn''t stop for a long time! The next morning, Chen Fan, who was still asleep, was suddenly awakened by a whimper from the living room. "Damn! This is killing me!" Chen Fan pounded his fist on the pillow. Obviously, Chen Fan''s anger did not stop the whimpering. It was soft in the beginning but slowly grew into a wolf howl! Bang! Chen Fan opened the door, and then, the Mastiff, Xiao Xue, who had grown to more than 65 pounds, immediately stopped howling, jumped up, and ran to Chen Fan. "F**k you!" Chen Fan kicked it away. "Crying early in the morning Would it kill you to go without a meal?" "Huff...Huff...Huff...Mmp..." Xiao Xue, although he had been kicked, dashed to Chen Fan''s feet and could not have been more of a loathsome creature if it were written on his face. After feeding Xiao Xue with the liquid that had been soaked with Taisui and beef, Chen Fan smacked his mouth and put him in the cage. Then he got in the car, ready to buy some equipment for getting his revenge of the French Navy! "Chen Fan!" The car had not even moved out of the gate, and was blocked by a beauty. She came up and said, "Where have you been this week? Your phone was off. When I asked Yun Meng, she said you went on the business trip!" Wu Ruoyu''s slender legs were hidden by the tight white trousers. Her upper body wore an elegant lady''s coat, and her golden hair was tied with a few strands falling around her face. "Ah! Hehe! "Chen Fan rolled down the window. "It was a business trip, went to a foreign country, but forgot to bring the mobile phone. " The electric eel had been blocked by the French navy in the harbor of Djibouti for few days, and he had been worried to death. So he told Yun Meng that if anyone came looking for him, tell them he was on a business trip. Of course, the person that looked for him would only be Wu Ruoyu, and their houses were close together and they were at the beginning of a relationship. "Liar! How can you go abroad without a mobile phone! If you really didn''t have a cell phone, why was it turned off? And Yun Meng''s hesitant appearance proved that she has not yet learned how to lie!" "It''s true that I went abroad. I went to the Red Sea. The tanker had some problems!" Chen Fan wiped the cold sweat off his forehead. Yun Meng was still too young. She failed to tell a simple lie! "Where did you go and who were you with?" She spat out after a long time, conflicted by her own feelings and behavior. Her words were filled with jealousy, shyness, and anger toward herself. Both her cheeks started to blush and the redness spread to her neck. A little shame, a little anger, and the rest was amazing. Chen Fan seemed to return to the moment when he first saw her, and she was so shy and a little mad and surprised. "Who lies who has such a cute puppy!" Chen Fan said, pointing to Xiao Xue in the yard, and added in his heart, It was my mind that controlled the electric eel to the Red Sea! He immediately wanted to punch himself in the face. How could he be so spineless? As a successful man, you had take a king''s approach. Tolerating a woman''s crap that is what a small man would do. If a male was going to carry forward the spirit of the lion, he had to at least learn to stand upon the paws of the male lion? "Pufft!" She did not know whether to laugh or cry. He did not go to a foreign country. He must have done something wrong. But she was not the kind of person who liked to hang around on a question, and she didn''t want to ask any more questions. Although she did not intend to pursue the issue, she still felt some grievance. He took advantage of her, and he was trying to pretend to be ignorant. So, she sounded like a wretched wife who was abandoned by the husband when she said the next sentence. "Then why didn''t you tell me when you came back?" "The plane arrived at three o''clock last night, and I just got up." Chen Fan could feel her sadness and see the resentment in her eyes. He put his hand on her waist and patted. "Be good. I have an urgent matter to do. I will pick you up for dinner in the evening to make up for it!" Wu Ruoyu''s face was red and a little angry. She pushed away Chen Fan''s hand. "Hehe, wait for my call in the evening!" Chen Fan slowly moved his hands, threw a sly look, and then stepped on the gas pedal. "Hey!" Looking at him running away, Wu Ruoyu almost shed tears. "Chen Fan, you b*stard!" She stuck out her mouth in protest and was about to leave, but she noticed he didn''t even close the door when he left. Suddenly, she felt extreme anger and kicked the door and the door rattled. "Ouch!" Wu Ruoyu felt pain and squatted down, frowning. Whimpering like a kitten, she got up after a while. In the end, she shut the iron door with a clang! and pouted. .......... "What is your most professional portable recording device?" Chen Fan directly asked the sales clerk in a large shop called Aihua Electronic Filming Equipment. "Boss, there are several brands for our professional recording equipment. Which one do you want?" The shop assistant was a pretty little girl with freckles on her face and a ponytail. "The best!" Chen Fan seated himself in a nearby chair and crossed his legs. "If there is any sophisticated configuration, just do it all for me. Anyway, take out your best equipment!" "The... The best brand we have here is produced by the American Lacco Company. If you want to pursue a higher recording effect, you can also equip it with a large diaphragm capacitance microphone, the caron three double core shielding wire, low-frequency recording processor, microphone amplifier... " The flushed saleswoman spoke with a little stutter. She thought the man who drove the nice car wanted to listen to the privacy of the girl in his next door. "Yes, all! Whatever microphone bring the one that can even record the sound of ants eating!" "Well... Well, I''ll get the goods for you!" The saleswoman ran to the back of the warehouse. After about five minutes, the shop assistant brought a high carton drill out of the warehouse, which was the height of half a human, and dragged it in front of Chen Fan pointing to the inside of the equipment. "Sir, if you enabled all these devices, then the tape recorder can only be maintained for an hour, so I suggest you connect it to a power supply source!" "Oh!" Chen Fan squatted down and looked at the jumble of equipment. "Can these things record the movement of the ants?" "This... " The shop assistant annoyed, had she met with some eccentric maniac? "In general, these devices together, can record 0.01 decibels of sound. In Hertz, it can record the frequency that the human ear can''t capture. The lowest is five Hertz, up to 4,300 Hertz. The ants should be able to... to be recorded" "Good!" Chen Fan nodded satisfactorily, "Can this condenser microphone add a waterproof case? I want to use it underwater!" "Wait... Wait for a second, I''ll call the boss." The salesgirl bit her lip and stuttered! With a stack of weird equipment tucked into the trunk, Chen Fan turned the car around and headed for the seaside shipyard. If he wanted to get revenge on the French Navy, he had to put it in a waterproof case. The shipyard workers were already used to Chen Fan''s weird requests. They had been asked to build non-powered submarines, to build a titanium alloy submarine, which could withstand the atmospheric pressure under 1,000 meters of water and now again an underwater recorder. Does he want to record the sound of dolphins searching for mates? The waterproof case was easy to make. Only the power supply problem needed a little bit of effort. Chen Fan required the power to be able to work 24 hours continuously. Several technicians responsible for the shipping line, after studying the recording of a complete set of equipment of the power consumption, decided to adopt the NiMH battery as a power supply system, and a large rubber on the waterproof casing pressure switch. Such recording devices not only can work 24 hours continuously, it can also switch to control the opening and closing of the recording equipment. The things were simple. Jiang Shui told Chen Fan that it would be done by evening. "Well, after you''ve done that, give me a call and send it to the dock!" He patted him on the shoulder and turned away. Back at home, Chen Fan turned on his computer and began to consult various information about the French nuclear-powered submarines. France was one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. Their nuclear submarines were very good in terms of technology and quantity. Currently, there were six strategic nuclear submarines: four of them were the triumphant grade, and the other two were the old formidable classthe six guy-class nuclear-powered attack submarines. Of the six nuclear-powered attack submarines, one of them would have a layout in Djibouti naval base, two would accompany the combat readiness strategic nuclear submarines cruising on duty in the sea, and the remaining three would be in the French Navy base. He could not target the submarines that performed the task of combat duty. After all, the routes of combat duty were of the top secret for any country. To find them in the vast sea it was nothing less than striking a five-million-dollar jackpot. So Chen Fan fixed his eyes on several attacking nuclear submarines to record their submarine sound with his new, stat-of-the-art recording equipment. Hehe! He would make sure that they cried for help when they were crashed by him! "Too wicked, too evil!" Chen Fan''s mouth drooled as he looked at the photos of the nuclear submarines. To blackmail a country. How great is that? It will definitely go down in the history books of that country. Of course, it would be the bad history! But being wicked is better than being a good man, isn''t it? To blackmail a foreign country is equivalent to making a contribution to the motherland. Why not? At 6:30 p.m., Jiang Shui called and said the things had been done and were being sent to the dock. Hanging up the phone, when Chen Fan wanted to walk into the courtyard, the telephone rang again! Looking at the number, Chen Fan immediately felt stressed. It was Wu Ruoyu. It must be about the promise he made in the morning about treating her a meal as an apology. Of course, it was more important to control the electric eel to record the sound of the submarine. Thinking of this, Chen Fan clenched his teeth, then pressed the key. "I''m sorry!" Chen Fan said in an embarrassed manner. "I am in a meeting right now, I may not have time this evening. I''ll invite you to eat next time!" "You..." Wu Ruoyu felt as if she had been drenched with cold water. "Chen! Fan!" she gnashed her teeth, "you... rogue... b*stard!" She was not angry about the meal, but was in a very bad mood being cheated by someone, especially when he was standing on his balcony, and she could see the someone who said he was in a meeting! "In two days Two days!" Chen Fan said. "I''ve got to go!" "You... You...You... "Wu Ruoyu felt her heart turn cold without any trace of heat. Shrugging his shoulders, he did not bother to think of Wu Ruoyu''s feelings, and the key was to control the electric eel''s return to the naval base. But Wu Ruoyu''s eyes were wet. She forced back her tears and hurried back to her bedroom. "You nasty b*stard! You kissed and touched now you don''t care anymore!" Lying on the bed, with a pillow in her arms, she cried as if she was losing her breath and coughed once in a while due to a choking feeling in her throat. 176 The God of Luck Came At seven o''clock in the evening, Chen Fan drove to the seaside dock. The shipyard staff had sent the converted waterproof recording equipment there. The oval-shaped recording device was 1.3 meters long, 50 centimeters around, and looked like a giant silkworm pupa. When Chen Fan arrived, he opened the gate to allow the electric eel to enter. He then dove into the capsule, preparing to return to the deep sea cave to get dozens of liters of Taisui soaking liquid before controlling the electric eel to head to Djibouti. If the third layer was filled with this liquid, Chen Fan calculated that it would weigh about 11 tons, enough for his own consumption. Chen Fan was not in a hurry to get the Taisui out, and was prepared to wait until the electric eel came back from its mission. After all, the project was too big to be completed without several days of work. Two hours later, Chen Fan returned home with five water bags and officially launched "Operation Shark Fishing." The French naval base in Djibouti was more than 30 nautical miles to the bottom right of the mine blockade. The base had two frigates, three destroyers, five multipurpose transport vessels, a gem-class attack nuclear submarine, and two squid-class conventional-power submarines. Chen Fan''s target was the three submarines, and if possible, Chen Fan was also prepared to allow the electric eel to swim through Africa and go to France before continuing on to steal their sonar. As soon as the electric eel left the harbor with its pupa-like recording equipment, the electric eel''s speed increased to 170 knots as it sailed through the wind and waves toward the Bay of Djibouti. Forty-eight hours later... Five hundred miles west of the Gulf of Aden, near the Djibouti Sea, 3 a.m. local time. The electric eel had slept for a while on a coral reef on the ocean floor. It woke up and ate a few sharks. Its hiding place was 50 miles from the French naval base. Chen Fan was going to investigate the base first. On the way, the electric eel did not carry the spear and the sound recording equipment. Magnetic detection devices must have been installed near the naval base, so large metal spears would be detected. If it weren''t for the fact that the wristband map could not be taken off, the electric eel would have taken it off, too. It didn''t take long for the electric eel to arrive at the coordinates in his mind, which were 2,000 meters in front of the base''s location. The base was a full of modern port, built on five kilometers of concrete. Numerous large cranes, machinery, and equipment could be seen, and in the sea near the port was a 500-meter-long gray warship. However, after looking for a long time, the electric eel did not find any submarines. Instead, it found a large black hole, 30 meters high and 20 meters wide, on a cliff 500 meters to the left. A dozen French soldiers with guns stood by the hole, and at the end of the tunnel, a large, black, steel beast could be seen. Needless to say, it must have been the French naval submarine base. The eel laid dormant patiently for an hour, and there was no unusual movement throughout the base, so it was unlikely that any trace of the electric eel had been found. Swimming back to the coral, the electric eel scratched its belly and wondered, what if the submarine kept hiding inside? "Let''s wait and see. Big submarines with lots of mechanical parts built together have to move every once in a while. If not, the internal mechanism becomes damaged." Early the next morning, the electric eel came again to the position 2,000 meters from the cave and crouched to see if it could find the submarine the way a blind cat would find a dead rat. Groveling in the mud at the bottom of the seabed, the eel detected no movement from the entire underground submarine base until noon. Shaking its head, the electric eel crept out of the area to find food. After eating a few sharks it came dashing back in a hurry and continued to stare at the cave. What excited Chen Fan was that after about two hours, the water inside the cave suddenly stirred up, and then a 60-meter-long, 7.2-meter-wide, big black submarine about slowly sailed out from inside. Once that submarine submerged, a similar black submarine came out. "F**k, they finally came outtwo squid-class conventional-power submarines!" The electric eel''s adrenal glands began to rapidly secrete. Its mouth felt dry, and its heartbeat became rapid. The two submarines, one behind the other in a line, were heading east toward the Gulf of Aden. Then another submarine came out of the cave. This one was 72 meter long, 7.6 meters wide, and 6.4 meters high. It had a unique shape. Its front part was shaped like an egg and looked like the French ruby-class attack submarines seen on the internet. "Cool, cool, cool." Chen Fan felt as if he had been kissed by a lucky goddess. He had just been mumbling to himself about how to get the three submarines out. Now they all came out of the base without Chen Fan needing to do anything. More than anything, Chen Fan couldn''t resist praising the goddess of luck because the three submarines were going in the direction of the coral reef, where the spear and the recording equipment were. Without a doubt, he had to track it! When the submarine was about 30 miles away, the electric eel immediately accelerated to its highest speed, darted into the coral, grabbed the recording device, and dashed out. The three submarines were unaware of the fact that there was a terrifying beast with a recorder behind them. They were strung together in a line, slowly heading towards the Indian Ocean at 20 knots. When a submarine was sailing, it usually set its course and then used the inertial navigation system to navigate. This was done manually by drawing out the position of the submarine in the sea. The modern way was fully automated. The monitor was labeled with submarines in a 3D map along with their speed, headings, angles, and so on. They themselves could not receive information from the outside world at all times. They could only judge whether there were other submarines nearby based on the monitoring of the passive sonar. Fishing Of course, he would cast for the biggest fish first. The electric eel reduced its speed to around 20 knots, quietly getting near the tail of the ruby-class attack submarine in the center. With a cheeky smile, he pressed the recorder''s switch. Buzz Buzz Buzz...The seven-blade propeller at the back of the submarine emitted a steady stream of sound, and that expensive professional recording device was dutifully recording everything. Chen Fan didn''t know how long the recording would take, but it probably wouldn''t take long, as long as he caught the unique frequency of the sound waves. After 20 minutes of recording, Chen Fan controlled the electric eel to cut off the power and then swim a couple of kilometers away. He then began recording the squid-class conventional-powered submarine. Twenty minutes later, he stopped recording and swam to the last squid-class conventional-powered submarine. Haha, let''s see if you will be doomed this time. When the task was finished, Chen Fan screamed in his heart, turned off the recording button, and quickly fled away. Back at the coral reef, Chen Fan considered how to carry out the next step of his plan. If he went to the south coast to make a detour at the continent of Europe, he would need two and a half days, but from the Suez Canal, he would need less than half a day! Don''t take the risk. The narrowest point of the Suez Canal is only a few dozen meters. There are several large and small locks. They would not necessarily open. I''ll just go around Africa! Chen Fan said to himself, then controlled the electric eel to swim to the Indian Ocean. ............... Twenty-four hours later, at the southern tip of the continent near the country of Namibia, the electric eel had been traveling for an entire day. It was tired and ready to rest. It was still 5,000 miles from France. As usual, the eel found a coral reef and hid in it, so that active sonar could not detect him, and any fish nets would be caught on the reef. A night passed, and then the electric eel swam more than 1,000 miles the next day. It stopped again 200 miles east of St. Helena. After swimming for most of the day, the electric eel''s stomach was already growling with hunger. It had to find something to eat. Fish were plentiful in the Pacific Ocean, and the electric eel simply looked around and saw a large school of fish not far ahead. As he swam closer, Chen Fan discovered that it was six large blue whales over 20 meters long. "Oh, that''s great!" The electric eel let out an excited howl and flexed its claws. It had an excited expression on its face, as if it were a wolf in a flock of little sheep. The six blue whales had just turned around and escaped, when the sudden intense voltage from the electric eel froze them in place. Picking one of the smallest, the electric eel swooped over it, plunging four claws into its flesh. Then, as easily as tearing a sheet of paper, it tore open the muscle tissue of the blue whale. ... By the time the other five lucky blue whales had recovered from their vertigo, the electric eel had burped and was staring at them with a playful look. How could the blue whales dare to say anything? They quickly fled. It was not good for any species to exercise on a full tummy. Chen Fan was prepared to wait for half an hour. Before the electric eel could find a place to rest, a large black shadow in the distance sailed slowly towards the electric eel. "What''s that?" The electric eel''s eyes were immediately drawn to it. "Ah!" By the time the shadow was about 1,000 meters away, the electric eel''s eyes grew huge and its mouth opened so wide, its jaw almost dislocated. It was a monster larger than the electric eel, 138 meters long, 12.5 meters wide, and 12.5 meters high. To encounter something so big in the ocean, there was only one possibility of what it was: a man-made submarine. The creature was indeed a man-made submarine. Because the electric eel was supposed to be quite familiar with submarines, it should not have been so shocked. On the contrary, the electric eel''s startled expression was more exaggerated than when it first encountered the two American nuclear attack submarines. It wasn''t because the submarine was amazing at first glance, nor because the missile at the back of the submarine was opened with the bomb whistling away. It was instead because of the submarine''s model: a triumph-class strategic nuclear submarine! Yes, this was actually the ultimate weapon that the French made, the strategic nuclear submarine. What did that mean? What one had searched for far and wide was a fancy finding by sheer luck! Chen Fan had originally wanted to control the electric eel to France to find one or two submarines'' acoustic signatures to record. It would be great if it could record a nuclear attack submarine, but he didn''t think he would encounter a strategic nuclear submarine on the way... A strategic nuclear submarine! It represented the most cutting-edge crystallization of human science and technology. The engineers had put every technology imaginable all into one submarine. Sometimes referred to as an, "underwater moving nuclear missile base," or even a, "national sword," the strategic nuclear submarines could carry 16 intercontinental ballistic missiles, and could carry six nuclear warheads each for a total of 96 nuclear bombs. It could easily erase a population of 50,000,000 humans from the earth. Even if the submarine''s own country were destroyed by a nuclear attack, the submarine could still carry out nuclear bundling tactics and launch nuclear bombs at other capitals and major cities of the world''s nuclear-armed countries. All the capitals of the world could be destroyed if conditions permitted. The end result was easy to predict. The world would be locked in a war of nuclear retaliation. What was this concept? As long as the country had an unallocated strategic nuclear submarine, no one would dare to invade it. That included Britain, America, Russia, and Chinafour countries with similar strategic nuclear submarines. "Record, definitely record it!" Chen Fan''s faith was as strong as a hammer. This strategic nuclear submarine cruising alone in the Pacific Ocean was undoubtedly on standby duty. As long as its acoustic signature was recorded, it could be sold to other countries for an astronomical figure! Two kilometers! Fifteen hundred meters! A kilometer! Five hundred meters! ... The electric eel was like a young bandit, being careful and cautious. When the electric eel swam to the submarine''s tail thruster, Chen Fan took a deep breath and calmed down, then pressed the record key! The noise from the operation of the strategic nuclear submarine was being meticulously recorded on storage cards by the recording equipment. For two full hours, Chen Fan kept the electric eel safely near the submarine''s tail before carefully closing the recorder and leaving. After swimming for dozens of miles, Chen Fan stopped the electric eel in its hiding place, and then both the electric eel and Chen Fan nervously took a gasp of air. Now Chen Fan would not go to France for anything. Getting this strategic nuclear submarine''s acoustic signature would absolutely surpass the value of all their conventional-power submarines and nuclear attack submarines. After all, the weapons systems of the nuclear attack submarines were exactly like the conventional submarines, which could not produce a deadly threat to other countries. "Retreat!" After half an hour of relaxation, the electric eel turned its tail and swam toward the city of Zhongyun. 177 What The Hell At noon, a string of lazy sunbeams glowed on the yellow willow branches, and the wind began to turn slow. "Damn cold!" Chen Fan pulled his black cashmere overcoat tighter and exhaled out white mist. After three days of journey, the electric eel had returned from the south Atlantic Ocean near western Africa to Zhongyun City, and what Chen Fan had to do now was to retrieve the recordings. It wasn''t a hassle to get it. He only had to use a tool to remove a piece of steel from the device''s shell. The real problem was how to maximize the value of this item. Clutching the 32GB SDHC storage card, Chen Fan went to a computer mall and bought two laptops and three gigabytes of storage. Taking the capsule to the underground cavern. Chen Fan did copied the four audio files in it onto three storage cards with the newly purchased laptop computer. The sound lines of the strategic nuclear submarine were scattered at random, and the background was chaotic. With the fixed sound of machinery, the sound quality was clear enough to open an ocean symphony. Other sound lines were similar, with only a few meters from the propeller, and with professional recording equipment, even Chen Fan, a layman, could identify the differences between the lines. Chen Fan decided had decided to put all four storage cards in this stone tower to ensure safety. After all, it''s as powerful as a nuclear bomb, and it would not be surprising if he were killed if got out. Lying on a golden stone bed, Chen Fan put his head into deep thought, and there was only one question before him. How could he send this voiceprint to the French government safely? Of course, the important part was to make sure they couldn''t trace his identity. He was not a skilled hacker. Even if he was, it was useless. To the nationally trained network talents, he was just a piece of cake. How could he make the French search for the location but find nothing? After thinking for a long time, Chen Fan thought that it was only in the sea that he could make sure that his hiding place was not found. Taking the wireless communications cable as an example, even if others follow the signal tracking to the place where the signal was transmitted, they also could not find the real terminal. They would only look at the vast sea. But there was a problem. If it were only to threaten pirates or a company, building a more than 2,000-meter-long cable was fine because they didn''t have enough technology or manpower to investigate it. But he was now taking down a strategic nuclear submarine, and attacking submarines'' voiceprints to blackmail the French they would be frustrated and would track down the culprit. Then, whatever military satellite would certainly dig up the whole sea. The signal receiver was just over 20 miles from Zhongyun City, and the agents, the spies, would definitely charge to Zhongyun City. Therefore, for the sake of safety, the length of the cable must be expanded, and it was better to connect it to foreign countries. In this case, it could only be done using underwater fiber-optic cable, and then use satellite Internet to do the terminal. He was a few hundred miles from a foreign country. Who would be able to find him? The cheapest underwater fiber-optic cable already cost 50 RMB per meter, and that didn''t include the added expense of the layout fee. Five hundred miles long, about 46 million total out of the economic benefit. But if he didn''t do it. He couldn''t hide his identity! ....... "Haha, got it!" Thinking for a long time, Chen Fan suddenly came up with an idea, then immediately excitedly opened the laptop, and began to search the Internet for information. Half an hour later, Chen Fan smiled, controlled the electric eel and returned to his home by the capsule. ...... Five hours later, Manila, the Philippine capital. It was 35 South Porter Street. It was six o''clock in the evening. Alijo, was young teenager and the adults had not come home yet. So, he took advantage of that time to get on the computer and look at some wonderful pictures on some famous site in Japan. Carefully closing the door, he went to the computer with a dry mouth, pressed the button, pulled out a crumpled note from his pocket, then shuddered as he entered the URL on the keyboard. At the end of the buffering, a few young girls appeared on the screen. And even worse: the girls were all naked. The first contact with the charm of the Internet brings a rapid heartbeat, burning desire, eyeball expansion, and many other feelings. A minute later, he licked his dry lips and decided to do a big thing, freeing himself from the fire of desire. The phrase spoils the mood, from the moment it was created, was destined to be used in countless situations, such as the situation Alijo faced. Just as the fire in his heart was just about to break out, the page on the 17-inch display, which had the pictures automatically shuffling, suddenly showed a few big words: unable to open the website. "&#@*%@!" He immediately swore and felt like cursing all the family members of the internet company. Fortunately, young people''s vitality was very surprising and the could curse for a long time. The network did not improve, and Alijo simply closed his eyes, relying on the residual image in his mind to continue to do his thing. However... Things always happen at the most unfortunate time. When the fire in his heart was going out again, the wooden door of the room was suddenly opened with a key. "Alijo, did you write... Ah... What are you doing!" The whole of the Philippines'' users encountered this kind of problem of not being able to connect to the Japanese network. It was not just him. The whole country encountered the issue at the same time. Only he was especially unlucky. In the northern Philippines, the coastal city of Burgos, in a blue, seven-layer building called Philippine National Network Company, numerous employees were in a panic. The underground control room was blocked with three layers in and out. Just five minutes earlier, they had spent large sums of money to lay the underwater fiber-optic from there to Japan. All of a sudden, there was a loss of signal connection, and no matter how the technical personnel tested it, it had no response. "Was it bitten by a shark?" A middle-aged man in a blue shirt touched his chin. "Probably not. Most of our fiber-optic cables are covered in underwater ramps. Even if they are not buried, we put the SK armor layer in shark-infested areas to protect them from sharks." The technician next to the slightly older technician shook his head sadly. "Even if the shark bites, the signal would fade away, not disappear suddenly." The underwater stamping embedding method involved an underwater robot that had several rows of blowholes on its belly that would shoot water cannons to form cable trenches in the seabed sediment. The upper part of the device had a cable hole to guide the cable to the bottom of the sea. "What''s the reason? The message from Japan is that there is no problem with the base station there!" "Let''s measure it with the signal attenuation detector first!" The older technician brooded for a while and could not think of the reason. Signal attenuation detector was a kind of instrument used to detect whether the line was obstructed. When a fault occurs on the line, it can accurately calculate the fracture distance. Soon, there were three employees pushing out an orange shell half a man''s height. Two technicians connected the wire cable to the detection mechanism with a detection cable, and pressed a few buttons on the device control keys. Beep. beep Various parameters first began to appear on the testing equipment screen. Five seconds later, a green line began to appear on the screen. The green line extended only a tiny bit and then was replaced by a flashing red dot. "Ah!" someone next to it exclaimed. "Ten point seven four kilometers!" The network company building was 329 kilometers from the coast, which meant that the fiber-optic cable was broken in the sea at seven to five kilometers away. Knowing this answer, most of them were relieved since it was an easy repair. The area was just over 90 meters deep, and it could be tied to a cable by sending deep water frogmen and then reconnecting with a winch. Half an hour later, a professional undersea fiber-optic cable repair ship slowly headed for the broken area. After the boat was docked, the two deep-water frogmen, who dressed like the astronauts, jumped into the sea with a splash. Everyone thought it was a very simple project, and it would not take long for the cable to be recombined, and they would no longer have to put up with complaints from countless Internet users. But their dream was shattered by the reports of the two frogmen. The two frogmen had just dived for 20 minutes when one exclaimed through a communication line, "We can''t find the other end of the fiber-optic cable. The fiber-optic cable fracture position was a surface smooth, yarn at the bottom of the seabed. There are traces of a fiber optic cable was pulled out... " "What the hell?" The technical staff on board was stunned. If this had been a Walt Disney animation, their jaws would all be on the ground. The fiber-optic cable was pulled away from the bottom, is this science fiction? "Right away, we have to go along the cable and find out who has the nerve to steal international fiber-optic cable." To recover fiber-optic cable, you need to use ships, along with the route of cables, to hoist undersea fiber-optic cables from under the water. ........ Of course, it was not people that could do this kind of thing. It was the electric eel that Chen Fan controlled. "Cool! The electric eel dragged the black fiber-optic cable that was as thick as an arm over 1,000 miles to Japan and was secretly delighted. The cable too expensive? The international cable throughout the sea was abundant. It was easy to steal one, as long as he did not steal his own country''s. Now the electric eel had gone more than 100 miles, and the fiber optic cable on its claws had increased in length, and it had become more and heavier. Chen Fan controlled the electric eel to throw the end to the side, and then going to where the cable was still buried in the sediment, used its claws to gently grab onto the cable, and clipped it when the length was suitable. Without the weight of the more than 100 nautical miles of optical cable, the electric eel''s speed immediately rose seven or eight levels, and it took just four hours to swim 650 miles. The electric eel opened its mouth and showed its teeth that were bigger than the door, and snipped and snapped the cable. A total of 800 nautical miles of optical cable. This was absolutely enough for Chen Fan to do his mischief. There is no problem, even if he towed it to Japan or South Korea to set it up. Chapter 177 National Cybersecurity It obviously isn''t an easy matter to move optical cables, each of which are 800 nautical miles long, into a cave among the reefs. That was why Chen Fan had decided to move them in sections. The distance to the reefs was about 500 nautical miles. The electrical eel first drug one end of an optical cable, working hard to move it, towards the reefs. Once the weight of the optical cable had reached a certain limit and could no longer be dragged, the electrical eel would then drag the other end, before then switching again to the middle part. In this way, the optical cable could be slowly dragged towards the reefs. By the time the two broken heads of the optical cables had been dragged into the big cave among the reefs, it was already almost midnight. After washing up, Chen Fan laid in his bed, making up his mind to get some equipment to connect to the satellite internet device when he awoke the next day. Naturally, satellite internet devices could not be bought within the country, because each network card has a unique twelve digit hexadecimal network address that was designated by the network card manufacturer, during the manufacturing process. These network addresses could be used to control the host''s data communication on the internet, and the information obtained could then be used to pinpoint the target''s location. This is why Chen Fan was prepared to buy it from Japan, since Japan was only a few hundred nautical miles away from Zhong Yun. Such a relatively small distance would mean that a two-way trip by the electric eel would only take around half a day. Also, obtaining japanese yen was not an issue, as he only needed to go to an illegal money changer. There were many people who provided this service in Zhong Yun, and it wasn''t as if he was exchanging too big of a sum. What was truly troublesome, was that Chen Fan could not speak Japanese! He could not even get a translator''s help for this matter. "It seems that the only thing I can do is to continue pretending that I''m mute!" Shaking his head, Chen Fan drifted off to sleep. At 4 a.m. the next morning, by a barren rocky beach in Amakusa City, Kyushu Prefecture, Japan. The electric eel scanned its surroundings with its pair of water-tank-sized eyes, which could see clearer than any night vision device. After making sure that the surrounding area was safe, it immediately used its claws to lift the submersible onto a reef. Chen Fan, who was hiding within the submersible, sneakily opened the hatch to peek his head out. The current top-of-the-line night vision devices that were used by the army have an effective observation distance of between 1500 to 2000 meters. The electric eel was far superior to this, having an observation distance of up to 3500 meters. The sky was still dark, so Chen Fan decided to wait for the sky to brighten up a little before heading to the busy downtown district to purchase the satellite internet device. Once the clock showed 6 a.m., Chen Fan carefully checked his appearance. Upon confirming that he looked fine, he set foot on an asphalt road, heading towards the downtown district. The night before, Chen Fan had used Google maps to mark out the walking route. He had even worn a pair of sunglasses, a peaked cap, and a high-collared windbreaker, as the weather here was much colder than in Zhong Yun. Also, his wearing this Shanghai Bund mogul get-up in the monster-infested streets of Japan seemed out of the ordinary, as was his intention. As predicted, Chen Fan had only walked the streets of this tight-knit city for half an hour, before a long-haired beauty in a black-and-white striped short skirt stopped him. She gave a vigorous bow, greeting him, "Ohaiyo! Ohaiyo!" Her low-cut shirt gave Chen Fan an eyeful of her chest. She definitely did that on purpose! Chen Fan swallowed two mouthfuls of saliva. Dressing like this, and on such a cold day! Wasn''t she worried about freezing to death? And. bowing so low Was she an escort? However, Chen Fan clearly had misunderstood her intentions. Nobody would do that sort of thing so early in the day. That''s only done at night! After bowing in greeting, the pretty maid gestured an invitation to Chen Fan, beckoning him into what was clearly a breakfast shop. "Irasshaimase! (Welcome)!" Chen Fan looked at the pictures of the various foreign snacks on the fiery red glass that decorating the door to the shop. Realizing he was indeed quite hungry, he started salivating all of the sudden. He figured that trying an authentic Japanese breakfast would not be such a bad thing. His expression was blocked by his wide-brimmed peaked cap, as Chen Fan took out a two thousand yen note. Then, with his leather-glove-covered left hand, he pointed to the glass wall several times at random. "Hai!" The girl of around 18 immediately bowed excitedly, then ran inside, clutching the banknote. Dadada In less than two minutes, the clear sound of footsteps sounded in Chen Fan''s ears. The breakfast that he had ordered was packed in a pretty, red paper bag. Chen Fan took the bag and motioned for her to keep the change, since it was useless to him anyway. "Arigato-gozaimasu." As she thanked him, a happy grin blossomed on the girl''s cheeks, which had been reddened by the cold. One could barely resist pinching those cheeks! The bag contained two pieces of dorayaki with red bean paste filling, muyu suckling pig dumplings, three pieces of onion takoyaki and a cup of miso soup. Most of the items weren''t bad, but the soup tasted a little weird, as it was all sour, salty, and a little too thick. So, Chen Fan threw it away after only two mouthfuls. Three hours later, Chen Fan returned to the rocky beach, carrying three boxes in his right hand, each containing a satellite receiver that measured 30cm long, 20cm wide, and 10cm high. In his left hand, he carried two boxes, each of which contained a laptop. Chen Fan had simply entered an insignificant looking electronic shop at random, before taking several satellite internet devices and laptops off the shelves, all with their price tags on, so that Chen Fan need not play charades in order to find out. He had soon found that little Japan''s electronic goods were much more advanced. The maritime satellite internet devices that were sold in Zhong Yun not only looked ugly, but could only be obtained from carriers or proxy companies. On the other hand, the ones that were sold in little Japan were about the size of old handphones, having long antennas at the top. Hence, if the wire connecting them to a computer was removed, they could even function as a maritime satellite phone. Varying payment methods were also accepted in little Japan, making it extremely convenient to purchase supplies there. Chen Fan had already solved the problem of topping up the card. Each device came with a free satellite phone SIM card with 1 USD inside. By communicating with hand gestures, Chen Fan had already managed to top-up 150000 yen into each card, which he figured would last him three years of continuous use. He left for Japan just past midnight last night, and had not slept since. Exhausted, Chen Fan curled up behind a rock, hugging the paper boxes. He was prepared to wait out the day, then depart at night, for safety reasons. Awaking the next day, Chen Fan knew that the only problem left now was figuring out how to connect the device to the optical cables. Hence, Chen Fan went to a shop in Zhong Yun that specialized in computer products to get advice. He then instructed a shipyard worker to create a small sealed casing. These kind of international optical cables all contained specialized electrical circuits in order to provide electricity for the repeaters to magnify the signals for retransmission to other countries or to distances too far off. After running around for two days, he finally connected the signal converters and the power supply wires to the satellite internet devices, then covered them up with a waterproof outer casing. He covered the base of the optical cables with corrosion-proof suspended matter that he had obtained from the shipyard, so that the optical cables wouldn''t sink. International optical cables were unlike household optical cables, which only required two strands of fibers. They contained countless tightly-packed fibers in order to reach maximum efficiency. However, connecting all the fibers was an exceedingly complicated process that must be done by a professional. Hence, even though it hurt his heart to do so, Chen Fan had no choice but to use the international optical cables, as if they were household optical cables. Commanding the electric eel, Chen Fan sneakily took out the optical cables and tested them with the laptop that he had bought from Japan. The Internet speed was ordinary, slightly faster than a wireless network card. The thing was, he had no satellite. Otherwise, the speed would be faster than its bandwidth with a satellite TV dish receiver. Up next, Chen Fan was faced with the task of framing someone else. An 800 nautical mile long optical cable setting out from the undersea cave can cover the entire four countries of South Korea, North Korea, Japan and the Philippines. In fact, when dragged to its longest, it would only be tens of nautical miles away from the border of Russia! No matter which country it was left in, the fun would be incomparable! After studying the digital map, Chen Fan smiled sinisterly. He then decided to place the optical cables between Japan and Korea. As for the layout of the optical cables, Chen Fan employed the modern method of digging out a gully and placing the optical cables in it, letting mud and sand pile naturally on top to cover them. The only difference was that, instead of using high pressure guns, the electric eel used a spear to plow out a gully. It took the electric eel two whole days to finish laying out the optical cables. As for hiding the satellite receiver dish, after thinking it through, Chen Fan chose a small hill with a size of around dozens of square meters, which was located right in the middle of Japan and Korea, and hid the dish near the hill. The waters surrounding the hill were filled with reefs, making fishing impossible. Even small boats that were approaching the hill might be run aground if they were not careful, let alone large military ships. Besides, Chen Fan had also installed an underwater surveillance device under the receiver dish, which would alert him immediately of the approach of any boats. Sitting in front of his computer, Chen Fan again went on several foreign websites to confirm that there was no problem with the reception. There wasn''t, since the maritime satellite internet covered the whole globe, after all! Upon completion of all the stages, the only thing left to do was to send the information to the French government, charging them an extortionate amount. Using the laptop with handphone reception to surf the web, Chen Fan found several French government websites on Baidu. Among the sites were tourism websites, embassy websites, football association sites and more, but he could not find the military''s website. However, Chen Fan found something even better, which was the French President''s website. Naturally, it was doubtful whether the website was actually maintained by the President himself. The President was, after all, busy with affairs of the State, so would most likely delegate such unimportant matters to his subordinates. For instance, the US government employed dozens of employees merely to reply to all the messages that were left on the White House''s website. As Chen Fan perused the net, he discovered that all of the official websites of foreign presidents would have an email address for the public to send feedback to. Just a few clicks of the mouse, and Chen Fan found a series of email addresses. Using another laptop with handphone reception, Chen Fan opened Yahoo''s online Japanese translation site. At the translation box, Chen Fan keyed in a carefully composed paragraph. Navigating online translation required skill. It was best to use common terms to increase its accuracy. However, Japanese words originated from Chinese words, and in a Japanese essay, half of the characters would be Kanjis. Hence, no matter how poor the translation was, it would not deviate too much from the original meaning. As for why he wasn''t blackmailing the government for more money, Chen Fan was of the opinion that he should not go overboard, just in case their tempers flare, resulting in them decisively withdrawing their submarine altogether. Anyway, he still had a killer strategy to end all strategies hidden up his sleeve, which was the nuclear submarine! He copied the paragraph into WordPad, saved it on a flash drive, then inserted said flash drive into the laptop that he had bought from Japan. Windows operating system is the same everywhere, and there were many linguistic similarities between Japanese and Chinese, so Chen Fan could operate the laptop fine, as long as he wasn''t doing anything too complicated. The problem of the email address was easily solved. Chen Fan just went on Japan''s Google site, compared it to a Chinese control interface, then registered a sockpuppet gmail account. Taking a deep breath, Chen Fan pasted the paragraph into an email, then attached the voiceprint recording of the red gem submarine. The recording had been cut in half by Chen Fan, leaving only 23 MB remaining. A minute later, the document had finished uploading. Chen Fan rubbed his nose, then pressed the Enter key. "I hope my email will not be treated as spam!" Once the email sent prompt appeared, Chen Fan sat up in his chair and shut down all of his computers. Walking down from the stone tower, Chen Fan cut off the battery of the connecting receiver. Even a fool would know that, once they discovered the truth of the document, they would mobilize all of the network technicians in the military to investigate the source of the email. He got back to his house, sat down on his sofa. Then, while teasing Xiao Xue, which had already grown to 35 kgs, he watched the news channel to see if anything major had happened. Two hours later, in number 15, Andorra la Vella Street, Paris, France. The four-story greyish-white building looked ordinary from the outside, but the nearby residents all knew that the building was anything but ordinary. In fact, it was a building that made even the people working in those skyscrapers in the distance instinctively tread lightly when passing. That''s because this building housed the National Cybersecurity Agency of France! "Catherine, would you make me a cup of coffee, please? Thanks!" Sonnenfeldt poked his head out from the office, as he shouted towards a blonde in a black suit. "Sonnenfeldt, can''t you make it yourself? Why do you have to ask me to do it every single time?" The lady called Catherine grumbled a long while, before she unwillingly got up. Five minutes later... "Let''s see who are these complainers, who are so free to whine to the government this time!" While drinking his coffee, Sonnenfeldt leisurely clicked open the server of the President''s website. Reviewing the emails that had been recently sent to the President''s website was just one of his sundry tasks. His real identity was as a member of the network information security taskforce. As such, his job included maintaining the server of the President''s website, so that he could deal with the harassment sent from hackers all over the world. However, he was actually really enthusiastic about this task of reviewing the emails, because most of the complaints received were all over the place, making them incredibly amusing. For instance, he could clearly remember an incident from last year, when an 80-year-old lady sent an email praising the President ardently and confessing her love for him. She had even attached a few pictures of herself in a swimsuit! He had just swallowed a mouthful of coffee, when he saw the email. Upon his surprise in reading it, he nearly choked to death on that very coffee! Of course, he would submit any emails that contained constructive criticism, and were presented in a professional manner, to the President''s secretary, who would then review them and make the final call as to whether or not the President should read them himself. "I want the government to amend the law, so that postmodern performance arts would receive greater recognition from society" Sonnenfeldt clicked open an email at random, reading it aloud softly. With emails which like this, which were neither constructive nor interesting, he would press the delete button after a mere glance, before moving on to the next one. "I love Mr. President, particularly his mature and reliable charm" Sonnenfeldt loved flowery emails like these. Sipping his fragrant coffee, he made himself comfortable and continued reading. When he had scrolled to the bottom, Sonnenfeldt''s sip of coffee suddenly came spurting out from his nose, causing him to almost hack out a lung, while coughing. After hurriedly deleting a picture of a guy with long chest hairs and toned abs, Sonnenfeldt''s attention was arrested by an email with a Japanese subject line. "Huh, the Japanese are really something, sending their spam all the way here!" Sonnenfeldt shook his head. Even the entire online community could not do anything about spam emails, so what could he do? Deleting that email, Sonnenfeldt continued browsing the rest of the emails. "I am a six-year-old child, and I strongly request that the government allow underaged children to access pornographic websites." "Haha!" Sonnenfeldt laughed out loud, satisfied with today''s find. He was only halfway through, but he had already read so much amusing stuff. Unfortunately, that was where his luck ended. The rest of the emails were not amusing in the least. Bored of maintaining the server, Sonnenfeldt exited the backend interface and glanced at the clock, finding that there was still half an hour to go before the end of his shift. So, he resigned himself to spending that half hour in utter boredom. After around ten minutes of playing minesweeper, Sonnenfeldt shook his head. While it was a classic game, he had played too much, causing him to gradually lose interest, especially since he was a high-level minesweeper, holding a steady record of around 40 seconds! He refreshed the server a few times, but there still were no attention-grabbing subjects. Sonnenfeldt refused to give up, scanning the emails through several times, yet still not finding anything. That Japanese email in between so many French emails was indeed attention-grabbing. After a moment''s hesitation, Sonnenfeldt decided to click on it. Naturally, he could not read the Japanese, but he secretly just wanted to look at some unhealthy sites through the links provided. "Hmm?" Sonnenfeldt found it odd that the email did not contain any of the links he had expected. There was just one paragraph and an attachment of around 20 MB in size. Out of curiosity, Sonnenfeldt decided to put the message through their internal translation system. Could it be a challenge issued by a Japanese hacker, asking for them to test their respective Internet skills? 178 National Cybersecurity It obviously isn''t an easy matter to move optical cables, each of which are 800 nautical miles long, into a cave among the reefs. That was why Chen Fan had decided to move them in sections. The distance to the reefs was about 500 nautical miles. The electrical eel first drug one end of an optical cable, working hard to move it, towards the reefs. Once the weight of the optical cable had reached a certain limit and could no longer be dragged, the electrical eel would then drag the other end, before then switching again to the middle part. In this way, the optical cable could be slowly dragged towards the reefs. By the time the two broken heads of the optical cables had been dragged into the big cave among the reefs, it was already almost midnight. After washing up, Chen Fan laid in his bed, making up his mind to get some equipment to connect to the satellite internet device when he awoke the next day. Naturally, satellite internet devices could not be bought within the country, because each network card has a unique twelve digit hexadecimal network address that was designated by the network card manufacturer, during the manufacturing process. These network addresses could be used to control the host''s data communication on the internet, and the information obtained could then be used to pinpoint the target''s location. This is why Chen Fan was prepared to buy it from Japan, since Japan was only a few hundred nautical miles away from Zhong Yun. Such a relatively small distance would mean that a two-way trip by the electric eel would only take around half a day. Also, obtaining japanese yen was not an issue, as he only needed to go to an illegal money changer. There were many people who provided this service in Zhong Yun, and it wasn''t as if he was exchanging too big of a sum. What was truly troublesome, was that Chen Fan could not speak Japanese! He could not even get a translator''s help for this matter. "It seems that the only thing I can do is to continue pretending that I''m mute!" Shaking his head, Chen Fan drifted off to sleep. At 4 a.m. the next morning, by a barren rocky beach in Amakusa City, Kyushu Prefecture, Japan. The electric eel scanned its surroundings with its pair of water-tank-sized eyes, which could see clearer than any night vision device. After making sure that the surrounding area was safe, it immediately used its claws to lift the submersible onto a reef. Chen Fan, who was hiding within the submersible, sneakily opened the hatch to peek his head out. The current top-of-the-line night vision devices that were used by the army have an effective observation distance of between 1500 to 2000 meters. The electric eel was far superior to this, having an observation distance of up to 3500 meters. The sky was still dark, so Chen Fan decided to wait for the sky to brighten up a little before heading to the busy downtown district to purchase the satellite internet device. Once the clock showed 6 a.m., Chen Fan carefully checked his appearance. Upon confirming that he looked fine, he set foot on an asphalt road, heading towards the downtown district. The night before, Chen Fan had used Google maps to mark out the walking route. He had even worn a pair of sunglasses, a peaked cap, and a high-collared windbreaker, as the weather here was much colder than in Zhong Yun. Also, his wearing this Shanghai Bund mogul get-up in the monster-infested streets of Japan seemed out of the ordinary, as was his intention. As predicted, Chen Fan had only walked the streets of this tight-knit city for half an hour, before a long-haired beauty in a black-and-white striped short skirt stopped him. She gave a vigorous bow, greeting him, "Ohaiyo! Ohaiyo!" Her low-cut shirt gave Chen Fan an eyeful of her chest. She definitely did that on purpose! Chen Fan swallowed two mouthfuls of saliva. Dressing like this, and on such a cold day! Wasn''t she worried about freezing to death? And. bowing so low Was she an escort? However, Chen Fan clearly had misunderstood her intentions. Nobody would do that sort of thing so early in the day. That''s only done at night! After bowing in greeting, the pretty maid gestured an invitation to Chen Fan, beckoning him into what was clearly a breakfast shop. "Irasshaimase! (Welcome)!" Chen Fan looked at the pictures of the various foreign snacks on the fiery red glass that decorating the door to the shop. Realizing he was indeed quite hungry, he started salivating all of the sudden. He figured that trying an authentic Japanese breakfast would not be such a bad thing. His expression was blocked by his wide-brimmed peaked cap, as Chen Fan took out a two thousand yen note. Then, with his leather-glove-covered left hand, he pointed to the glass wall several times at random. "Hai!" The girl of around 18 immediately bowed excitedly, then ran inside, clutching the banknote. Dadada In less than two minutes, the clear sound of footsteps sounded in Chen Fan''s ears. The breakfast that he had ordered was packed in a pretty, red paper bag. Chen Fan took the bag and motioned for her to keep the change, since it was useless to him anyway. "Arigato-gozaimasu." As she thanked him, a happy grin blossomed on the girl''s cheeks, which had been reddened by the cold. One could barely resist pinching those cheeks! The bag contained two pieces of dorayaki with red bean paste filling, muyu suckling pig dumplings, three pieces of onion takoyaki and a cup of miso soup. Most of the items weren''t bad, but the soup tasted a little weird, as it was all sour, salty, and a little too thick. So, Chen Fan threw it away after only two mouthfuls. Three hours later, Chen Fan returned to the rocky beach, carrying three boxes in his right hand, each containing a satellite receiver that measured 30cm long, 20cm wide, and 10cm high. In his left hand, he carried two boxes, each of which contained a laptop. Chen Fan had simply entered an insignificant looking electronic shop at random, before taking several satellite internet devices and laptops off the shelves, all with their price tags on, so that Chen Fan need not play charades in order to find out. He had soon found that little Japan''s electronic goods were much more advanced. The maritime satellite internet devices that were sold in Zhong Yun not only looked ugly, but could only be obtained from carriers or proxy companies. On the other hand, the ones that were sold in little Japan were about the size of old handphones, having long antennas at the top. Hence, if the wire connecting them to a computer was removed, they could even function as a maritime satellite phone. Varying payment methods were also accepted in little Japan, making it extremely convenient to purchase supplies there. Chen Fan had already solved the problem of topping up the card. Each device came with a free satellite phone SIM card with 1 USD inside. By communicating with hand gestures, Chen Fan had already managed to top-up 150000 yen into each card, which he figured would last him three years of continuous use. He left for Japan just past midnight last night, and had not slept since. Exhausted, Chen Fan curled up behind a rock, hugging the paper boxes. He was prepared to wait out the day, then depart at night, for safety reasons. Awaking the next day, Chen Fan knew that the only problem left now was figuring out how to connect the device to the optical cables. Hence, Chen Fan went to a shop in Zhong Yun that specialized in computer products to get advice. He then instructed a shipyard worker to create a small sealed casing. These kind of international optical cables all contained specialized electrical circuits in order to provide electricity for the repeaters to magnify the signals for retransmission to other countries or to distances too far off. After running around for two days, he finally connected the signal converters and the power supply wires to the satellite internet devices, then covered them up with a waterproof outer casing. He covered the base of the optical cables with corrosion-proof suspended matter that he had obtained from the shipyard, so that the optical cables wouldn''t sink. International optical cables were unlike household optical cables, which only required two strands of fibers. They contained countless tightly-packed fibers in order to reach maximum efficiency. However, connecting all the fibers was an exceedingly complicated process that must be done by a professional. Hence, even though it hurt his heart to do so, Chen Fan had no choice but to use the international optical cables, as if they were household optical cables. Commanding the electric eel, Chen Fan sneakily took out the optical cables and tested them with the laptop that he had bought from Japan. The Internet speed was ordinary, slightly faster than a wireless network card. The thing was, he had no satellite. Otherwise, the speed would be faster than its bandwidth with a satellite TV dish receiver. Up next, Chen Fan was faced with the task of framing someone else. An 800 nautical mile long optical cable setting out from the undersea cave can cover the entire four countries of South Korea, North Korea, Japan and the Philippines. In fact, when dragged to its longest, it would only be tens of nautical miles away from the border of Russia! No matter which country it was left in, the fun would be incomparable! After studying the digital map, Chen Fan smiled sinisterly. He then decided to place the optical cables between Japan and Korea. As for the layout of the optical cables, Chen Fan employed the modern method of digging out a gully and placing the optical cables in it, letting mud and sand pile naturally on top to cover them. The only difference was that, instead of using high pressure guns, the electric eel used a spear to plow out a gully. It took the electric eel two whole days to finish laying out the optical cables. As for hiding the satellite receiver dish, after thinking it through, Chen Fan chose a small hill with a size of around dozens of square meters, which was located right in the middle of Japan and Korea, and hid the dish near the hill. The waters surrounding the hill were filled with reefs, making fishing impossible. Even small boats that were approaching the hill might be run aground if they were not careful, let alone large military ships. Besides, Chen Fan had also installed an underwater surveillance device under the receiver dish, which would alert him immediately of the approach of any boats. Sitting in front of his computer, Chen Fan again went on several foreign websites to confirm that there was no problem with the reception. There wasn''t, since the maritime satellite internet covered the whole globe, after all! Upon completion of all the stages, the only thing left to do was to send the information to the French government, charging them an extortionate amount. Using the laptop with handphone reception to surf the web, Chen Fan found several French government websites on Baidu. Among the sites were tourism websites, embassy websites, football association sites and more, but he could not find the military''s website. However, Chen Fan found something even better, which was the French President''s website. Naturally, it was doubtful whether the website was actually maintained by the President himself. The President was, after all, busy with affairs of the State, so would most likely delegate such unimportant matters to his subordinates. For instance, the US government employed dozens of employees merely to reply to all the messages that were left on the White House''s website. As Chen Fan perused the net, he discovered that all of the official websites of foreign presidents would have an email address for the public to send feedback to. Just a few clicks of the mouse, and Chen Fan found a series of email addresses. Using another laptop with handphone reception, Chen Fan opened Yahoo''s online Japanese translation site. At the translation box, Chen Fan keyed in a carefully composed paragraph. Navigating online translation required skill. It was best to use common terms to increase its accuracy. However, Japanese words originated from Chinese words, and in a Japanese essay, half of the characters would be Kanjis. Hence, no matter how poor the translation was, it would not deviate too much from the original meaning. As for why he wasn''t blackmailing the government for more money, Chen Fan was of the opinion that he should not go overboard, just in case their tempers flare, resulting in them decisively withdrawing their submarine altogether. Anyway, he still had a killer strategy to end all strategies hidden up his sleeve, which was the nuclear submarine! He copied the paragraph into WordPad, saved it on a flash drive, then inserted said flash drive into the laptop that he had bought from Japan. Windows operating system is the same everywhere, and there were many linguistic similarities between Japanese and Chinese, so Chen Fan could operate the laptop fine, as long as he wasn''t doing anything too complicated. The problem of the email address was easily solved. Chen Fan just went on Japan''s Google site, compared it to a Chinese control interface, then registered a sockpuppet gmail account. Taking a deep breath, Chen Fan pasted the paragraph into an email, then attached the voiceprint recording of the red gem submarine. The recording had been cut in half by Chen Fan, leaving only 23 MB remaining. A minute later, the document had finished uploading. Chen Fan rubbed his nose, then pressed the Enter key. "I hope my email will not be treated as spam!" Once the email sent prompt appeared, Chen Fan sat up in his chair and shut down all of his computers. Walking down from the stone tower, Chen Fan cut off the battery of the connecting receiver. Even a fool would know that, once they discovered the truth of the document, they would mobilize all of the network technicians in the military to investigate the source of the email. He got back to his house, sat down on his sofa. Then, while teasing Xiao Xue, which had already grown to 35 kgs, he watched the news channel to see if anything major had happened. Two hours later, in number 15, Andorra la Vella Street, Paris, France. The four-story greyish-white building looked ordinary from the outside, but the nearby residents all knew that the building was anything but ordinary. In fact, it was a building that made even the people working in those skyscrapers in the distance instinctively tread lightly when passing. That''s because this building housed the National Cybersecurity Agency of France! "Catherine, would you make me a cup of coffee, please? Thanks!" Sonnenfeldt poked his head out from the office, as he shouted towards a blonde in a black suit. "Sonnenfeldt, can''t you make it yourself? Why do you have to ask me to do it every single time?" The lady called Catherine grumbled a long while, before she unwillingly got up. Five minutes later... "Let''s see who are these complainers, who are so free to whine to the government this time!" While drinking his coffee, Sonnenfeldt leisurely clicked open the server of the President''s website. Reviewing the emails that had been recently sent to the President''s website was just one of his sundry tasks. His real identity was as a member of the network information security taskforce. As such, his job included maintaining the server of the President''s website, so that he could deal with the harassment sent from hackers all over the world. However, he was actually really enthusiastic about this task of reviewing the emails, because most of the complaints received were all over the place, making them incredibly amusing. For instance, he could clearly remember an incident from last year, when an 80-year-old lady sent an email praising the President ardently and confessing her love for him. She had even attached a few pictures of herself in a swimsuit! He had just swallowed a mouthful of coffee, when he saw the email. Upon his surprise in reading it, he nearly choked to death on that very coffee! Of course, he would submit any emails that contained constructive criticism, and were presented in a professional manner, to the President''s secretary, who would then review them and make the final call as to whether or not the President should read them himself. "I want the government to amend the law, so that postmodern performance arts would receive greater recognition from society" Sonnenfeldt clicked open an email at random, reading it aloud softly. With emails which like this, which were neither constructive nor interesting, he would press the delete button after a mere glance, before moving on to the next one. "I love Mr. President, particularly his mature and reliable charm" Sonnenfeldt loved flowery emails like these. Sipping his fragrant coffee, he made himself comfortable and continued reading. When he had scrolled to the bottom, Sonnenfeldt''s sip of coffee suddenly came spurting out from his nose, causing him to almost hack out a lung, while coughing. After hurriedly deleting a picture of a guy with long chest hairs and toned abs, Sonnenfeldt''s attention was arrested by an email with a Japanese subject line. "Huh, the Japanese are really something, sending their spam all the way here!" Sonnenfeldt shook his head. Even the entire online community could not do anything about spam emails, so what could he do? Deleting that email, Sonnenfeldt continued browsing the rest of the emails. "I am a six-year-old child, and I strongly request that the government allow underaged children to access pornographic websites." "Haha!" Sonnenfeldt laughed out loud, satisfied with today''s find. He was only halfway through, but he had already read so much amusing stuff. Unfortunately, that was where his luck ended. The rest of the emails were not amusing in the least. Bored of maintaining the server, Sonnenfeldt exited the backend interface and glanced at the clock, finding that there was still half an hour to go before the end of his shift. So, he resigned himself to spending that half hour in utter boredom. After around ten minutes of playing minesweeper, Sonnenfeldt shook his head. While it was a classic game, he had played too much, causing him to gradually lose interest, especially since he was a high-level minesweeper, holding a steady record of around 40 seconds! He refreshed the server a few times, but there still were no attention-grabbing subjects. Sonnenfeldt refused to give up, scanning the emails through several times, yet still not finding anything. That Japanese email in between so many French emails was indeed attention-grabbing. After a moment''s hesitation, Sonnenfeldt decided to click on it. Naturally, he could not read the Japanese, but he secretly just wanted to look at some unhealthy sites through the links provided. "Hmm?" Sonnenfeldt found it odd that the email did not contain any of the links he had expected. There was just one paragraph and an attachment of around 20 MB in size. Out of curiosity, Sonnenfeldt decided to put the message through their internal translation system. Could it be a challenge issued by a Japanese hacker, asking for them to test their respective Internet skills? 179 Reconnaissance Satellites They had to perpetually deal with a network of people as they were. They had received many challenges and had transactions with many people, but had never met anyone who sent demands in a foreign language. Even in an email six months ago from the Japanese Nakagawa Technology Group, it was still written in French. "To the French government, there is a good thing here! When I was diving in the Atlantic was diving by chance..." Sonnenfeldt frowned and read softly. Since both parties used translated versions, there were a lot of mistakes in the grammar, which made it difficult to read. The good news was that the content was straightforward and understandable. "After you confirm the authenticity of the voicemail, please take out $500 million. And please use the top 20 languages in the world." When he had finished, he kept pinching his chin. His first reaction was that the man was completely bullsh*tting and taking his cell phone to record the sound of the submarine when he was diving. Then why didn''t he smash it with his fist? If the submarine sound was so easy to obtain, then the world''s sonar anti-submarine network would be a joke? "This must be some boring hacker using bad psychological tactics!" Sonnenfeldt smiled. "Isn''t that just want you want? To arouse my curiosity, let me download this attachment, then let your virus play a role?" As a 17-year-old, he successfully hacked into an online gaming server and changed his equipment to the highest level. At the age of 21, he was hired as a special technician expert for six Internet companies. Of course, he was good! He was outstanding! And he was certainly confident. So he went to the computer to test the virus. He would download the attachment and see what the other person was trying to do. More than 20 MB. It would take only a few seconds to download. Sonnenfeldt first cut off the network connection, then used a security tool to carefully examine it. "Huh... the technique used to hide it is advanced!" He was like a woman seeing a flash of jewelry. The more advanced it was, the more excited he was. Clicking on the audio file called "123123", Sonnenfeldt squinted his excited little eyes, ready to see what the person was up to. Anyway, his testing computer would send all the unknown files which were tested to hardware technology to a empty hard disk, and by connecting to the Internet only at the moment the file downloaded, he simply didn''t have to worry about any destruction. Unexpected processor frequency increased. Memory was unaccounted for. Some files were just background noise. It was difficult to describe the sound of the sound, and through the two stereo speakers, Sonnenfeldt felt as if he was suddenly plunged into the sea, surrounded by an endless ocean. As time passed, the furrows on his forehead grew tighter. He had never been a submarine soldier. He didn''t know if this was a submarine mechanical noise, but his intuition told him that this round was not coordinated buzz that was synthesized in a technical way. "Hello, is this the secretary''s office of the lyse Palace? I received a copy of the audio file on the presidential official website, and it was found that there was no virus," he said. "The other party claims that this is the sound of our ruby attack submarine, and I''m sending this to you." Sonnenfeldt didn''t dare say that the other person was extorting $500 million. He was afraid of being asked by the higher ups, "Stupid! You do believe this?" "Okay!" The voice on the phone was as cold as ever! At the eastern end of the Champs-lyses, the lyse Palace was as famous as the White House in the United States, Buckingham Palace in Britain, and the Kremlin in Russia. It was the presidential palace in France and the symbol of the highest power in the country. After the email arrived, a few of the palace staff heard it and felt that it was worth paying attention to. So, after some communications, the news eventually got transferred to the naval command. "Ridiculous!" Anniston, who was assigned to the voiceprint, had serious doubts and was angry. A bunch of staff that just sits in an office, and if a guy says there''s an Ultraman, do you have to go and verify it? Absurdly absurd! But Anniston was only able to sit sullenly on the black sound analysis machine and work with the black headphones. What could he do since it was a command from the lyse Palace? They tested the sound of the submarine, not just the crew, but with two stereo systems. It was going to be determined in terms of Hertz, band, frequency, and so on. In the dim and secluded environment, Anniston, with a bitter face, pressed the transmission button. Buzz, buzz, buzz. The sound of the condenser was heard, and Anniston''s cheeks turned pale. Then he looked at the waveband on the detector, Hertz... "Ah!" His eyes widened bigger than a dog''s head, popped out, and almost broke through his titanium glasses. "This... This is... This is... This..." Anniston was shocked. Stumbling out of the room, he banged open the door of the chief''s office. "Sir, we''re done for... " ......... Half an hour later, at the east end of the Champs-lyses, the presidential office of the lyse Palace "Mr. President, what do you say we do?" Admiral Bailiffe, the commander of the navy, sat down on the red nan-wood chair, and his white brows were almost forced into a line. The sound of a nuclear-powered submarine was stolen and was the one stationed at the naval base in Djibouti. The investigators had boarded the plane 10 minutes before to fly there, but he knew that there was probably little possibility of it being their own people. Because, from the sound pattern analysis, this was basically from an external device that had snuck up on the submarine and recorded it. "Did you find out which country did it?" President Kosaki looked at the information in his hands. Who was trying to extort France? "Not yet!" The one who spoke was the French Network Information Security Chief Earls. He was sitting on the left side of the president and whispered, "The email was sent by an ordinary Google mailbox registered to a server in Japan. We have invaded the server and stolen his registration information, but didn''t get any useful information." "The United States, Japan, Russia, China, these countries are the most suspect! Our ruby submarines are not the most technologically advanced, but at least they have to be at the same level to get access to them," said Admiral Bailiffe. "But if you want to get this close and record the sound..." Here he shook his head. "Even the American Ohio and the Russian North Wind have absolutely no way to do that." "That''s right!" The navy commander Chief Bailiffe suddenly thought of something. "Mr. President, last time when we were in the Gulf of Djibouti, we happened to intercept an unknown submarine, but all the sonar was destroyed by an unknown weapon, and then the torpedo used to block it suddenly exploded. The next day, when the deep-sea robot went down, it didn''t find the wreckage of submarine nearby, so I have every reason to believe that this incident is related." "I''m asking what country it belongs to!" President Kosaki thumped the table, sulking. "It''s not clear who the enemy is. What is the point for you say this to me?" "And you!" President Kosaki said in a different tone. "Did the other person say to reply to the message? I believe you will not let me down!" "Mr. President, please rest assured!" Information Security Chief Earls gave a slight smile with a confident tone, as if he were solving a primary school math problem. "Our security team is prepared. As long as they send an email, we will definitely find out their real address!" "That is best. They have such advanced submarine technology, so they would also have the best network technology personnel. All you have to do is to trace their true identity," President Kosaki waved and looked tired. "The secretariat will give you the email content to reply back in a minute. Go!" Half an hour later, 15th and Andornen Street, French Network Information Security In the 10-meter-deep underground PXT mainframe room, Sonnenfeldt, who was the first to find the email, looked like the other 21 members of the team. All of had a face prepared for a war. The email was sent out 10 seconds ago, and what they needed to do now was to take advantage of the technology and break down the barriers and finally get the real address. "The other person is likely to be the at the top of the network world and will have a super large tandem processor computer that is faster than our computing speed," said the Chief of Information Security, Earls. "But I only ask you one thing: Do you have the confidence to win this war?!" "Yes!" No one hesitated. "Ok, starting from now on, monitor the mailbox all day long. Try to get the real terminal address in one minute!" .......... Zhongyun City, Bolan Garden, at 7:00 p.m. local time Chen Fan, with two large plastic bags full of drinks and snacks, was ready to drive to the dock at the seaside. After such a long time, the other side should have confirmed that his email was true or false. He had to go and see if there were any reply. As usual, he took the capsule to the stone tower inside the cave. He opened the nuts with force and tossed a handful into his mouth. Chen Fan connected the optic cable and then opened his laptop. "There it is!" In the PXT mainframe room, Sonnenfeldt suddenly jumped three feet high and dropped a bombshell in the silent machine room. "GO, GO, GO!" Not knowing who shouted it, and then the whole machine room was filled with typing sounds on keyboards. The speed of the hands was very outstanding and could have broken the world record. The backdoor to the Japanese website server had been found by them, and they were constantly monitoring. The only thing to do now was to find the real terminal address of the other party. "Pa!" After a dazzling array of operations, Sonnenfeldt hit the return key, and a series of ASP source code popped up on the screen, all of which was about the connection information of Chen Fan''s mailbox. "Lock the first springboard IP!" In only seven seconds, Sonnenfeldt reported the IP of the Japanese Google website. "Ah!" Five seconds later, Sonnenfeldt''s eyes popped out, the... the other side did not use the springboard, they were using real I... The I... IP for Internet... At this point, a member of the team with glasses, shouted, "IP has been identified. The other side is using the maritime satellite network. Right now the North Pacific Communications Satellite is in charge of access." "F**k you!" Chief Earls smashed the table. Using satellites to surf the Internet, making it difficult to find locations. Of course, that was just a little difficult! "Immediately switch our network to a satellite network mode and then use the SPX satellite''s Doppler waveband for signal detection." As time passed, the keyboard tapping sound continued to fill the room. As France''s national network information security, they not only had multiple high-speed optical fiber network connection modes, they had 3G wireless network and even national satellite network connection sharing. Fifty-three seconds later, Sonnenfeldt banged the table and said, "The signal range is locked. The other party''s network terminal is 50 nautical miles northwest of the Japanese oil valley, and it is 50 miles ahead of South Korea." "Concrete coordinates!" "North latitude 34.49.26, east longitude 129.53.12, signal error not exceeding one nautical mile... " "Then the other party must be on board!" He took two deep breaths, and this time the President gave him the highest authority to mobilize any needed tools. "Eames, you immediately inform the defense department that we have locked in the enemy''s position, let them calculate the orbit, and find the military reconnaissance satellite that will fly to that area as soon as possible." Half a minute later, the ministry of defense heard that there was a reconnaissance satellite that was about to arrive in the vicinity of the area after seven minutes and 39 seconds. And one hour and 21 minutes later and eleven hours later, two reconnaissance satellites passed by. "Let them take digital pictures of them for two miles!" Then he walked up to Sonnenfeldt, stared at the screen, prayed to god, hoping that the other side would not move, so that the satellite would be better able to take pictures. Maybe God really heard his prayer, and the source of the other party remained fixed and did not move. After what felt like half a century, the machine room was suddenly filled with a loud bang. "The ministry of defense has transferred photos!" "Immediately open the pictures with the big central screen!" Earls ran to the huge liquid crystal display wall two meters high on the east side... waiting! 180 Reduce Your Time to Consider No detailed patterns were seen in the panoramic photo. Only the small black dot in the center was evident. The high-resolution digital photos were quickly magnified by the staff. A group of bespectacled team members stared at the monitor wanting to see what it was. As the dot grew, the group held their breath. "Eh?" "Ah?" ...... "It''s... It''s like a rock." Sonnenfeldt rubbed his chin. The coordinates of the signal captured by the satellite could not possibly be wrong, so why did they find only this? "It should be rocks!" Minister Earl pushed up the spectacles on the bridge of his nose. The satellite took pictures at a 90-degree angle. The wave-like concave line was definitely rocks. "Continue to zoom in, and then use the image polarizing stereo software to analyze if there are any camouflage tents hidden in it." As soon as the chief gave his command, the group immediately searched the reef with the help of special image analysis software. However, the result was the same: nothing at all. "How could this be possible?" Minister Earl was in deep trouble. Communications satellites and reconnaissance satellites couldn''t go wrong, but the photos did show nothing but a rock. He thought the other party might be hidden inside the submarine, but the idea was withdrawn. Using this way to get to the internet was just like exposing their submarine acoustic signature to the enemy. Even small countries could find them with the signal source. What''s more, were the Frenchone of the five permanent members of the UN Security Counciltheir opponent now? "Sir, what if" Sonnenfeldt whispered, "...why don''t we just go down the network and hack into their terminal. If we do, we''ll find something." Hearing this, Minister Earl hesitated. From what they knew about the other side, their hidden tactics were absolutely top level. Could these people really invade their technology? "Armand, you have several people in charge of monitoring the data flow, and when there is a data overflow exception, you immediately terminate the network connection. Sonnenfeldt, you''re responsible for the rest of the hackers. Be careful." It had to be said that Earl directly raised the other side to a very high level. He was even prepared to stop action immediately once the other end perceived what was going on. "Yes!" Sonnenfeldt cracked his knuckles. It had been a long time since there had been such an intense moment. Three, two, one, go! Sonnenfeldt counted down a few seconds in his head, adjusted his mindset, and then quickly struck the keys on the white keyboard tailor-made for him by the technology department. "Ah!" Suddenly Sonnenfeldt''s mouth opened wider than a hippopotamus''s, and he stared at the monitor like he had seen an alien in daylight! "Sir, looks like we met a ghost," he said. The other side the other side unexpectedly had no defense mechanisms. He just used the simplest kind of bug scanning software, and he detected 50 bugs. Even the internet had shown seven bugs. The other side did not patch them. To his great surprise, he also discovered two common viruses on the market, working through these vulnerabilities... This kind of feeling was bad. Sonnenfeldt even began to doubt that he had not learned enough. For example, the other side had given him a very brilliant honeypot system, and he could not discover it? This proved Sonnenfeldt''s thoughts were too complicated. While he was carefully using all his skills, sadly, the other party only used a newly bought Japanese Fujitsu computer straight from the manufacturer. It didn''t even have a firewall installed. The only thing on the hard drive that didn''t come out of the factory was the satellite modem software. Oh, and the two viruses! "Enculer!" Sonnenfeldt scratched his hair. He looked like he had locked onto a mere lamb, but was trying to capture it by launching a nuclear bomb at it. He was an idiot! But what could an idiot do? There was no trace of the other party. It would be useless, even if he remote controlled the other party''s computer. ............ The cave near Zhongyun... Chen Fan was sitting in his chair, eating nuts and reading a long email in 20 languages. Of course, he could only read the Mandarin version! I, President Kosaki of France, on behalf of the great French people, solemnly declare to you! No matter who you are, no matter what your purpose is, our French government will never be able to pay this $500 million. As a country with a history of more than 1,600 years, we have never been afraid of any threat or given in to any threat. "President of France?" Chen Fan was biting into a nut like biting a gold bar. He just didn''t think the president would send him an email. He could make a large amount of money just selling this email. But excitement is excitement, and making money is making money. They could not be combined. The other party''s tone was so aggressive, it seemed very necessary to give them another lesson. This lesson was called, "one after another" of course! Chen Fan grabbed the black storage card with the acoustic signature of the conventional-power submarine, and plugged it into a computer to send the Japanese text that had been translated by another computer. I forgot to tell you that I recorded the acoustic signature of another submarine accidently last time! But... The price... After sending, Chen Fan laid on the stone bed behind him to control the electric eel to Japanese waters, to the end of the cable. The other person would certainly find his signal position by some means, so the electric eel had to monitor it. After all, the food in the stone tower was enough for two months, so it didn''t matter how many more days he stayed for this operation to be successful. Chen Fan was content there, while the presidential office of the Elysee Palace at the eastern end of the Champs-Elysees was in chaos. "Pa!" President Kosaki slammed down the documents. His face was as cold as a Siberian wind. "Bailey, do you want to lose your job as navy captain? The other side actually still has another squid-class conventional-power submarine acoustic signature." Admiral Bailey wiped the perspiration from his forehead and said timidly, "Mr. President, our investigation has begun. Please give me some time." "Time, time, who will gives me time, then?" President Kosaki''s face was as cold as ice. "Now we don''t even know who the enemy is. I really don''t know why Congress gave you so much money. The other party has already produced two acoustic signatures. I can only think they would have a third, fourth, fifth acoustic signature...?" Two submarines. What did that mean? It meant that the enemy probably already had a special device that could steal the acoustic signature of a submarine at close range, rather than some strange coincidence. This was no less of a disaster for France. If the news reached the public, there would be no chance of a second term in office for him. "It would not be. I can vouch on my honor that this technology of ultra-close surveillance is not even possible in the United States." Admiral Bailey said this, but he was nervous, and for the first time in his life, he was afraid of such a strange thing. "There are six days to go before the deadline. I hope you will give me a satisfactory answer within five days. Otherwise, please return the honor on your shoulder here." "Yes...Yes... Yes, Presi... President!" Admiral Bailey left the room trembling. "Hello, secretariat, have you prepared the email?" "Mr. President, it''s ready to be sent at any time!" "Send it immediately!" President Kosaki hung up the phone with a snap. The incident swept through all the navy''s top brass and left them in danger, leading the naval command to demand that all the outlying submarines return. The employees of the ruby-class nuclear submarine were demoted along with the officers of the squid-class submarine. If it weren''t for the fact that training a submarine officer was so difficult, Admiral Bailey would have demoted everyone. Of course, the demotion was only temporary. However, if the enemy''s home country was not discovered within five days, Bailey would have to make sure everyone was miserable. I''m President Kosaki of France, can you tell me your true intention? I''m sure that if you have the ability to do this, your real intention is not to gain money. If there is any misunderstanding between us, we can consult with each other. As long as this issue does not exceed our principles, I can promise that France would make appropriate concessions. President Kosaki December 20, 2010 Chen Fan sat on his chair, stunned. He stared at the email. The other party unexpectedly said as long as it does not exceed their principles, they could make an appropriate concession? Yeah, it was already a national security issue. The biggest advantage of submarines was their stealth, but this advantage had been defeated more than once. Plus, they did not know exactly how the acoustic signature was stolen. Even if they re-built the submarines, they would still be afraid to sail them! Acoustic signatures, after all, included information about of the inside of the submarine: the high-power diesel engine, cruise propulsion motor, auxiliary power, propeller, change gear, the main circulation pump, steam turbine, the heat transfer agent, and so on. The acoustic signature was proven. Unless they made a new submarine because they wanted to change the power system, they would have to open the shell. It would not only be time-consuming, it would also affect the submarine''s functioning. It would be more convenient to just re-build it. With a sigh, Chen Fan used the mobile phone network card to access the internet on the computer, and translated the following into Japanese: Well, your attitude this time has satisfied us just a little. I have decided to give you one more thing, which is the acoustic signature of another squid-class conventional-power submarine. Don''t panic. If nothing happens, we would only have these three transcripts. We certainly don''t have the acoustic signature of the strategic nuclear submarine. Still, in six days, I hope you can give us a satisfactory answer. ............... "Cap... Cap... Cap... Cap..." In the office of the presidential secretary in the Elysee castle, Oughtred, who was dealing with all kinds of files, suddenly trembled and stared at the screen, horrified. He could not speak a full sentence. "Did your wife run away with someone?" The secretary general, Kingscote, was already in a fit of rage, and it got even worse when he saw Oughtred''s expression. "Look... Look... Look" "Look at what?" Secretary-General Kingscote stormed up and punched him in the shoulder. "Oh..." Kingscote, a master of six languages, was almost scared to death when he saw the message on the screen that could represent the word, "devil." And then... When he saw the acoustic attachment of more than 20 megabytes attached below the email, his legs buckled on the red carpet. "Quickly... Quickly, inform the President" In his office, Kosaki smiled bitterly as he inhaled pure oxygen to relieve stress. He seemed to have good potential as a psychic. After he had just said, "Can I think there would be a third, a fourth, and a fifth?" it didn''t took long for the third acoustic signature to arrive. It had been concluded that the other side definitely had a submarine with a static ability, surpassing the technology of any existing submarine in the world, and could easily approach any submarine in motion without being detected. Twenty-seven members of the European Union as well as the United States could be excluded. Because they were a strategic alliance, even if they got the acoustic signature of the submarine, they would keep it a secret rather than blackmail them. The only possibilities were Russia, Japan, and China. Russia was an old power, not to mention its submarine capabilities. The north wind god, built in 2007, had a nuclear strike capability, maneuverability, stealth, and was even better than America''s Ohio-class strategic nuclear submarine. A single volley from it could wipe out more than a dozen Euro countries. Japan had also made remarkable gains in electronics and precision technology, and its conventional submarines were arguably the best in the world. It was not impossible at all that they could have built a new one without anybody knowing about it. Although China was backward in technology as a whole, it was admittedly developing rapidly, and had replaced Russia as the main rival of European countries in the Pacific. If left unchecked, within a few decades they might be the second America. Three suspected countries, but the President had not found out exactly which country it was. Having such a "strategic" weapon in hand, it was sure to be hidden and kept as a trump card. What worried him most now was whether the other side had their triumph-class strategic nuclear submarine''s acoustic signature. The strategic nuclear submarine was the country''s last card, and if its detailed acoustic signature was stolen, France would become the opposition''s target. "Mr. President, seven agents in Japan are ready to go!" Just then, an attractive woman with black-rimmed spectacles came in and whispered in Kosaki''s ear. "Tell them not to be too obvious, otherwise it would be easy for the Japanese side to notice." President Kosaki sent her away and continued to struggle with how to respond. Japan, 3 p.m. local time, at a company called, "The Big Island Electronic Shop" Murakami was arranging a wide variety of goods on shelves. Business these days was good. They had sold at least 11 laptops. While he was wondering whether or not to find a beautiful girl to sleep with later, a deep voice came from behind him. "Hey, man! Can you come with us for a cup of tea?" Turning his head, he saw a foreigner with bulging chest muscles wearing a black vest, a cap, and dark sunglasses scanning him with hostile eyes. "No... No... I, uh" Before Murakami could finish his sentence, he suddenly felt a lump in his throat and fell down on the ground in pain. Meanwhile, a four-seater Sea Eagle Dashing rubber boat was sailing at a speed of 30 knots from the northwestern tip of Yuya bay to the 50-nautical mile reef. Four foreigners with perfect physiques looking worthy of being well-trained professional agents sped off in the boat without a word for more than an hour. Once they were about 2,000 meters away from the reef, the man at the helm whispered a few words. "First you look through your telescope and make sure it''s safe before you land on the rocks." A minute later... "Safe!" "Safe!" "Look around!" Killip relaunched the boat and drove slowly towards the rocks. "Sean, you and I will swim to the rocks with a rope, and we''ll secure the rubber boat. Casimir, you and Bobby are responsible for moving the equipment to the rocks and immediately searching for the nearby signals." When the boat reached 20 meters from the reef, Killip, who was wearing diving gear, turned around and said, "There are many exposed rocks around the reef. If you don''t pay attention, you will puncture the rubber boat." The three men whispered, "Yes!" Sean and Killip spent a few minutes on the reef. They held the boat in place as they pulled it in front of them, and then took the signal search equipment from the boat. Satellite photos didn''t find the specific target, so they decided to personally climb the reef and use portable devices to search for it. If they found that the signal appeared on the surface, they would quietly dive down and see what could be found. With the cracking, clattering acoustics of the keyboard, the device in orange, which weighed 150 kilograms and could search for a 10-kilometer signal source, began working immediately. "Dude... dude" Casimir, who was in charge of operating the device, grew increasingly frustrated as the work indicators flashed. "There''s no signal anywhere near here!" Sean pulled himself up from behind and cut in. "I''ve found the reef, and I haven''t found any hidden channels or disguises!" "Chief, did they find us out and cut off the internet?" "Probably not. We''ve checked all around, not even a submarine periscope was seen. Are they invisible?" Killip looked out over the water. "We''ll put up our tents, pretend we are fishing, and wait here for a few days." ............ Damn, even putting up a tent. Are they beginning to show off ? The electric eel peeked from a distance and suddenly became very angry. If you don''t leave, I''ll leave, and move the satellite receiver dozens of miles. Three hours later... Chen Fan again connected to the network. He had no time to read the email they sent. He directly sent the email he translated. How dare you send spies to our Japanese coastline! This kind of behavior makes us feel very uncomfortable, so I want you to make compensation for this intrusion! Your consideration time is shortened from six days to three days! 181 Sells Submarines [If you have any requirements, feel free to ask. I promise to do my best in order to fulfill your requests. However, we must be assured that you would not leak the three submarines voiceprint...] According to the mail that Chen Fan had just received, the other side had obeyed, and in a somewhat less arrogant attitude than before. After pondering its contents for a long time, Chen Fan responded to the email. [I assure you that we have a good reputation, which has been guarantees for decades. We never deceive customers and never cheat customers. So, you don''t have to worry about the leaking problem. We promise that, if you find this three submarines voiceprint not to be completely leak-proof, we can provide you with a free hostile submarine voiceprint as compensation. We would then only have one request: six hundred million dollars! You must give me a reply within two days. Otherwise, the consequences will be very serious! ] After sending the reply message, Chen Fan was lying on the stone bed, bored. His gaze lazily shifted to the golden dome just above his head. He was thinking about two things. First: What if the French don''t pay? After all, it was normal to worry about such matters. The voiceprint could be copied, so the French must be worried that, after getting the money, he would sell it to other countries. In fact, Chen Fan also had considered this, but there was a serious problem in this line of thinking. It would be quite difficult to sell! They wouldn''t necessarily believe what he said about such a rare product, so it would indeed be a hard sale. Second: If the French did end up paying, how should he take the money from them? After all, six hundred million dollars in cash could at least fill a small bedroom! Hence, it seemed quite awkward to store such a sum of bills. On the other hand, if the funds were sent through network transfers, it was more convenient. But he was afraid that the French could have a method to trace to his account. After all, the other party was a military power with the highest political strength. The Swiss bank was safe, but it was also closely related to the French. So, he assumed that the French definitely would look for him and his account there, too. ......... At the eastern end of the Champs-Elysees, in the presidential office of the Elysee Palace. "Tell me what you think, Minister Ekman!" The tone of President Kozaki''s voice was deep and depressed. Two days had passed, but the enemy had proved elusive, just like that thing called "love". "Mr. President, the department of defense has taken in the largest country among the several that have been suspected within the last two years, including China, Japan, America, Russia, Britain, Germany, etc. After some analysis and arrangements, we temporarily didn''t find any of them to be in possession of a cross-cutting technology submarine. I now suspect that the other party is probably a non-governmental organization," said the defense minister Michael Ekman, who was hesitant to sit next to him. "I now doubt that his sole purpose is money. Also, other governments are trying to distract us from this, and of course, we can''t say that the technology of this submarine is definitely a threatening nightmare for all the other submarines! But, they are not just wary of this new technology, they are aware of the fact that it is of no less value than ten strategic nuclear submarines. In light of all this, they run to blackmail us, letting us know in advance that this ''secret weapon'' existed." "So, I think the other party is a non- government organization, and that the development of the weapon could have consumed most of their money. Hence, they are now in need of funds, and are trying to raise the money this way." "Whether they''re government organizations or NGOs, I just want to know where their nest is?" The President aggressively approached, questioning. "A navy headquarters, working with the department of defense, has not yet able to investigate this?" "Mr. President, there are very few clues. The only thing we know is the source of the laptop and the Internet." Defense minister Ekman said in embarrassment. "The Japanese businessmen said a few days ago that a young man bought three sets of satellite Internet equipment for separate stores, as well as two laptops. According to our investigation, the models of the equipment match each other." "Is there a surveillance video? Like a jigsaw puzzle?" "We watched, and the other guy kept his head down. To make identifying him even more difficult, he had a big hat and dark glasses, so we couldn''t get too much information." "Sigh... " President Kozaki sighed a long sigh. If they were in France, they could get all the surveillance on the streets around them, and look for traces of the man... "Mr. President, we do have some ideas about the structure of the submarine." "Say it!" President Kosaki nodded with interest. "There is a 95 percent probability that the submarine is a superconducting electromagnetic fluid submarine." "With the development of the submarine, many countries have put forward plans from even 40 years ago. So, I''m sure you, Mr. President, are familiar with the plan. But the world now has two of the most important problems that cannot be solved. They are need to find an appropriate power supply and a superconductor material!" "In theory, if there is ample power, the submarine can reach more than fifty sections of the underwater speed. But the consumption of electricity of this is too big currently. However, if you have good superconductor materials, it can save that vital amount of electricity now needed for success. But there is no way to solve the two problems currently, and the other countries have all run into the same problem, making the production of our country mostly the same as theirs. Hence, if we want to make this submarine that can be used for actual combat, it would take a long time." In submarines, the greatest advantage of this superconducting magnetic fluid technology is that there is no noise. Japan has built experimental ships of this kind, but they are limited to certain technologies that have no military value at all. Also, if the submarine has to be noiseless, it can''t use a nuclear reactor to generate electricity. This is because the reactor itself cannot generate electricity directly, and can only heat water and use steam to power the steam turbines. Currently, all of the submarines and nuclear power stations around the world are using this technology. In nuclear submarines, the main noise is from the steam turbine, and the superconducting materials problem has not been resolved... "Then, you said that the last time the sonar and the torpedo were destroyed, that the other side unleashed a powerful electromagnetic stream?" the President was still intrigued. "Although we have no way of surmising the specific principles of this weapon, I think it is. But at the current level of technology, it''s impossible to generate electricity without a reactor," said defense secretary Michael Ekman. "But the reactor noise problem is still... " "I''m not talking about academic issues with you!" President Kozaki flew into a rage. "I ask you, do you think this money.well ...should we...pay...it...or ...not?!" "Mr. President, I think it''s better to pay." "Tell me the reason! "The other side has such advanced technology, and it''s probably a non-government organization. So, I think we... " Ten minutes later, President Kosaki''s expression was less hostile and heated, as he was seen nodding and agreeing with the minister of defense. ...... [I agree to your request. We will finish the contract agreement in one day. Is it to be completed via a bank transfer or a cash transaction? Also, I have two requests, can you sell your submarine technology to our country? I would like to pay 15 billion euros for your relevant technical data. ] "Wow, 15 billion euros... " Chen Fan, sitting in front of the computer, was completely dumbfounded. According to the current exchange rate, one euro was equal to one point two seven dollars. That is to say: Fifteen billion euros amounted to about $130 billion! Of course, this one hundred and thirty billion seemed to be a great sum. In fact, France still was being a little stingy in his estimate. Take what they considered to be the superconducting magnetic fluid submarine technology as an example. Since the early 1980s, they had invested a lot of manpower and material resources, summing up the annual expenditure to roughly 2 billion euros. But now that decades had passed, the results have been pitiful, and there is still a long way to go before all they have found could be applied. Another example was the "seal delivery system" on the Ohio strategic nuclear submarine in the United States, which was a tiny submarine attached to Ohio that was especially used to infiltrate the special forces. Not including the Ohio super big guy, the small submarine system had already cost $2 billion to research. "Shoot! Where do I get this technology?" Chen Fan looked at the 15 billion euros. He couldn''t sell the electric eel to them, right? [I''m sorry, but our submarine technology involves the core secrets of the great Japanese empire, so it can''t be sold.] Chen Fan''s response: [You put $600 million in a submersible with two meters wide, which can withstand three hundred meters of deep pressure. I''ll tell you later about the location to send it to. ***Warning: don''t try to play tricks! Otherwise, there will be very serious consequences.] Twenty minutes after the message was sent, Chen Fan received a reply: [According to your request, we will prepare the corresponding US dollars tomorrow. I also have a request: Can our country reach an agreement with you to sign a long-term purchase contract to purchase your submarines? Our country is willing to pay you twice the price of materials and labor costs.] Seeing this message, Chen Fan once again sighed. No wonder a lot of people say, the most profitable trade in the world was not smuggling nor drug trafficking, but selling arms! After all, a submarine starts at $1 billion and could cost over $2 billion after being sold second-hand. [I''m sorry, our submarines are not for sale, as they involve the core interests of the great Japanese empire] Typing with another computer, Chen Fan suddenly felt an electric shock. Then, he couldn''t help but roll back to the stone bed behind him, press his stomach, and roll some more. "Haha ... haha. Oh my god, it''s funny... " Chen Fan, like an epileptic patient, almost spat white foam from his mouth in a fit of hysterics. "Haha..." "Well, why don''t sell?" "I would sell it for $700 million to you!" Chapter 181 Decision to Purchase Since we have already planned to rip off the French fellows, there needs to be a comprehensive and thorough plan in place. Their people''s government isn''t like some three-year-old kid, so what makes you think that you will succeed in fooling them? Lying his head on the blanket, Chen Fan carefully deliberated the feasibility of his plan, as well as attempting to find its most practical way of operation. First things first, regardless of whether the scam could succeed or not, what was most important was to protect oneself from being traced. Alternatively, the traces of evidence on the submarine should also be reduced to the minimum. This way, even if the French discovered that they had been cheated, all they could do is complain. The interior machinery within the autonomous nuclear submarine, which could expose their traces, should not exist, as Chen Fan had never intended to install it. The most he would do was merely decorate the entrance a little. If he let his ship factory build a submarine, the question then would be regarding how to avoid the other party from locating the factory, according to the traces left on the submarine. Firstly, the employees in the ship factory would have no clue that the submarine would be used to deceive the French. That way, even if the French found out that it was a sham later on, they would never expose the information. They probably couldn''t even wait to conceal it, choosing instead to then discreetly track down their enemy. All that was left now was to find the material to build the exteriors, as well as deciding upon the pattern of welding. It would be best if these things were made from imported materials, or universal technologies, such as steel products and paint. After all, these two materials formed the most vital component of the submarine! The method of welding was not a big issue, since all ship factories used the submerged arc welding method to build the ships'' bodies. This welding method was practiced universally, so it was not one solely utilized in China. As for the paint, they would go for the brand that had the highest sales. Regarding steelware, they''d pick the Japanese imported ordinary ship-use steel. But, it must be of a brand that had the widest coverage of sales worldwide. After having built such a meticulous and rare device, it would be absolutely impossible for them to ascertain the origins of this submarine, unless the French possessed an extraordinary ability to be clairvoyant! Taking a step back, one had to wonder if it would even really matter if the French found out that the submarine was made in China. After all, China is not Djibouti, Ghana, or Togo. it is not a country that no one has heard about. So, even if the French understood that it was made in China, all they could was complain. Besides, it''s not like the submarine was going to have a "Made in Zhongyun" tag! Also, the French fellows would not even have the means to find out where the submarine was produced, especially not by solely relying on the traces of its method of welding. As he thought about it, Chen Fan crawled up from the golden stone bed and walked toward the computer that was connected to the Internet through a mobile phone. He then searched the subject of postmodern sci-fi designs of submarines. The pictures provided by the internet were rather minimal. Chen Fan looked up the information for a good while, but was only able to search about six images, all of which were transfigured by 3D rendering experts, who were military affairs enthusiasts. After Chen Fan downloaded the few pictures into his computer, he referred to the different parts of each submarine. Lastly, he opened the pictures in Photoshop, reducing the background transparency to 50 percent. He then traced a copy, according to the sample, using the line tool. Chen Fan intended to build the submarine 90 meters long, with a draught of 10 meters and a width of nine meters. As for this big boy''s outer streamlined body, it would be bullet-shaped, while the propulsion system at the back would take a cue from a miscellaneous military model''s image. This was a picture that looked similar to a waterjet mechanism. On the back of the wheel casing, lay three flat strips of fin stabilizers and a long tail pin. As for the fairwater, Chen Fan used another diagram, to which he added two balancing wings on the left and right positions. Getting the idea for this bit from one picture, he then added a stroke on this position, and so on Chen Fan had spent almost two hours, sketching the overall layout of the submarine! Nevertheless, it was needless to say that this picture did not look professional at all. In fact, it appeared that it would be a definite fail! Coincidentally, we have a newly-built submarine from our factory. It is 90 meters long, and it has a draught of ten meters and a width of nine meters. It has a displacement of 6500 tons and an underwater displacement of 8200 tons. Its maximum speed underwater can reach up to 50 knots, while it could also dive a maximum depth of 250 meters. Also, it has 6000 kilowatts of propulsion power and a maximum cruising range of 3000 nautical miles. It registers at 13 decibels of mechanical noise, and has no hush tile nor sound-absorbing ring... The propulsion system is confidential at the moment, so you will know it when you buy it! If you are interested in purchasing it, we can arrange for an observation event five days from now. We would notify you about the particular location later on. By the way, the model of this submarine costs 700 million USD. No price negotiations! After sending the message, Chen Fan did not actually have full confidence that the other party would buy the submarine. So, he figured that he might as well lie on his bed, then switched his thoughts toward the electric eel, determined to keep a lookout on the surroundings of the sea through the satellite receiver. -------- On the east side of the Avenue des Champs-lyses, Presidential Office in lyse Palace. "How much authenticity do you think there is in their description?" President Kosaki sat on a chair, his looked a little absent-minded, as he stared ahead. "The specifications of a submarine need to be examined by our troops, before we could gather any concrete statistics," Navy admiral, Brive said suspiciously. "By just looking at the revealed data from the other party, this should be a hybrid submarine that is operating on a system that is ranging between conventional propulsion and nuclear propulsion. Its size is huge, and its cruising range is only slightly higher than an ordinary submarine. Also, it is not armed with any sort of weaponry. However, its cruising speed and acoustic quieting ability definitely do not show an advantage over current submarines that we already have in service." "Tell me your thoughts" President Kosaki gestured for him to speak freely. "According to the vocal prints of the submarine, which we have managed to intercept, they do have a very advanced submarine. This piece of data also conveyed that, if we do not activate our sonar probe, we would never be able to discover it at all. However, if we do turn the sonar on, we would just be exposing ourselves at first. At this point in time, we are not able to determine if the submarine is a real thing or a sham. But, in my opinion, I think we should take a real serious look at this submarine." "Didn''t the other side just say that there can be an arrangement for a one-time observation event five days from now? So, ignore all other performance specifications of the submarine. Most importantly, we need to find out whether its propulsion system really does operate on a magnetohydrodynamic drive." "Have the submarine experts been assigned to their specific jobs?" President Kosaki asked. "Say it''s a real thing... Without a weapon loading system, we could only dismantle it for research after purchasing it. Since the other party has the guts to sell it to us, they probably have something firm in their hold. There''s no way we could penetrate into the secret within." "Three submarine experts and two hydromagnetic technology experts will fly from Draguignan airport tomorrow morning. When the time comes, we will prepare a small business jet to send them to the location for the inspection of the submarine." Admiral Brive touched his nose, then said carefully, "In my view, we have already attained a certain level of achievement in the area of the magnetohydrodynamic drive. Thus, in due time, even the slightest detail on the submarine would be able to greatly inspire the members of the research and development team." "Hmm, I''ll assign the submarine observation event to you for now, as well as to the Defence Minister. You and him should unanimously request to make a payment to obtain their good impressions. Hopefully, we can buy some relevant technical information from them." President Cursache said expressionlessly, "If this project succeeds, I will not look into your previous misconducts. But, if it fails, not only would the loss be borne by the navy''s fund allocations, but you''d also better get penalized.." ------ Zhongyun City, the ship construction factory by the sea. "Boss, what color should we pick for that submarine?" Jiang Shui squatted on the floor, smoking his rolled cigarettes. "Currently, the most commonly used paint for ships is the Dutch brand ''AkzoNobel.''" "Just use black!" Chen Fan pointed at the papers that were lying on the ground sheepishly, then said, "The sketches are a bit too simple. It''s good enough, if you just weld roughly, according to the model. It doesn''t have to be practical. It just has to look good. With regards to the the fairwater, I suggest that you weld a general outline of it, then, when the main body gets done, I will let you know what to do next. Oh yes, you should also weld four huge hooks underneath the base of the submarine. Then, for the front of the fairwater, weld another two huge hooks." "How about the water storage? How much buoyancy should it be constructed with?" "Just about 10 percent of it, then let the seawater be channelled into it directly." Ten percent of buoyancy meant that, without any external force being exerted upon the submarine, only one meter of height of the submarine would appear on top of the water surface. The French government had already agreed to pay 700 million American dollars to purchase the submarine. But, the prerequisite was that they must first enter into the interior of the submarine for observation purposes. Evidently, Chen Fan would not agree to their request. He insisted that he would only allow two people, at most, to enter into the fairwater podium, as well as two anti-submarine helicopters above the air, for the inspection of the submarine''s soundproofing performance. Otherwise, the deal would be called off. Without a doubt, they had to agree to these terms, or else Chen Fan would never have allowed Jiang Shui to construct this submarine. Now that half the success had already been achieved, what was left depended on whether the combination of the electric eel and the submarine could fool the French five days from now! Realistically speaking, Chen Fan was not fully sure about this idea. However, the idea of foregoing the chance to rip-off the French fellows did not impress Chen Fan''s sentiments. Thus, he decided to give it a try. Time flew like an arrow, and five days lapsed in the blink of an eye. The ship factory had already completed the construction of the futuristic looking submarine yesterday morning. Currently, the electric eel was dragging it toward the south of the Gulf of Aden in the Indian Ocean. In the meantime, Chen Fan hid in a cave, keeping in contact with the French fellows through a computer. The satellite receiver was placed near the Japanese waters by the electric eel. Ever since the four special agents, who landed on the reefs to search for any possible satellite service, had been warned by Chen Fan, there had been no news from them. While the electric eel would be away for two or three days, Chen Fan estimated that the French fellows would not act rashly at this crucial moment. In other words, it didn''t matter, even if they had sent frogmen to look for the satellite emitter! The fiber optic cables, which were planted 800 nautical miles underwater, would be sufficient to have them search for ten days or a fortnight, only to vaguely gather a location near Zhongyun City. When the time came, the electric eel would have long returned to bite them into halves! The location of 150 nautical miles to the south of the Gulf of Aden is about 700 nautical miles away from the French naval military base at Gibraltar. Two French guided-missile frigates were situated on both the left and right side of the gulf, each of which were 800 meters apart. Meanwhile, two AS-565SA Black Panther models of anti-submarine helicopters were silently parked at the back of the helicopter tarmac on the military vessel. After about five minutes, two light gray helicopters slowly swung their propellers. When they reached a certain speed, they would then give out a thudding "tutu...tutu" sound, before dispatching themselves from the deck, flying toward the sea region, which was 2000 meters away. This section of sea was about 700 meters deep. Its water ripples were murky, making the visibility less than three meters. It was definitely the best hiding place for the electric eel! The two guided-missile frigates and the two anti-submarine helicopters had their reactive sonars turned on to the maximum levels. They seemed desperate to detect even the faint moanings of mating whales around that vicinity of the sea! "Black Panther Number One, no discovery of any suspicious voiceprints!" "Black Panther Number Two, no discovery of any suspicious voiceprints!" "There is still one more minute before the agreed meeting time, and it looks like the submarine''s soundproofing system is superb." Inside the helicopter, a 53-year-old submarine technical expert, Carlton, gazed down at the calm surface of the sea, muttering to himself. Before he could complete his sentence, there was a sudden surge of enormous white waves on the surface of the sea. His sight was then immediately greeted by a black submarine, measuring about 90 meters. It was slowly emerging from the water. "Ah!" Carlton''s eyes fixated on the submarine. He looked as if he had just seen a ghost. Could it be an apparition? Otherwise, at such a close distance, why hadn''t the sonar captured any unusual sounds of its approach? The workmanship of this submarine! Carlton did not offer too many comments. He just kept shaking his head in awe. He was not an ordinary layman. After all, he was involved in the military industry. Thus, his judgments should not be doubted. After briefly scanning through the outer body of the submarine, he immediately knew that it had been constructed with the welding method for ordinary submarines, instead of a military-made one that utilized the seamless laser welding method. "Closer, closer!" Carlton excitedly rushed the helicopter pilot to lower the helicopter, so that he could observe it in a better and more convenient position. At the same time, high definition cameras on the two helicopters were transmitting real-time images through the satellite to the French Navy headquarters. "You can now go aboard. However, remember that only two persons are allowed to enter the fairwater podium. The cabin door at the end of the submarine has been locked from the inside by our crew. Therefore, please do not try to open it." A short while after Chen Fan''s message was sent, one of the Blank Panther helicopters gradually descended to the same level as the podium. Then, the submarine expert, Carlton, who was wearing a life jacket, and another middle-aged man, who was carrying a huge black box in his hands, crawled arduously against the wind toward the submarine''s podium. "Tung tung tung" After standing firm on his feet, Carlton took out a small steel hammer. He knocked it evenly on the podium to ascertain the thickness of the submarine''s outer shell. "Five to seven centimeters!" Carlton read out the gathered data, although he could not measure the strength of the steel. He did manage to figure that the dive depth would not be too high. Hence, the other party''s assertion that the submarine could dive as deep as 250 meters was probably an exaggeration. "Screech...screech" After testing the thickness of the submarine, Carlton then used a knife to scrape at some of the paint. "Is...is..is this really a submarine?" Carlton looked at the scratches beneath his feet, his face gradually turning solemn. "Alright, alright, our main duty is to test its soundproofing abilities!" His companion, who was standing beside him, waved his hands to interrupt him. He then proceeded to pass him something that looked like a stethoscope. "Can you start up the submarine?" "OK!" Chen Fan casually replied to the email, while controlling the electric eel that had been hooked invertedly at the bottom of the submarine. It then slowly wobbled its tail! Regardless of the length and width of the submarine, it was still longer than the electric eel by a big fraction. Therefore, by observing from the outside, one did not need to worry that the electric eel would be exposed. For this purpose, Chen Fan even drove his cruise to the deep seas, where he did a few experiments, controlling the electric eel to grip onto the submarine. The only thing that had Chen Fan worried was that the back of the submarine did not have any actual sprinkling mechanism. Thus, as the submarine cruised, it could not blast any water at all. This would potentially increase the risk of its being exposed. This problem was not an easy one to solve. Therefore, Chen Fan had to instruct the ship factory to open up a curvatory trench, as wide as half a meter, at the bottom of the propellant, as well as to install a half-sectioned, funnel-shaped backboard around its edges. As such, there would be a huge influx of seawater from the trench, enabling water to then be squirted out as it entered through the back of the propellant. "Are there any mechanical sounds?" said Carlton, as he stuck the giant stethoscope against the outer shell of the submarine, listening to it carefully, before turning toward his companion. "No, I can only vaguely hear the noise from the movements of the seawater!" Cadwalader, his companion, also wore the same look of confusion. Could it be that this submarine had no motor at all? Otherwise, it would be impossible not to hear any sounds --------- In the French Navy headquarters "Move the lens! Make sure it is focused on the propellant underneath the submarine!" said Admiral Brive, as he held onto the electronic microphone. Once the camera lens on the large screen had been gradually zoomed in, several submarine technical experts were immediately fixated on the propellant that had appeared on the screen, as if they were gazing at their favorite toy. "The spurting ripples do not appear in a spiral shape. They should be in the form of a counter-spiral shape." "There are no bubbles, and the water flows evenly. There shouldn''t be any propellers installed in it." "Hmm, apart from the sound of the flowing water, we aren''t able to hear any noises from the machinery that is operating around the submarine. It also didn''t sound like it was operated through a propulsion motor with propellers, nor by diesel." "If that''s the case" Suddenly, a spectacled elderly person spoke up, "Can you tell them to speed up the submarine, taking it to its maximum cruising speed? The biggest shortcoming of magnetohydrodynamic drive is on the cruising speed, and its consistency. As long as these two points are justified, there shouldn''t be too much of a problem." "Send the two engineers on the podium back here!" Admiral Brive barked into the electronic microphone. Ten minutes later, the submarine''s speed was gradually getting quicker. It only took 30 seconds for it to increase its speed from 20 knots to 50 knots. "Ah!" "Oh my god!" "It is moving at a speed of 50 knots" "New noises have appeared at the surroundings of the submarine, registering at almost 30 decibels. According to the analysis of the sound patterns, the problem probably lies in the faulty design of the exteriors of the submarine. In addition, the cruising speed is too fast. Therefore, the sounds came from the friction with the seawater." "Sir, can the submarine sink into a depth of 100 meters, and then maintain at a speed of 32 knots, so we can use our vessel''s active sonar to trace their tracks?" Submarine expert Caramel stood up, then pushed his glasses to the tip of his nose. "If it could travel underwater at this cruising speed, I figure that, even if this submarine could only cruise for an hour, it would still be a worthy purchase. Moreover, they came from somewhere far away to cruise to this region." "I think so, too. Apparently this submarine hadn''t undergone the spray pattern test, and there is a significant defect on its exteriors. Furthermore, its welding craft was done very coarsely, causing the surface of the submarine to be full of bumps and hollows. After some improvements, I think its speed can still progressively increase another five to ten knots." When Chen Fan received such news, he hesitated for a little while, before agreeing in the end. He replied with two simple letters in his message: OK. The electric eel stuck closely on the base of the submarine. The active sonar would only be able to detect the submarine, not reach the electric eel. "Hong Rong Rong" A large water bubble had risen up. The giant black submarine presented vertically in a linear angle of 90 degrees, then slowly sank into the deep waters. Meanwhile, two frigates that were roaming 1000 meters away also had travelled toward it at a high speed, their propellers humming along.When the submarine had completely disappeared from the water surface, a loud thump was emitted, as the spherical active sonar at the bottom of the frigate was released. "This submarine had not been painted with any absorbing material?" "Magnetohydrodynamic machines have very high peak values, so it seems like the other party did not remove the exterior magnetic mechanism." "Within 20 nautical miles, there is no sign of any other submarines around." "The noise cannot be detected at all. It looks like the submarine is using the technology of a magnetohydrodynamic drive (MHD)." "Tentatively, we have not managed to intercept any telecommunication signals around the submarine. It seems that the other party has a way of communication that we could not decipher at the moment. If the deal is closed, I strongly suggest that we buy this unknown way of communication, along with the magnetic attack sonar technology that was used at Djibouti''s cove." ----- Twenty minutes later "The submarine''s cruising speed is stable, and there is no indication of any declination in power." "I think you should purchase it for research purposes!" "I think so, too!" "I agree!" "At the price of 700 million USD, it''s an extremely worthy deal!" "Wait!" Admiral Brive suddenly lifted his hand up to interrupt the conversation. "What happens if we''ve already made payment, but they steer the submarine to run away?" "This" Everybody lapsed into a moment of silence. If that really did happen, the other party just needed to increase the cruising speed to its maximum, in order to remove itself from the detection of the active sonar within 20 minutes. That is, unless they attacked it with a torpedo. However, the consequence of such an action would mean that it would irritate the other party. "Let me ask them!" Admiral Brive contemplated this scenario for a short while, then decided to throw the question back to Chen Fan. "How do we know that, upon your receipt of our cash, you will not run away with the submarine? Alternatively, after you hand over the submarine to us, how are you going to evacuate the staff personnel that you have inside the submarine?" "The solution to the problem is simple. Can you see the two giant hooks on top of the submarine? You will allow your frigate to fasten a steel cable on top of it in order to test its strength, before deciding whether you want to pay or not." "As for the departure of our people, you need not worry. The interior of the submarine contains small submarines, which were built specially for such purposes. As long as you turn off your active sonar, our people will leave in them." "***WARNING: If you attempt to use the active sonar to trace these small submarines'' tracks, we will be forced to take extreme revenge measures." "What do you guys think?" Admiral Brive showed the message to everybody, then crossed his arms. "If it is really so, I think we still have some room for negotiation with the other party. This process seems akin to the purchase of America''s Ohio grade mini submarine system." "Okay, we''ll leave these questions for the future." Admiral Brive stood up, then turned around and spoke to the several submarine experts, "I believe all of you have a brief understanding of the basic functioning performance of this submarine. Now, let''s vote by a raising of hands to decide whether we should purchase this submarine or not." Swoosh..swoosh..swoosh... Without any hesitation, the few experts raised their hands up high. "Since the proposal has been passed, I would like to clarify this to everyone. If we cannot produce any relevant results within a year, the funding of this purchase will be deducted from your scientific research allocations." Brive raised his brow, grabbed the electronic microphone, then yelled, "After testing the tolerance of the submarine''s hooks, dump the diving cabin to the designated location, as demanded by them. If the giant submarine decides to break off the steel cables and dive into the water, once the cabin is dropped into the sea, all of you must strike down that submarine immediately, using the torpedo!" 182 Decision to Purchase Since we have already planned to rip off the French fellows, there needs to be a comprehensive and thorough plan in place. Their people''s government isn''t like some three-year-old kid, so what makes you think that you will succeed in fooling them? Lying his head on the blanket, Chen Fan carefully deliberated the feasibility of his plan, as well as attempting to find its most practical way of operation. First things first, regardless of whether the scam could succeed or not, what was most important was to protect oneself from being traced. Alternatively, the traces of evidence on the submarine should also be reduced to the minimum. This way, even if the French discovered that they had been cheated, all they could do is complain. The interior machinery within the autonomous nuclear submarine, which could expose their traces, should not exist, as Chen Fan had never intended to install it. The most he would do was merely decorate the entrance a little. If he let his ship factory build a submarine, the question then would be regarding how to avoid the other party from locating the factory, according to the traces left on the submarine. Firstly, the employees in the ship factory would have no clue that the submarine would be used to deceive the French. That way, even if the French found out that it was a sham later on, they would never expose the information. They probably couldn''t even wait to conceal it, choosing instead to then discreetly track down their enemy. All that was left now was to find the material to build the exteriors, as well as deciding upon the pattern of welding. It would be best if these things were made from imported materials, or universal technologies, such as steel products and paint. After all, these two materials formed the most vital component of the submarine! The method of welding was not a big issue, since all ship factories used the submerged arc welding method to build the ships'' bodies. This welding method was practiced universally, so it was not one solely utilized in China. As for the paint, they would go for the brand that had the highest sales. Regarding steelware, they''d pick the Japanese imported ordinary ship-use steel. But, it must be of a brand that had the widest coverage of sales worldwide. After having built such a meticulous and rare device, it would be absolutely impossible for them to ascertain the origins of this submarine, unless the French possessed an extraordinary ability to be clairvoyant! Taking a step back, one had to wonder if it would even really matter if the French found out that the submarine was made in China. After all, China is not Djibouti, Ghana, or Togo. it is not a country that no one has heard about. So, even if the French understood that it was made in China, all they could was complain. Besides, it''s not like the submarine was going to have a "Made in Zhongyun" tag! Also, the French fellows would not even have the means to find out where the submarine was produced, especially not by solely relying on the traces of its method of welding. As he thought about it, Chen Fan crawled up from the golden stone bed and walked toward the computer that was connected to the Internet through a mobile phone. He then searched the subject of postmodern sci-fi designs of submarines. The pictures provided by the internet were rather minimal. Chen Fan looked up the information for a good while, but was only able to search about six images, all of which were transfigured by 3D rendering experts, who were military affairs enthusiasts. After Chen Fan downloaded the few pictures into his computer, he referred to the different parts of each submarine. Lastly, he opened the pictures in Photoshop, reducing the background transparency to 50 percent. He then traced a copy, according to the sample, using the line tool. Chen Fan intended to build the submarine 90 meters long, with a draught of 10 meters and a width of nine meters. As for this big boy''s outer streamlined body, it would be bullet-shaped, while the propulsion system at the back would take a cue from a miscellaneous military model''s image. This was a picture that looked similar to a waterjet mechanism. On the back of the wheel casing, lay three flat strips of fin stabilizers and a long tail pin. As for the fairwater, Chen Fan used another diagram, to which he added two balancing wings on the left and right positions. Getting the idea for this bit from one picture, he then added a stroke on this position, and so on Chen Fan had spent almost two hours, sketching the overall layout of the submarine! Nevertheless, it was needless to say that this picture did not look professional at all. In fact, it appeared that it would be a definite fail! Coincidentally, we have a newly-built submarine from our factory. It is 90 meters long, and it has a draught of ten meters and a width of nine meters. It has a displacement of 6500 tons and an underwater displacement of 8200 tons. Its maximum speed underwater can reach up to 50 knots, while it could also dive a maximum depth of 250 meters. Also, it has 6000 kilowatts of propulsion power and a maximum cruising range of 3000 nautical miles. It registers at 13 decibels of mechanical noise, and has no hush tile nor sound-absorbing ring... The propulsion system is confidential at the moment, so you will know it when you buy it! If you are interested in purchasing it, we can arrange for an observation event five days from now. We would notify you about the particular location later on. By the way, the model of this submarine costs 700 million USD. No price negotiations! After sending the message, Chen Fan did not actually have full confidence that the other party would buy the submarine. So, he figured that he might as well lie on his bed, then switched his thoughts toward the electric eel, determined to keep a lookout on the surroundings of the sea through the satellite receiver. -------- On the east side of the Avenue des Champs-lyses, Presidential Office in lyse Palace. "How much authenticity do you think there is in their description?" President Kosaki sat on a chair, his looked a little absent-minded, as he stared ahead. "The specifications of a submarine need to be examined by our troops, before we could gather any concrete statistics," Navy admiral, Brive said suspiciously. "By just looking at the revealed data from the other party, this should be a hybrid submarine that is operating on a system that is ranging between conventional propulsion and nuclear propulsion. Its size is huge, and its cruising range is only slightly higher than an ordinary submarine. Also, it is not armed with any sort of weaponry. However, its cruising speed and acoustic quieting ability definitely do not show an advantage over current submarines that we already have in service." "Tell me your thoughts" President Kosaki gestured for him to speak freely. "According to the vocal prints of the submarine, which we have managed to intercept, they do have a very advanced submarine. This piece of data also conveyed that, if we do not activate our sonar probe, we would never be able to discover it at all. However, if we do turn the sonar on, we would just be exposing ourselves at first. At this point in time, we are not able to determine if the submarine is a real thing or a sham. But, in my opinion, I think we should take a real serious look at this submarine." "Didn''t the other side just say that there can be an arrangement for a one-time observation event five days from now? So, ignore all other performance specifications of the submarine. Most importantly, we need to find out whether its propulsion system really does operate on a magnetohydrodynamic drive." "Have the submarine experts been assigned to their specific jobs?" President Kosaki asked. "Say it''s a real thing... Without a weapon loading system, we could only dismantle it for research after purchasing it. Since the other party has the guts to sell it to us, they probably have something firm in their hold. There''s no way we could penetrate into the secret within." "Three submarine experts and two hydromagnetic technology experts will fly from Draguignan airport tomorrow morning. When the time comes, we will prepare a small business jet to send them to the location for the inspection of the submarine." Admiral Brive touched his nose, then said carefully, "In my view, we have already attained a certain level of achievement in the area of the magnetohydrodynamic drive. Thus, in due time, even the slightest detail on the submarine would be able to greatly inspire the members of the research and development team." "Hmm, I''ll assign the submarine observation event to you for now, as well as to the Defence Minister. You and him should unanimously request to make a payment to obtain their good impressions. Hopefully, we can buy some relevant technical information from them." President Cursache said expressionlessly, "If this project succeeds, I will not look into your previous misconducts. But, if it fails, not only would the loss be borne by the navy''s fund allocations, but you''d also better get penalized.." ------ Zhongyun City, the ship construction factory by the sea. "Boss, what color should we pick for that submarine?" Jiang Shui squatted on the floor, smoking his rolled cigarettes. "Currently, the most commonly used paint for ships is the Dutch brand ''AkzoNobel.''" "Just use black!" Chen Fan pointed at the papers that were lying on the ground sheepishly, then said, "The sketches are a bit too simple. It''s good enough, if you just weld roughly, according to the model. It doesn''t have to be practical. It just has to look good. With regards to the the fairwater, I suggest that you weld a general outline of it, then, when the main body gets done, I will let you know what to do next. Oh yes, you should also weld four huge hooks underneath the base of the submarine. Then, for the front of the fairwater, weld another two huge hooks." "How about the water storage? How much buoyancy should it be constructed with?" "Just about 10 percent of it, then let the seawater be channelled into it directly." Ten percent of buoyancy meant that, without any external force being exerted upon the submarine, only one meter of height of the submarine would appear on top of the water surface. The French government had already agreed to pay 700 million American dollars to purchase the submarine. But, the prerequisite was that they must first enter into the interior of the submarine for observation purposes. Evidently, Chen Fan would not agree to their request. He insisted that he would only allow two people, at most, to enter into the fairwater podium, as well as two anti-submarine helicopters above the air, for the inspection of the submarine''s soundproofing performance. Otherwise, the deal would be called off. Without a doubt, they had to agree to these terms, or else Chen Fan would never have allowed Jiang Shui to construct this submarine. Now that half the success had already been achieved, what was left depended on whether the combination of the electric eel and the submarine could fool the French five days from now! Realistically speaking, Chen Fan was not fully sure about this idea. However, the idea of foregoing the chance to rip-off the French fellows did not impress Chen Fan''s sentiments. Thus, he decided to give it a try. Time flew like an arrow, and five days lapsed in the blink of an eye. The ship factory had already completed the construction of the futuristic looking submarine yesterday morning. Currently, the electric eel was dragging it toward the south of the Gulf of Aden in the Indian Ocean. In the meantime, Chen Fan hid in a cave, keeping in contact with the French fellows through a computer. The satellite receiver was placed near the Japanese waters by the electric eel. Ever since the four special agents, who landed on the reefs to search for any possible satellite service, had been warned by Chen Fan, there had been no news from them. While the electric eel would be away for two or three days, Chen Fan estimated that the French fellows would not act rashly at this crucial moment. In other words, it didn''t matter, even if they had sent frogmen to look for the satellite emitter! The fiber optic cables, which were planted 800 nautical miles underwater, would be sufficient to have them search for ten days or a fortnight, only to vaguely gather a location near Zhongyun City. When the time came, the electric eel would have long returned to bite them into halves! The location of 150 nautical miles to the south of the Gulf of Aden is about 700 nautical miles away from the French naval military base at Gibraltar. Two French guided-missile frigates were situated on both the left and right side of the gulf, each of which were 800 meters apart. Meanwhile, two AS-565SA Black Panther models of anti-submarine helicopters were silently parked at the back of the helicopter tarmac on the military vessel. After about five minutes, two light gray helicopters slowly swung their propellers. When they reached a certain speed, they would then give out a thudding "tutu...tutu" sound, before dispatching themselves from the deck, flying toward the sea region, which was 2000 meters away. This section of sea was about 700 meters deep. Its water ripples were murky, making the visibility less than three meters. It was definitely the best hiding place for the electric eel! The two guided-missile frigates and the two anti-submarine helicopters had their reactive sonars turned on to the maximum levels. They seemed desperate to detect even the faint moanings of mating whales around that vicinity of the sea! "Black Panther Number One, no discovery of any suspicious voiceprints!" "Black Panther Number Two, no discovery of any suspicious voiceprints!" "There is still one more minute before the agreed meeting time, and it looks like the submarine''s soundproofing system is superb." Inside the helicopter, a 53-year-old submarine technical expert, Carlton, gazed down at the calm surface of the sea, muttering to himself. Before he could complete his sentence, there was a sudden surge of enormous white waves on the surface of the sea. His sight was then immediately greeted by a black submarine, measuring about 90 meters. It was slowly emerging from the water. "Ah!" Carlton''s eyes fixated on the submarine. He looked as if he had just seen a ghost. Could it be an apparition? Otherwise, at such a close distance, why hadn''t the sonar captured any unusual sounds of its approach? The workmanship of this submarine! Carlton did not offer too many comments. He just kept shaking his head in awe. He was not an ordinary layman. After all, he was involved in the military industry. Thus, his judgments should not be doubted. After briefly scanning through the outer body of the submarine, he immediately knew that it had been constructed with the welding method for ordinary submarines, instead of a military-made one that utilized the seamless laser welding method. "Closer, closer!" Carlton excitedly rushed the helicopter pilot to lower the helicopter, so that he could observe it in a better and more convenient position. At the same time, high definition cameras on the two helicopters were transmitting real-time images through the satellite to the French Navy headquarters. "You can now go aboard. However, remember that only two persons are allowed to enter the fairwater podium. The cabin door at the end of the submarine has been locked from the inside by our crew. Therefore, please do not try to open it." A short while after Chen Fan''s message was sent, one of the Blank Panther helicopters gradually descended to the same level as the podium. Then, the submarine expert, Carlton, who was wearing a life jacket, and another middle-aged man, who was carrying a huge black box in his hands, crawled arduously against the wind toward the submarine''s podium. "Tung tung tung" After standing firm on his feet, Carlton took out a small steel hammer. He knocked it evenly on the podium to ascertain the thickness of the submarine''s outer shell. "Five to seven centimeters!" Carlton read out the gathered data, although he could not measure the strength of the steel. He did manage to figure that the dive depth would not be too high. Hence, the other party''s assertion that the submarine could dive as deep as 250 meters was probably an exaggeration. "Screech...screech" After testing the thickness of the submarine, Carlton then used a knife to scrape at some of the paint. "Is...is..is this really a submarine?" Carlton looked at the scratches beneath his feet, his face gradually turning solemn. "Alright, alright, our main duty is to test its soundproofing abilities!" His companion, who was standing beside him, waved his hands to interrupt him. He then proceeded to pass him something that looked like a stethoscope. "Can you start up the submarine?" "OK!" Chen Fan casually replied to the email, while controlling the electric eel that had been hooked invertedly at the bottom of the submarine. It then slowly wobbled its tail! Regardless of the length and width of the submarine, it was still longer than the electric eel by a big fraction. Therefore, by observing from the outside, one did not need to worry that the electric eel would be exposed. For this purpose, Chen Fan even drove his cruise to the deep seas, where he did a few experiments, controlling the electric eel to grip onto the submarine. The only thing that had Chen Fan worried was that the back of the submarine did not have any actual sprinkling mechanism. Thus, as the submarine cruised, it could not blast any water at all. This would potentially increase the risk of its being exposed. This problem was not an easy one to solve. Therefore, Chen Fan had to instruct the ship factory to open up a curvatory trench, as wide as half a meter, at the bottom of the propellant, as well as to install a half-sectioned, funnel-shaped backboard around its edges. As such, there would be a huge influx of seawater from the trench, enabling water to then be squirted out as it entered through the back of the propellant. "Are there any mechanical sounds?" said Carlton, as he stuck the giant stethoscope against the outer shell of the submarine, listening to it carefully, before turning toward his companion. "No, I can only vaguely hear the noise from the movements of the seawater!" Cadwalader, his companion, also wore the same look of confusion. Could it be that this submarine had no motor at all? Otherwise, it would be impossible not to hear any sounds --------- In the French Navy headquarters "Move the lens! Make sure it is focused on the propellant underneath the submarine!" said Admiral Brive, as he held onto the electronic microphone. Once the camera lens on the large screen had been gradually zoomed in, several submarine technical experts were immediately fixated on the propellant that had appeared on the screen, as if they were gazing at their favorite toy. "The spurting ripples do not appear in a spiral shape. They should be in the form of a counter-spiral shape." "There are no bubbles, and the water flows evenly. There shouldn''t be any propellers installed in it." "Hmm, apart from the sound of the flowing water, we aren''t able to hear any noises from the machinery that is operating around the submarine. It also didn''t sound like it was operated through a propulsion motor with propellers, nor by diesel." "If that''s the case" Suddenly, a spectacled elderly person spoke up, "Can you tell them to speed up the submarine, taking it to its maximum cruising speed? The biggest shortcoming of magnetohydrodynamic drive is on the cruising speed, and its consistency. As long as these two points are justified, there shouldn''t be too much of a problem." "Send the two engineers on the podium back here!" Admiral Brive barked into the electronic microphone. Ten minutes later, the submarine''s speed was gradually getting quicker. It only took 30 seconds for it to increase its speed from 20 knots to 50 knots. "Ah!" "Oh my god!" "It is moving at a speed of 50 knots" "New noises have appeared at the surroundings of the submarine, registering at almost 30 decibels. According to the analysis of the sound patterns, the problem probably lies in the faulty design of the exteriors of the submarine. In addition, the cruising speed is too fast. Therefore, the sounds came from the friction with the seawater." "Sir, can the submarine sink into a depth of 100 meters, and then maintain at a speed of 32 knots, so we can use our vessel''s active sonar to trace their tracks?" Submarine expert Caramel stood up, then pushed his glasses to the tip of his nose. "If it could travel underwater at this cruising speed, I figure that, even if this submarine could only cruise for an hour, it would still be a worthy purchase. Moreover, they came from somewhere far away to cruise to this region." "I think so, too. Apparently this submarine hadn''t undergone the spray pattern test, and there is a significant defect on its exteriors. Furthermore, its welding craft was done very coarsely, causing the surface of the submarine to be full of bumps and hollows. After some improvements, I think its speed can still progressively increase another five to ten knots." When Chen Fan received such news, he hesitated for a little while, before agreeing in the end. He replied with two simple letters in his message: OK. The electric eel stuck closely on the base of the submarine. The active sonar would only be able to detect the submarine, not reach the electric eel. "Hong Rong Rong" A large water bubble had risen up. The giant black submarine presented vertically in a linear angle of 90 degrees, then slowly sank into the deep waters. Meanwhile, two frigates that were roaming 1000 meters away also had travelled toward it at a high speed, their propellers humming along.When the submarine had completely disappeared from the water surface, a loud thump was emitted, as the spherical active sonar at the bottom of the frigate was released. "This submarine had not been painted with any absorbing material?" "Magnetohydrodynamic machines have very high peak values, so it seems like the other party did not remove the exterior magnetic mechanism." "Within 20 nautical miles, there is no sign of any other submarines around." "The noise cannot be detected at all. It looks like the submarine is using the technology of a magnetohydrodynamic drive (MHD)." "Tentatively, we have not managed to intercept any telecommunication signals around the submarine. It seems that the other party has a way of communication that we could not decipher at the moment. If the deal is closed, I strongly suggest that we buy this unknown way of communication, along with the magnetic attack sonar technology that was used at Djibouti''s cove." ----- Twenty minutes later "The submarine''s cruising speed is stable, and there is no indication of any declination in power." "I think you should purchase it for research purposes!" "I think so, too!" "I agree!" "At the price of 700 million USD, it''s an extremely worthy deal!" "Wait!" Admiral Brive suddenly lifted his hand up to interrupt the conversation. "What happens if we''ve already made payment, but they steer the submarine to run away?" "This" Everybody lapsed into a moment of silence. If that really did happen, the other party just needed to increase the cruising speed to its maximum, in order to remove itself from the detection of the active sonar within 20 minutes. That is, unless they attacked it with a torpedo. However, the consequence of such an action would mean that it would irritate the other party. "Let me ask them!" Admiral Brive contemplated this scenario for a short while, then decided to throw the question back to Chen Fan. "How do we know that, upon your receipt of our cash, you will not run away with the submarine? Alternatively, after you hand over the submarine to us, how are you going to evacuate the staff personnel that you have inside the submarine?" "The solution to the problem is simple. Can you see the two giant hooks on top of the submarine? You will allow your frigate to fasten a steel cable on top of it in order to test its strength, before deciding whether you want to pay or not." "As for the departure of our people, you need not worry. The interior of the submarine contains small submarines, which were built specially for such purposes. As long as you turn off your active sonar, our people will leave in them." "***WARNING: If you attempt to use the active sonar to trace these small submarines'' tracks, we will be forced to take extreme revenge measures." "What do you guys think?" Admiral Brive showed the message to everybody, then crossed his arms. "If it is really so, I think we still have some room for negotiation with the other party. This process seems akin to the purchase of America''s Ohio grade mini submarine system." "Okay, we''ll leave these questions for the future." Admiral Brive stood up, then turned around and spoke to the several submarine experts, "I believe all of you have a brief understanding of the basic functioning performance of this submarine. Now, let''s vote by a raising of hands to decide whether we should purchase this submarine or not." Swoosh..swoosh..swoosh... Without any hesitation, the few experts raised their hands up high. "Since the proposal has been passed, I would like to clarify this to everyone. If we cannot produce any relevant results within a year, the funding of this purchase will be deducted from your scientific research allocations." Brive raised his brow, grabbed the electronic microphone, then yelled, "After testing the tolerance of the submarine''s hooks, dump the diving cabin to the designated location, as demanded by them. If the giant submarine decides to break off the steel cables and dive into the water, once the cabin is dropped into the sea, all of you must strike down that submarine immediately, using the torpedo!" 183 Fall From A High Position "GO! GO! GO!" Several crew members on the ship''s deck were constantly using hand signals to command two helicopters. When the helicopter dropped to its intended location, a special steel cable with thick wire was immediately attached to the underbelly of the helicopter. Four large, heavyset young sailors climbed up and down for more than 20 minutes before they hung two cables on the submarine. "Call command room. Hook up. Start large capstan to test hook strength." Five seconds later, the machinery on the two ships began to roll slowly. At this time, the steel cable, which had been hanging down, was becoming tighter and tighter. At the end of the day, it was humming with a vibrating sound, and the submarine was moving forward. "Good strength!" Captain Kerwin nodded. "The torpedo tanks are pressurized at any time to attack, and the deck cranes are hoisted into the sea." Bang! A 15-meter-diameter silver-white metal shell with a diameter of three meters was seen. Hiding under the submarine, he saw that the ship was throwing the money into the sea. Chen Fan took his mind back and replied with his computer. Okay, you can tow the submarine away. The active sonar had been shut down by the other side, and the submarine was slowly being dragged away by the warship. The electric eel''s tail was swinging from a distance of more than 1,000 meters, seizing the submerged capsule that was constantly sinking. The wires were then tied to the hook with wire wrapped around the electric eel''s claws. As the saying goes, "One should have the intention to do harm to others, but should always guard against the harm others might do to him!" Before he came, Chen Fan had two questions. One was had the French installed a signal launcher in the capsule, and the other one was had they put a time bomb in it? The first problem was solved by transporting it directly to the deep-sea cavern where any signal would be cut off. The second was a bit troublesome. So, the electric eel deliberately took that 200-meter-long steel whip used to fight the crocodile dragon on land and wrapped it wrapped around its claws. At the beginning of the production, Chen Fan asked the Frenchman to weld a big hook on the capsule. Two hundred meters away, the electric eel''s safety factor would be greatly improved. The murky waters, with only three meters of water and winds in the sky, made Chen Fan sure that the electric eel could hide there without being noticed. When the electric eel grabbed the end of the steel wire with its hind claws, Chen Fan who was the inside of the cave, smiled slyly. On his way to the Indian Ocean on a fake submarine, he suddenly came up with a "good idea", a good idea to reduce his exposure to almost zero. The submarine''s abdomen had four hooks. Only two hooks were welded at the top. In other words, four hooks were twice as strong as two hooks. What if he snatched the submarine back? Although it was shameless, it was a good idea, because it was possible to sever the French from getting an clues from the submarine. Five seconds later, the electric eel swam to the bottom of the submarine again, with four gleaming claws that held tightly to the hook. Then the electric eel filled its entire abdominal cavity, like a weightlifter breathing deep before he exerts his strength. .......... "Report to the naval command that everything is normal at the moment, and it is expected to return to the Djibouti naval base in 10 hours," Captain Kerwin repeated calls in the satellite communicator. "Very good!" The admiral smiled and praised him, and then said, "Pay attention to the ships of other countries on the way and use force if necessary. When you come back, Mr. President and I will personally grant you the Sea Eagle Glory Badge." "Ah!" When Captain Kerwin heard this, he was so stunned his eyes almost popped out. After he struggled out of his state, the first thing he did was shake the deputy captain like a dice in the cup. "Did you hear? Sea Eagle Badge! The Sea Eagle Badge!" The Sea Eagle Badge, which was established in 1921, had only been awarded 213 times, and 90 percent of that was awarded in World War II. What were the chances of getting that medal in peacetime? "Thank you... Oh, my god!" Captain Kerwin had not finished his thanks, when he stopped and said shrilly, "The submarine has unexpectedly dived into the water, as if to escape!" "Torpedo, quick, torpedo!" General Bailiffe also saw the situation on the big screen and shouted at once. At the moment, behind the two ships, there was completely no sign of the submarine, only two large ships designed to drag the special wire rope tight in the water. The submarine''s sinking strength was immense! It made the two warships shake. Bang! Bang! The crew of the ship had just turned on the active sonar and was ready to navigate the torpedoes. Suddenly, two crackles of metal broke out under the water, and the tight steel cables relaxed. It was easy enough to guess that it must have been the links above the submarine being yanked out. Boom! Boom! At the same time, two MU90 torpedoes with thick compressed air in their tails, hit the water like cannonballs. As soon as they fell into the water, the stern thrusters of the two torpedoes immediately began to work and headed them straight for the submarine which had sunk more than 300 meters deep. Both torpedoes were battery-powered, not cavitating torpedoes, so their speed was a bit unsatisfactory and could only reach 57 knots. What is the speed of the electric eel? With a large submarine, it can soar to 120 knots. "Oh, my god, the speed of this submarine has reached 120 knots?" On active sonar screens, the two technicians were shocked. How fast is the speed of 120 knots? Their newly developed cavitating torpedoes, which could only reach 100 knots, couldn''t turn a corner and could only be shot like bullets. "Quickly, launch anti-submarine missiles! Catch that submarine in front of you!" Captain Kerwin grabbed the condenser microphone and shouted loudly. If the submarine ran, not only would he not get the Sea Eagle''s Badge, but he would not even be able to keep his rank. According to the speed of the submarine, the carrier of active sonar detection range was only ten miles because sound traveled to the submarine and bounced back to the ship. This process would increase two seconds for every 1,500-meter-distance between them. Once the voyage was over ten nautical miles, and when the sound was transmitting back to the ship, the submarine had run out of shadow for a long time. At that time, they only could blindly release the torpedo and load the search system on the torpedo to find the submarine. Boom, boom, boom! With a thunderous roar, four white anti-submarine missiles came flying from the launch capsule at a thunderous speed. After three miles in the direction of the submarine''s flight, the homing torpedo warhead on the front was separated from the propeller and, after a period of inertiabang! It crash-landed in the sea. Anti-submarine missiles and rocket deep water bombs didn''t rely on rocket boosters as power to dive into the the water to attack the enemy. Instead they used the rapid flight of rocket boosters to arrive at distant targets, then the self-propelled torpedoes out in the water attacked the enemy. In addition to achieving rapid kop, they were like an ordinary torpedo and depth charge. There was no advantage of the speed in the water. "F**k, are these Frenchmen having seizures?" Two torpedoes were behind him and four torpedoes were in the distance in an attempt to surround the electric eel. Bang! Bang! The electric eel just held its head up to the hole on the left, and 600 meters above, two thick, strong black deep-water bombs dashed by in the water. Fortunately, the electric eel could now run a distance of 60 meters per second, enough to keep all the underwater assault weapons in active service, leaving no shadow behind. Chug chug chug... Two panther helicopters, rotating their propellers, flew above the submarine, sharing a set of active sonar systems with the warships. The anti-submarine weapon was mounted above. It would be better if it did not use it. Boom! Two large explosions, the first two torpedoes fired from a military ship, exploded at a distance of more than 500 meters from the submarine, and the shockwave shook the electric eel''s body slightly. Fortunately, it was too far away to do any harm to the electric eel. As for the two torpedoes that were nearthe electric eel used nearly 40,000 volts of voltage detonated over a long distance. The shockwave generated by the explosion directly killed all the fish within a radius of two kilometers. The space in the deep sea was 360 degrees, and the electric eel could detonate a road torpedo without fear of any French attack. Ten minutes later... "Ah, why, why is this happening!" Captain Kerwin was holding his head in pain. Was the submarine made by aliens? Completely out of his view of scientific understanding? Not to mention it could move at the speed of 120 knots and could descend to 600 meters deep! "Very good, very good! Very beautiful!" On the monitor, he could not help clapping. "Captain Kerwin, please go back to the Navy headquarters and report to the Navy headquarters immediately. I''ll discuss your resignation with you." Half an hour later, in the French Naval Command''s operational command room "You, you, you, and you, ready to go back to the office and return your epaulets to the country!" The general''s face was gloomy, and he went straight to the door after pointing to several people. Twenty minutes later, at the east end of the Champs-lyses, the presidential office of the lyse Palace. "You, get ready to report to the mod, and then resign!" President Kosaki was so sullen that he slammed the door after finishing his words. The second-floor conference room of the French ministry of defense "This incident I think everybody understands the consequence caused by this matter!" Defense Minister Ekman''s eyes were gloomy. "I will not say nonsense! I hope this time tomorrow I will see everybody''s resignation report!" ......... "Ouch my submarine!" Chen Fan, through the electric eel''s eyes, looked at the black submarine which was already dented due to the pressure caused by the water. If it had not been for more than half of the space in it, the submarine might have been smashed. Pulling the capsule, which was pitted by water, you couldn''t open the hatch without violence. The next day at 3 p.m., deep in the sea near Miyun After a day and a half of sailing, the electric eel finally returned to its underwater cave. The counterfeit submarine and the pod were pushed into the cavern by electric eel, ready to keep them out of sight forever. After placing it two kilometers away from the stone tower, the electric eel immediately climbed back out the entrance, ready to move the satellite receiver to the location. After this, the Frenchies would definitely want to find him out. The satellite receiver, though not working, would be a hidden danger if it was kept. When the eel arrived in the area, the satellite receiver stood there in perfect condition, and there was no suspicious target. After the optic fiber cable was pulled into the water, Chen Fan thought about it and decided to put it in the middle of the straits. It was eleven o''clock at night when they found the right place and set up the satellite receiver back. Chen Fan did not bother with the shriveled fake submarine. He controlled the electric eel to go to the U.S. dollar capsule. Strong water pressure had compressed the cabin door of the capsule. He didn''t have to try, from just looking at it, Chen Fan knew absolutely he could not open it. However, the electric eel was not ready to open it but decided to go over and see if there was any danger. Although the French had little chance of getting a bomb in it, unless they were carrying a nuclear bomb, they could knock out more than a dozen square kilometers. If you did not kill all your enemies, you would leave a disaster behind. Everyone knew that. Without the confidence in killing all the opponents, the Frenchmen would not be fools and try to attack their enemy when they did not know who they were. But with caution, Chen Fan decided to take a closer look at it with the electromagnetic wave. He dragged it into the lake with the 200-meter-long cable, and then the electric eel laid on the shore and released the high voltage. Pitter-patter. Crackle. The blackened scales of the electric eel were transformed into a deep blue, and limitless electricity was rapidly spreading along the steel cable to the capsule. Extending the electromagnetic induction along the cable, Chen Fan found that a small signal transmitter was still attached to the cabin door of the capsule. Chen Fan was not surprised by the tracker and had even estimated it. Because as soon as the SDC surfaced, the French could immediately get his position and understand what forces they were up against. 184 Taking Out the Tai Sui That''s right! Nothing! The way Chen Fan figured it, there should be a Tai Sui fairy or a beautiful girl hiding in it! Yet, the truth was always so heartbreaking! "Oh dang!" Chen Fan was struggling to pull himself out. He then picked up the hammer, starting to slam the wall like a mad person. "Bang!" Two minutes later, Chen Fan kicked off the heavily damaged resin wall that was located beneath his belly, then immediately squeezed himself into the interior. But, there wasn''t anything suspicious in that fine polished, dim chamber. Next, he looked up at the dome, but also saw nothing! Then, looking around the corner, still nothing "Wait a second! What''s that?" Suddenly, Chen Fan saw a spherical object, about the size of a basketball, lying at the corner of the resin wall. However, he couldn''t verify what exactly the object was, due to the poor lighting in the chamber. Chen Fan walked towards it, then squatted down. He took out his phone to illuminate the object. He then realized that it was an unknown milky white object, which had a texture that was as soft as a baby''s skin. "Could this be the Tai Sui?" Chen Fan recalled all kinds of photos from the internet, yet none of them seemed to look as glossy and beautiful as this one. "Sigh. I thought you were going to be the big boy, who weighed two tons or so and could instantly regenerate, even after losing 300 pounds per day." Chen Fan had no choice but to pick up this little one and walk toward the second floor. As he did so, he muttered to himself, "This is rather unexpected. I never thought you would be this small. You have even ruined my dreams of discovering a hidden cutie in here" This Tai Sui may have looked tiny in terms of size, but the weight of it was not light at all. Instead, the white sphere actually had a whopping weight of 20 kilograms! Chen Fan knew that most owners of a Tai Sui would usually raise them in water. Therefore, he took a plastic bucket and placed the Tai Sui in it. He then filled the bucket with freshwater. At this very moment, a strange scene took place After being left in the water for about 10 minutes, countless tiny bubbles surfaced from the skin of the Tai Sui. Numerous bubbles even ruptured out of the water, emitting a burst of fragrance. "So, it can breathe?" Chen Fan recalled hearing of this from an old professor once. "It''s a form of life. It can breathe, grow, and regenerate, just like animals. However, it does not have any organs. It is neither a plant nor a fourth trophic level organism. They usually live underwater or in the soil." Certainly, there was no air leakage inside the stone tower. As far as oxygen was concerned, the oxygen molecules in the liquids should have long depleted over the past thousands of years. Therefore, there was a possibility that it had fallen into an extended period of hibernation, then finally regained its vitality upon Chen Fan''s putting it into the oxygen-packed freshwater! Chen Fan pulled out the black Kun Wu dagger from his back, hesitating for a moment. Should I slice a piece off, so that I can let the electric eel have a taste of it? The Compendium of Materia Medica claimed as such, "Consume for a long period of time to preserve youth. This may also aid you to extend your lifespan and become a celestial being!" Judging from the attributes listed above, it was evident that the older it gets, the higher its nutritional value becomes. As for this Tai Sui, it was probably around ten thousand years old, per Chen Fan''s calculations. Hence, logically speaking, it should possess a monstrously high nutritional value. Thus, although one might not become a celestial being after eating it, it still might not be far-fetched to claim that the eater''s attributes would certainly multiply! "I''m sorry, my little Tai Sui. But, the description stated that you should recover in the next day, anyway!" said Chen Fan, after making up his mind. He took out the Tai Sui from the water, then slowly pierced it with the Kun Wu dagger. "Eh?" As soon as the Kun Wu dagger made contact with the Tai Sui''s surface, Chen Fan couldn''t help but exclaim. The sharpness of the Kun Wu dagger was undoubtedly top-notch for its class. It could effortlessly cut through an iron sheet, just like it was a flimsy piece of paper! However, the dagger could not advance any further than 2 cm into the Tai Sui''s milky-white skin, even after Chen Fan had exerted a good amount of force and strength. It felt as if he was trying to cut the meat with the dull backside of a knife! Not only had he failed to locate the pivot point, as the meat was everywhere when it was being cut by the back of a knife, but the knife also felt blunt at the same time. Chen Fan, who refused to accept the fact, simply sat down, pinning down the Tai Sui with his legs. He then pressed the dagger into the Tai Sui, now with all of his might. "I''m definitely going to bring you under my control today!" Chen Fan glared at the Tai Sui. Blue veins stood out on his right arm, as he swung the Kun Wu dagger. Not even the Tai Sui could rival the menacing weapon. Despite having an extremely tough skin. Thus, Chen Fan was able to cut off a small piece of it. After putting the injured Tai Sui back in the water, Chen Fan ran outside. He was now prepared to feed it to the electric eel. By now, the electric eel had grown to be gigantic, having a 90 meters long body. Its black scales and four cold, metallic claws could strike fear in the hearts of all. Even Chen Fan couldn''t stop himself from feeling a little nervous, whenever he got too close to it! Will it cause indigestion, since the Tai Sui is so tough? Suddenly, Chen Fan thought of a serious problem. An ordinary Tai Sui would not be this tough, so the flesh could easily be scraped off, even by one''s fingernails. On the other hand, the one Chen Fan owned was obviously an oddball. Its body was so tough, Chen Fan believed that not even pistol bullets could penetrate it! However, looking at the body of the electric eel, which was as big as a small hill, Chen Fan thought that there shouldn''t be a problem. The piece of Tai Sui was now resting in the mouth of the electric eel, which could easily swallow up a whole cow. The eel did not even have a sense of taste at all. The electric eel''s throat twitched, swallowing the Tai Sui in a single gulp. Back on the second floor of the stone tower, Chen Fan controlled the electric eel to swim into the water. Meanwhile, he prepared to use electromagnetic induction to quietly observe the changes in its stomach. Two minutes passed, and the tissue of the Tai Sui had only slightly dissolved. These dissolved transparent substances directly entered the electric eel''s bloodstream. There was no strange feeling at first, but as the Tai Sui gradually became smaller, the electric eel became increasingly energetic. Eventually, the eel''s initial sleepiness vanished completely, as if it had been injected with a stimulant. It was eager to find a place to vent its overwhelming energy! It was the exact opposite of the feelings of laziness and comfort that had kicked in after it had consumed the ghost moon incense. At the moment, it was as if the eel had smoked a big cigarette! Half an hour later, under the powerful reaction of hydrochloric acid and protease in the stomach and intestines, the Tai Sui was broken down into countless nutrient molecules. It was then completely dissolved into the blood of the electric eel. At this point, the electric eel could evidently feel this explosive sense of energy. Its usual ability to create 39,000 volts had now increased to a voltage output of 43,000 volts! "Roar!" The electric eel, having significantly improved in strength and physical endurance, could no longer contain the adrenaline rush within its nerves. After it rushed out from the water and let out a loud howl, it immediately disappeared. It was about to teach those suchosauruses in the lake a lesson! In the past, the electric eel''s ability to produce electric voltage could only last for 3 minutes. It would then require half a day to recover, after boosting up its voltage to full capacity. Now, it could boost up its voltage for five minutes! Also, it was now able to be fully charged in less than half an hour. As such, it possessed an infinite amount of power and an endless supply of voltage. At that moment, the electric eel knew nothing about tiredness, making it similar to an engine with a full tank. It now had two hours'' worth of unrestrained consumption of physical and electrical energy. After two whole hours, the euphoria effect on the electric eel gradually stabilized. The time taken for the accumulation of electricity was also restored to its previous capability. After its return to the initial location, the electric eel continued to lie in the water. It was trying to see if there were any additional effects or benefits that the Tai Sui had to offer. Sadly, there was no further reaction in the electric eel''s body, even after a whole day of waiting. "Darn! Could this be a super stimulant?" Chen Fan was filled with confusion. Judging from the effect, when monitored through electromagnetic induction, the permanent effect that the Tai Sui could offer was little to none. All it could do was to boost one''s strength temporarily, unlike the ghost moon incense, which could permanently improve one''s fitness after consumption. How could Xiao Xue, who had consumed an extensive amount of Tai Sui-soaked solution, grow taller and taller, as if he had consumed the Gang Hong brand pig feed, without going through a short period of the euphoria effect? Chen Fan suppressed his doubts, then closed his eyes, trying to analyze the situation in his mind. There must be a reason for this... First of all, the test results of the solution showed that it contained many beneficial elements and a great amount of Ginseng molecules. This would also mean that the Tai Sui was fed and raised with Ginseng by the ancients. It was also likely that the ancients had consumed the Tai Sui-soaked solution instead, as there was no way that the ancients could have cut open the high-level Tai Sui with their limited technology at that time. Were they using the Tai Sui as medicine for refining, then? It can''t be! Chen Fan shook his head. He thought that they might have been cultivating the Tai Sui, or worshipping the Tai Sui, as a sacred artifact. This was because a large amount of nutrients in the Ginseng had been absorbed by the Tai Sui. Since they were too tough to be eaten, drinking the residue in the solution was the most that the ancients could do. The only probable reason to justify why the Tai Sui was still kept around, even when it couldn''t be eaten at all, was that it was worshipped as a sacred artifact. Why did the ancients carefully raise such a creature? Chen Fan could not figure it out at all. All he knew was the fact that it functioned as a super concentrated stimulant, and that one could die after consuming such a thing. Judging by the reaction of the electric eel, the Tai Sui definitely contained an astounding amount of nutrients. Also, the electric eel kept boosting up its voltage, even long after it had finished consuming the Tai Sui. Thus, according to the principle of conservation of energy, the electric eel would need to consume a few whales to make up for the matching of such energy loss. However, the electric eel remained as energetic as usual, showing no sign of tiredness. It wouldn''t be hard to imagine the consequence of what would happen, should someone have eaten it, would it? In fact, it was possible that a tissue, which was smaller than the rice grain, could easily cause someone to die from extensive bleeding and muscle spasms... 185 The Multi-purpose Alchemy Furnace Ginseng can improve the working ability of a human, as it is proven to reduce fatigue. Also, its various functions are far more impressive than amphetamines. Moreover, it does not have the disadvantage that amphetamines have. In fact, ginseng could even greatly aid in healing and prolonged life. For example, when the ancients were injured or bleeding, they often would put a piece of ginseng in their mouths, allowing them to buy more time to heal. As well as having many benefits, ginseng also mirrors closely the valuable, well-known qualities of all essential oils. This can be seen in that it is a multipurpose remedy, that can be useful in fighting cancer, protecting the liver, purifying blood, moistening the lungs, improving immunity and so on. Even men who are sterile could be treated with such a powerful element as this. Yet still, Chen Fan looked at the bucket in a worried manner. He was also glancing at the Taisui, which had absorbed a huge amount of ginseng essence. Eating a bowl of meat could supplement you nutrition, but eating a ton of meat might kill you. A such, it could not be eaten by the human for the time being, and the electric eel need only a tiny bit of it, when it would get hurt during a fight. Otherwise, it would be a waste to eat it during the rest of the time. After shaking his head, Chen Fan exited the stone tower. He was ready to go back to Zhongyun city, so that he could buy a beautiful large glass jar to store it in. He figured that, as it could be considered as half a million years old ginseng, it should absolutely not be kept in a rusty old bucket! Originally, there was a big fish tank in the old house, which was used by the electric eel until now. However, the fish tank was too high to be used anymore. The glass needed for the Taisui needed to be lower. Specifically, the key word for the character of the tank was "wide". It had been two hours since Chen Fan, who was carrying a large glass jar with a diameter of 1.5 meters and a height of half a meters, returned to the lake that was beside the stone tower. He had returned to this spot in order to wash it. There was no room for the big guy in the capsule, so he had to let the electric eel bring it in by placing it in its mouth. After spending time putting the Taisui in a glass filled with fresh water, it was already noon when he finally got home. Upon arriving, he prepared to wash his hands and eat. "Eat?" After washing his hands, Chen Fan suddenly realized that Yunmeng hadn''t came home yet. Looking at the time, it was already 12:20 p.m. Yunmeng''s classes were over at 11:40 a.m, and she could get home in fifteen to twenty minutes. Hence, Chen Fan was a little worried, so he took out his phone to call and ask her situation. "Sorry, the number you dialed cannot be connected, please redial later" was the response on the line, when he tried calling. "Has she turned off her phone, or maybe she''s not in the service area?" Chen Fan frowned, as she hadn''t returned within this half an hour, and she hadn''t called. What had happened to her? As started the car and drove out of his house, he slowed down and focused his attention on the sidewalk. In the middle of the day, there were not many people on the road, and Yunmeng was wearing a white coat, which should be easy to spot. After the car came to the large shopping mall called Suguo supermarket on Sanpai road, Chen Fan found that, on the pavement, there were six or seven pedestrians, who were gathered in a circle, watching some scene. He could vaguely hear a faint voice of a woman, babbling from the middle of the crowd. Through the crowd, Chen Fan suddenly caught a glimpse of a white figure that looked like Yunmeng, and an electrical bike, which was tilted to the ground. "F**k!" Chen Fan quickly turned the steering wheel, cranking the car towards the supermarket square. "What''s the matter?" Chen Fan, who was now squeezed into the center of the crowd, hurriedly asked, as he had just caught sight of Yunmeng, who was pathetically standing next to the electrical bike. "Are you her guardian? You came at the right time, as she knocked into my car, spilling my two boxes of eggs." A lady in her 40s, wearing a blue coat with egg white and dust on it, spoke in the speed that was faster than a machine gun, while pointing to the electric vehicle that had fallen on the ground. "As you can see, I just came back from the supermarket after buying eggs, and now there are only seventeen left, after being knocked by her. So, now, you must quickly pay me for the lost ones." "Why didn''t you call me?" After Chen Fan ensured that Yunmeng was not injured, and had no dust on her clothes, questioned her with a slightly blaming tone. "The phone fell on the ground and broke, I... I just wanted to wait and call you from the phone booth, but then you came." Yunmeng''s face, which was filled with hesitation, immediately turned to one of embarrassment after seeing Chen Fan, just like a good kid that had just made a mistake and was afraid to look his parents in the eye. "I say, what''s wrong with you, young man? Just pay the damage, so that I can go home to prepare my food." The woman spoke in a speed that even an announcer couldn''t keep up with. Moreover, she had a mental arithmetic level that even Hua Luogeng would admire, as she calculated, "That''s two cases of sixty plum green husk eggs, making for a total of forty-three broken. According to a rate of thirty cents per one, you should compensate me 57RMB and 19 cents, but I don''t want the few cents. And hey, the electric bike''s rain shell and bumper are broken, so those two added together means that you should pay me three hundred, and my clothes were roughed up, so you have to pay me one hundred more..." "Wait a minute, I''ll ask what happened!" Chen Fan waved his hand and interrupted her. Since neither of them was hurt, he had to then know who was really responsible, and only then could he leave. The cause was simple and funny. The woman, who had just come out of the supermarket and rode away on an electric bike, dropped her five dollars from her pocket and stepped on her brake to stop and retrieve it. Meanwhile, behind her, only half a meter away, was Yunmeng. Unfortunately, Yunmeng had taken out her mobile phone to text at exact that same time, so she did not have time to react...and bang! They ran into each other. Since Yunmeng used to climb trees, her sports skills and balance were good. So, even though the cell phone fell, she did not, but the woman was dumped on the ground, along with the electrical bike. According to car laws and regulations, as long as the front car is not changing lanes, or doing something illegal to cause the collision, the car behind should take full responsibility for any collision, because it could likely encounter a different situation and brake, and the safety distance left by the car is not considered as sufficient enough. Chen Fan did not know the law for electric bikes, but seeing that the woman''s clothes were drenched with egg, and she measuring up her heightened emotional, machine gun speed of talking, Chen Fan estimated that three to five lawyers still would not have been able to speak over her, so he did not even attempt to help Yunmeng to explain this away. Instead, he just took out 500RMB from his pocket and gave it to the lady. "Boy, I don''t have a change for you!" she said. "Forget it!" Chen Fan helped her lift the electric bike and waved his hand. He then pushed Yunmeng''s electric car away from the scene of the accident. "Pay attention next time! Put your bike next to the supermarket. I''ll take you to eat and then buy you a new phone," Chen Fan said to Yunmeng. "Okay!" Yunmeng said embarrassedly. "It''s just that the distance was too close. I had no time to respond." "You can''t be blamed totally. The woman was responsible, too. It''s not an emergency. She should look behind her when she stops, to see if there are any other cars." Chen Fan locked the electric bike, as he attempted to reassure her. "But this matter, I''m afraid that even if the traffic police had come, they would not have been able to talk it out any better than we just did." There were only two places to dine at the supermarket: a pair of western restaurants. Choosing the more luxurious of the two, they walked in together, while Chen Fan found a window seat. From the menu brought by the waiter, Chen Fan ordered his food, which was mostly similar to Chinese fare. He ordered a fruit milkshake for Yunmeng. Foreign wine was also on his mind, as he figured that this was probably the thing that most people ordered when eating western food. So, he turned over the wine list and ordered a cup of the cherry fruit wine made by the restaurant. No matter how well the western food was made, it was still inferior to authentic Chinese cuisine. When the dishes were ready, Chen Fan didn''t even bother to use the knife offered, but just used the fork to poke and eat them. "Gurgling..." Yunmeng saw that he had stabbed a whole steak into his mouth. She was so busy laughing at this sight, she didn''t even take the time to wipe the milkshake mustache off her mouth. "Oh, what is that?" Chen Fan put down his fork and then, turned his face to the window confusedly. "What?" Yunmeng was fooled! Chen Fan took advantage of Yunmeng''s being distracted, secretly dipping a bit of ketchup with his finger, then suddenly putting out his finger to quickly wipe the ketchup on her little nose. "Haha.... haha..." this time was Chen Fan''s turn to cover his belly and laugh wildly. His voice was loud, and the people that were dining near him turned to give him scornful eyes. But when they saw the beauty of Yunmeng, the scornful looks stopped, replaced with stares of envy, jealousy, covetousness and greed. They were so smitten and enamoured by her, that they themselves could only hear the swallowing sound as they chewed and ate. "Ah." Yunmeng was stunned, as only then did she understand that she had been deceived. She lost no time in reverting to a full-on pout. "Haha! Don''t move! I''ll wipe it for you!" Chen Fan picked up the napkin and gently wiped the tomato sauce away. "Such a coincidence, bro, are you accompanying your girlfriend for lunch?" Just then, a man dressed smartly, with polished shoes and neat hair, walked up to the table, fawning over Chen Fan. "And you are...?" Chen Fan raised his head in confusion, and after five seconds of thinking in his head, he suddenly realized the connection. "You are Wei Jie, why have you come here for lunch?" The man with the typical playboy face was the same one he had met on Zhang Xueyang''s birthday. He saw this man trying to win Wu Ruoyu''s heart, and Wu Ruoyu had then taken Chen Fan as a shield. "Yes!" Wei Jie smiled, as he said to the waiter passing by, "Charge the cost of this table to my account." Why would Chen Fan refuse, if someone wanted to pay the bill? After being half-loath and half-consenting, Chen Fan smiled and said, "Thank you!" "Is Chen brother a stranger to me?" Wei Jie was still being foolish and thinking that Chen Fan was Wu Ruoyu''s cousin, so he said obsequiously, "Elder brother, you enjoy your meal, I''ll excuse myself first." When Wei Jie left, Chen Fan began to cover his belly and laugh again. "Imagine! This silly person unexpectedly treating me to a meal?!" "Why is he silly?" Yunmeng''s face was still red, due to her blushing at being called Chen Fan''s ''girlfriend'', and her big glittering eyes looked at Chen Fan curiously. "I can''t explain why in such a short time. Let''s eat quickly and leave him alone." Chen Fan kissed her forehead, then went on with eating the steak. It was not a minute before the meal was interrupted again. This time it was a waiter in white. "This gentleman, the guest of table 23, told me to send a bottle of 2005 Lafite to you." "Ah, haha, put it here!" Chen Fan''s smile was as inscrutable as Wu Peifu. When the waiter was gone, Chen Fan could not even eat anything more. He held the wine glass that was filled by the waiter and took a sip and said, "Silly!" "Brother Chen Fan, do you have any misunderstanding with that person?" Yunmeng pointed to her forehead helplessly, a vexed action which, when made by her, was filled with elegance, so much so that the pedestrians outside the window stopped to look in at her. "It''s not a grudge, but a sense of superiority," he replied. After the meal, Chen Fan smiled villainously, as he took Yunmeng to buy a new mobile phone, then took her to her school. He then made a call to Wang Bing, letting him drive the BMW that he had abandoned in order to transport Yunmeng back and forth from school. ......... The next afternoon, Chen Fan took the electric eel to the sea cave again, prepared to observe the latest situation of the demon standard Taisui. On the second floor of the tower, Chen Fan took the Taisui out of the water, and was surprised to find that the ugly scar, which was the size of the cigarette box, was still there, without a trace of growth. It was obviously not like what the book says: regenerate a piece after eating a piece. "F**K, is it going to die?" Chen Fan''s eyes were full of question marks, as the information said that on the second day, the Taisui would be able to recover. Now, just past one day, it was okay if it had not recovered, but could it be possible that its cells would not even multiply? When he returned it to the water, Chen Fan found that it was not actually dead, because the surface was bubbling from time to time, indicating that it was still breathing. Staring at the glass jar was like staring at a gold bar for half a day. Suddenly, Chen Fan tapped his forehead, chiding himself in his mind: how could he forget about the secret way? Simply put, it''s similar to if one expected three meals a day of just a bowl of rice porridge each could actually raise one''s muscle mass, allowing one to become stronger than dozens of martial arts masters. It just simply isn''t practical. Such strength could only be cultivated by having three meals a day with nutritious, balanced food. "F**k, it is a waste then?" Chen Fan''s eyes were bigger than ox eyes, as his thoughts whirred: eat ginseng, produce ginseng, which was better... if he ate ginseng directly, why go through the process of even breeding a Taisui? Thinking of it this way, Chen Fan could only scratch his head. Finally, he decided to buy some high-grade ginseng, then ground it into a powder and poured it into a glass jar. One reason he chose this route was because the beautiful old Taisui had now turned into an ugly scarface. Another reason was that he was now a person who had property worth tens of billions of RMB, so he didn''t care about the money needed for ginseng purchases. Returning to Zhongyun, Chen Fan drove to the big ginseng stores in the mall to buy some old and wild ginseng. Stores like this one, although they were expensive, at least he didn''t have to worry about buying fakes. However, when Chen Fan walked into the antler store, he realized how ridiculous he was in having the idea to buy the old and wild ginseng. Not because he didn''t have enough money, but because there wasn''t much wild ginseng stocked there. Most of them were, about 95 percent, were planted artificially. The cheapest ones, like a white radish, were only a few hundred RMB per kilo. And on the walls, which were encrusted with glass boxes, was where the wild ginseng was, with only a few dozen grams of ginseng present, that of which was sold at a price of up to thirty thousand dollars! What else could Chen Fan say though? He could only take out his bank card, purchase all of the wild stocks, and move on to the next store. Back and forth, shopping in Zhongyun city for a long time, Chen Fan spent a total of three million, only to come home with a total of 400 grams of authentic wild ginseng. 400 grams, which included those long roots! Feeling unsatisfied, Chen Fan also bought two catty of Cordyceps sinensis and two catty of Lingzhi. Selecting the biggest five ginseng, Chinese caterpillar fungus, a half catty of Ganoderma lucidum, which he kept for his parents to make tea and drink, he then went to buy two small mills, which he would use for grinding traditional Chinese medicine, and finally, two basketball sized glass fish tanks. When he returned to the cave, Chen Fan used Kun Wu to cut the flesh of the size of two walnuts from the body of Taisui. He then ground the ginseng into powder and sprinkled it into the tank. Then, he ground the fungus into powder and sprinkled it into the two tanks. According to the principle, the Taisui should be able to absorb any nutrients, and then slowly grow. Otherwise, this guy wouldn''t survive in the water nor could he grow like sweet potatoes in the soil! To feed medicinal herbs worth millions to the Taisui would seem ridiculous to most. In fact, if someone knew, they would definitely want to slay this idiot with a knife! No matter, though, the experiment must move forward... Cordyceps Sinensis: This thing is just like the Taisui, as the specific gender is unknown. It came from bat moth larvae with the fungal infection, then slowly died, only to bloom again, with the grassroots in his head in spring, and is it a worm or grass? The experimental results showed that Chen Fan''s theory was right. But, he waited until the next day, when the large Taisui part that was cut off had made some progress, revealing some ivory organization growing on it. Even the two small Taisui pieces by the side had also grown! Measured by the electronic scale, the big Taisui had grown two hundred twenty grams, and the small one had grown two hundred and ten grams. Of course this shouldn''t be too surprising, as the monster was ten-thousand-years-old! Hence, its appetite was very astonishing! He could see that the medicinal material in the water had been exhausted, leaving only a faint drug aroma. Originally, it had been a milky white mixture, with golden yellow and dark red liquid, which had turned into clear and transparent colorless liquid. "My god, just kill me, this guy devours everything! Herbs worth millions even, and no real reaction..." Chen Fan was holding his head in pain, and if it had not been for Chen Fan''s strong mental ability, he really might have wanted to boil them with boiling water! After tasting the consequences himself, Chen Fan did not dare to have the idea of using the wild ginseng anymore. He just returned home, after making a call to Yiteng Yun and Yu Lin, letting them buy a large number of the ginseng, as well as the artificial cultivation Ganoderma lucidum. In the case of the cordyceps, it could not be artificially planted, and with the lack of stock in Zhongyun city, he decided it was best just to temporarily stop the experiment. Artificial cultivated Ganoderma lucidum was easy to buy, and in just one day, they each bought more than two hundred catties of inventory. After loading it all in the submarine and sending it to the stone tower, Chen Fan continued to use the machine to grind all the ingredients into powder, then sprinkle it into the tank. What made Chen Fan delighted, was seeing that the artificially planted Ganoderma lucidum''s effect was only five or six times weaker than the wild. Hence, Chen Fan had only had to use about one hundred and fifty catty to make the scars of the Taisui regenerate back to the original look. As for the size of the walnut, which was raised with Lingzhi, it grew into the size of a bowl within three days. But this little Taisui, admittedly made Chen Fan confused. In principle, it absorbed so much of Ganoderma''s nutrient, that its own color should be slowly converted to dark red, similar to the color of Ganoderma. However, it was still milky white, and only by careful observation could it be found that to have turned a bit duller in shade. Thus, Chen Fan deliberately cut the size of a piece of bubble gum from it, and fed it to the electric eel. And the results? The performance of the electric eel after eating it, only made Chen Fan more confused! This Taisui that was fed using the Ganoderma ended up being no different from that big one! The electric eel''s energy increased the same exact amount, and its electricity increased drastically too. To know the utility of Ganoderma, it is usually a recessive element, so only long-term use can be manifested, which is quite unlike ginseng, which could be effective immediately. Hence, Ganoderma is not like a stimulant that can quickly improve the vitality and endurance of the body. At the end of the day, the scientist is left to ponder all he has experimented, thinking: Is the Taisui the universal alchemy furnace, whereby even putting a few catty of organic fertilizer inside, it can also transform and divide nutrition into ginseng?! 186 Revisiting the Old Haun Element transformation. The concept is easy to understand, as almost all animals and plants have this function. One example is when the cereal grains eaten by humans are converted into muscle and bone. Most of this transformation is specific and unchangeable, but the Taisui in front of Chen Fan was clearly not exactly the same. To test his conjecture, Chen Fan returned to Zhongyun and asked both Yiteng Yun and Yu Lin to purchase a large number of artificially planted ginseng, Ganoderma lucidum, and Lycium Chinensis berries. Although Lycium Chinensis berries were cheap and nutritious, their real benefit was that their color was bright red, which made them very easy to observe. After collecting the medicinal materials, Chen Fan cut a piece off of the body of the Taisui, then used a juicer to juice the Chinese wolfberry to cultivate it. As for the cut piece, which had now rown to the size of a bowl, it was still cultivated with Ganoderma lucidum. This Taisui ''s growth ability was astonishing, and as long as the nutrients in the water were sufficient, it could grow from the bowl size to develop into a basketball size in only five days. And add to that the nutrient absorption, and the size was like a human after undergoing puberty, when it then did not have any change anymore thereafter. This particular one had been bred with Ganoderma lucidum, making its appearance much darker and greyish. After cutting a piece of Taisui for the electric eel, it was found that the ginseng composition in the Taisui was significantly reduced. And in regards to that Taisui that had been using Chinese wolfberry in its cultivation, even after cutting six pieces, the part that had grown still had no changes. Thus, the electric eel felt as refreshed and energetic as it had before, even after consuming it. This result likely proves that the Taisui, which had already grown and been shaped, would not likely be disturbed by external nutrients nor change its own tissue elements. On the other hand, the growing Taisui would be affected, but only a little, by the surrounding elements. Experiment progress! Continue the experiment! Chen Fan cut a piece of tissue about the size of a yellow bean out of its body. He put it into a glass jar, then cultured it with Lycium Chinensis juice at 100 percent concentration. Two days later, the Taisui had grown to the size of a walnut and its skin was pink. A week later, it had grown to the size of a basketball and its surface was bright red, similar to a Lycium Chinensis berry that has been magnified many times. Continuing on, he found that cutting off a large piece, then letting the electric eel taste it, did not produce any exciting effects to speak of. After awhile, he stopped juicing the Lycium Chinensis, and switched to ginseng cultivation. For seven days, it consumed more than one hundred catty of ginseng, and its appearance did not change. It was still red, but just the liver, and its sight, however, was encouragingly strengthened. If Chen Fan suddenly thought of a good idea, and could no longer control his emotions, as he covered his stomach and laughed. The electric eels could rely on venomous sacs in their abdominal cavities to secrete venoms that could burn. So, what if. the Taisui could live inside such sacs, then what if you grew them in soy size tissue, then, when it''s big enough, like a basketball, would it then become a super bomb? Haha! If anyone irritates him, he could then just spit out the Taisui from his mouth and detonate him at high voltage! Chen Fan continued his fantasizing: Leaving a few long formed venom Taisui, with a lot of nutrients to cultivate all the time, would the explosion power then increase from time to time? Chen Fan figured finally that, if he was not satisfied with results, he could always ask the shipyard to cast some iron cases to seal it inside, so that its power could then be increased by about five times. As the thought of these things, Chen Fan immediately controlled the electric eel to squeeze the venom from its poison sac into two large water storage bags, then cut a bean-sized piece of tissue from the ginseng Taisui. Looking at the green poison in front of him, Chen Fan was not sure in his heart that the poison was no more than ginseng and wolfberry mixed together, or if the human would die immediately after drinking it. It was also not known if the Taisui could even absorb the material in order to survive. But when it came to the second day, Chen Fan found himself somewhat underestimating the power of the goblin class Taisui. The clear green poison in the vitreous crock had already become a puddle of clear water, and besides some stickiness, it had no green pigment at all. Three days later, the milky color of the Taisui had faded into a pale green. Chen Fan cut a piece with his dagger and threw it into the water. Bang! There was a dull thud, and the inside and outside of the area were momentarily scorched by the high voltage of electricity. Suddenly, there was a flash of fire. The water pressure here was only about seven atmospheres, so it wasn''t a chamber pressure reaction at all. Hence, he knew it could only could burn and not explode. Experiments had shown that Chen Fan''s plan was feasible, requiring only a dozen or so venom-Taisui to be grown. This was a success that would then let them stop consuming the venom and replace them with other nutrients. "Since even the venom can be bred!" Lying on the stone bed, Chen Fan suddenly thought of this very crucial, very crucial element. The electric eel was now maturing, and the normal effects of stimulating the pituitary gland were worse than ever. If you wanted to strengthen the electric eels, you''d have to go to the Tonga trench and catch a lot of ghost hair incense. But no matter how big the cave was, it wouldn''t be able to hold the electric eel''s unlimited devouring capacity! So, isn''t the Taisui the perfect key to solving this dilemma?! As long as a certain amount of ghost hair incense was collected back, after the air dried it, and the machine was used to grind it into powder, it could then be used to cultivate more than a dozen Taisui. So, wouldn''t that mean that the electric eel would be able to take ghost month incense often? Thinking this way, if the harvest was abundant, he could directly cultivate more than 20 Taisui, which could gather a basketball-sized amount of ghost moon incense, on average, each day ... "Damn wonderful, I am literally Zhuge Wolong in this era!" Chen Fan was too excited, as he now realized that the electric eels could release 39,000 volts! If he could raise the voltage to 100,000 volts, the electric eels could then have a true long-distance weapon on land. As long as the target was not more than 50 meters away, the voltage could break through the air and hit the target. It could also see far into the distance and send dazzling lightning into the air. The Tonga trench was more than 4,700 miles from the Zhongyun, and the electric eel would be able to reach it in a day. Having reached his success, Chen Fan was now idle, so there was a lot of time to go there to catch the ghost hair jellyfish! ............ "Hi, Jiang Shui? Help me prepare a large anchor chain of a hundred meters long, and bring it to the dock now!" Sitting in the car, Chen Fan dialed the phone number of Jiang Shui. Chen Fan had underestimated the length of the tentacles on his last trip, when he went to capture the ghost hair jellyfish. So, this time he planned to use his chain to deal with them more efficiently. With the anchor chain tied to the front of the spear, he would be undefeatable! The chain was a necessity for a shipyard, and they could get it directly from the warehouse. The only thing that needed to be done was to cut off the chain. Two hours later, roaring engines were heard coming to the dock, as they used the crane to take the anchor chain off the motorboat. "I wonder how many ghost hair jellyfish are left in that cave?" Chen Fan, who controlled the electric eel, was wrapping it around his spear, before he swam to the Tonga trench in the South Pacific. Whoosh! At the sound of the earth approaching, the electric eel, which had swum for more than ten miles, shot back again, because there was no container for storing its poison capsules... The next day, at 6 p.m., in the Tonga trench in the south-central Pacific Ocean. On Chen Fan''s last visit, the electric eels used to be able to survive in up to three kilometers of water pressure for an hour, but now it could withstand five kilometers of water pressure. Returning to the old place, there was always such a nostalgic feeling in his heart. But Chen Fan was not good at adopting a sentimental pose, so he l just said this sentence: "Whereas memory has gone, then come back again, we once again set foot on the darkness of the ocean, so will the past frustrations reappear?" After finishing the lovely quote, he dove into the channel. After more than an hour of searching and touching the cave at 3,200 meters, the electric eel took a deep breath, then surged forth the voltage to 39,000 volts suddenly. Boom! A bright blue light spread like a virus, and a large white fish that was foraging for food at 500 meters, was transported post-haste to hell, without even being able to move. At a detection distance of two kilometers, Chen Fan found that there were no strange objects in the cave. "Cold!" "Huge!" These were the first two pieces of information the electric eel got when they entered the cave. The water outside was around about zero degrees Celsius, and inside was three degrees below that. As for the inner structure of the cave, the electric eel could see the dome more than three hundred meters high above its head, and he could only see the sea water all around. The electric eel now had very good eyesight, so it need not release electromagnetic induction, as it had before, in order to detect around. The last time they crouched in a cave, the electric eel found three creatures: a ghostly jellyfish, a scorpion fish with a slender tail, and a big blue fish with long horns on its head. The other two Chen Fan were not interested, as he just came looking for the ghost hair jellyfish. Speak of the devil, there it came... When Chen Fan was just about to control the electric eel to swim in order to explore how deep the cave was, an umbrella body of 15 meters wide, with seventy meters of long-sized tentacles appeared. It was the ghost hair jellyfish, moving in a shrinking motion, swimming towards the exit. "Ha!" the electric eel shot forward nearly 200 meters, then, with the spear in its front claws, swung. The anchor of the ship with a long chain blew to the umbrella body of the jellyfish, like a medusa! Splash! A light sound rang out, and just when the ghost hair jellyfish wanted to struggle, a blue lightning immediately followed. Of course, in order to prevent the high voltage from damaging the poison capsules in the jellyfish, the electric eel could only release 9,000 volts at that time. Twenty seconds later, the ghost hair jellyfish, which had been pierced by a ship''s anchor, froze and went to hell. Pulling it back to the shallow water, at a depth of 800 meters, the electric eel took out the capsule, which was nearly a meter in diameter, and hid it. Half an hour later, when the electric eel returned to the shallow water again, it saw that, on the long chain anchors, hung an 18-meter ghost hair jellyfish umbrella body! 187 It Is Very Puzzling The ability to harvest two ghost hair jellyfish in an hour was simply unimaginable before. Of course, this was partly due to the chain factor and the surge in voltage. Once again in the icy caverns of the sea, the electric eel, like the king of the sea, was ready to use its weapon to strengthen his majesty. In the distance, five hundred meters ahead, a scorpion fish, 15 meters long, with a straight red line on its back, was stuck to a slightly smaller scorpion fish. The organ in its abdomen was surging continuously. In the long evolution of nature''s survival of the fittest, in order to perpetuate the race, the prelude of the progeny would be played out, adjusting itself via a very interesting activity. The idea of this whole premise was to attract most of the mature creatures to reproduce. And, year after year, all signs showed that they were happy to, and not exhausted by, doing so. In science reproduction, it''s totally different from a mere human pervert. Rather, it''s centered scientifically around the genetic quirks of nature that are imprinted on biology. Let''s just imagine that, if the prelude of the progeny is very boring, then there is a possibility of 99 percent of the reproductive species becoming extinct. So, when the electric eel had moved to their side two hundred meters, the two scorpion fish were still there sticking to each other, oblivious to the catastrophe. Boom... The electric eel, with a smile, at a voltage of up to eight kilovolts, was swept over 500 meters in a fraction of a second. With a boom, the two scorpion fish were like they had just had a spasmodic acupuncture session, as the muscles of their bodies were endlessly shaking. We can think about the scene in our heads, imagining that, when two people are doing this kind of thing, and they then suddenly feel someone shooting them with a stun gun. The electric eel, without any guilt of disturbing their business, swam past the two scorpion fish on route to finding the trail of the ghost hair jellyfish. Luckily, it is easier to find a creature in a cave than in the ocean, and seven hours later, the electric eel had caught 18 of the ghost hair jellyfish. One of the largest caught, had an umbrella body that spanned twenty-three meters, the smallest one was nine meters. When Chen Fan found the cave, he was full of curiosity about it. It supposedly produced so many poisonous creatures, that he knew there must be something special in the cave. The strange poisonous creatures in the cave were just like the "pearl of the night" fish in the mountains of Zhongyun city, which only existed in the one deep pool in the whole mountain, maybe even the whole world. Later, when the provincial investigation team came to study these fish, they said that the main reason they were there was that the bottom of the deep pool had a large amount of halogen phosphate ore. Now, there was nothing special about this cave, but he knew it was seven kilometers wide and deep, and that there was a large number of small fish without eyes that eat microbes present in it. The deeper the water, the more the fish gathered, but the electric eel had not yet been able to reach the bottom of the sea, which was at a depth of six kilometers. Twenty ghost jellyfish was the amount that Chen Fan felt should be enough to produce a few Taisui, and with almost all the big guys in the caves already killed, he had to let out a sigh, admit momentary defeat, and bring the poison sacs back to Zhongyun. The ghost hair jellyfish that were piled into the small mountain, Chen Fan decided to just take them all to the caves of the reef, all the while ready to use the solar lamps and power fans to complete the drying process. Obviously, the amount of electricity consumed by so many toxic capsules was a huge amount. Also to consider was the fact that the batteries in the tower were connected to the power supply, which was not enough for one day''s consumption. Still, the electric eel couldn''t go around for 24 hours to charge the battery pack, so Chen Fan had to buy two (200-880kw) Cummins diesel generators. Although the interior space of the cave was enormous, the algae in the lake released enough oxygen for survival. Hence, Chen Fan thought that temporarily transiting the two diesel engines there should not have much of a negative impact on the environment. After he installed more than a dozen powerful lights and electric fans, Chen Fan wrapped the scattered dollar in plastic film slowly, letting the electric eel swim back to the dock, then putting them in the 30 meters long "submarine". The banknotes given by the French man were all old banknotes. Chen Fan randomly downloaded dozens of photos of foreigners from the Internet, then found a fake certificate dealer to make identification certificates for sixty different countries. Anyone that was a little observant could tell they were fake. After equipping the vessel with big sunglasses, big hats and high collars, he used the electric eels to take him to Lianyun harbor, Tianhai, Ningbo and so on. He went to these coastal cities and registered 60 offshore accounts via the Virgin Islands. Identification was not necessary to register an offshore company before, but in recent years, International banks had started to register their accounts with the offshore companies, so they now needed a "corporate architecture certificate", which was provided by the Virgin Islands. The Virgin Islands turned a blind eye, as long as they those applying didn''t have the wrong format certificate. Although it sounds ridiculous, it is indeed a real thing. If you don''t have these hidden identity conveniences provided by the government, no one would be idiotic enough to attempt to go to a country where you had to take a magnifying glass to find it on the map, at least not to register a company. In fact, without these offshore companies, the small governments would have to drink porridge every day and watch black and white television! The accounts he opened were all through the Swiss international bank. Chen Fan, just to be safe, saved cash in the local branch of Switzerland, and in the Marshall, Seychelles and Virgin Islands, etc., as these places relied mainly on offshore company''s taxes for their economies. After six or seven days, all the steps were completed, and Chen Fan played the transfer game on the computer. His previous accounts had a minimum deposit of $10,000 each, which he did not write off. Calculated at the current 60, there were many accounts to undertake irregular transfers. "Damn, I''m tired!" Chen Fan exclaimed, doubled over on the computer table. Dozens of electronic keys, according to the number, repeated: unplug, plug, unplug, plug, the brain is about to blow up... ...... After several days of hard work, Chen Fan got up lazily after having slept since the previous afternoon. Today, Ma Rongtao''s daughter had celebrated her birthday and invited her classmates for dinner, so Yunmeng left Chen Fan at home. "Hello, delivery service?" Chen Fan rubbed his hungry belly and dialed the number of a fast-food restaurant nearby. "Sorry Sir, but today the boss and his family went back to their hometown, and they will only come back tomorrow. So... " "Oh, I see!" He hung up the phone and dialed Wu Ruoyu''s phone, to see if she would go to her little cousin''s birthday at noon. If not, he thought that he would go to her house for a meal. Unfortunately, it seemed that everyone had deserted him today, as even though the phone rang for a long time, nobody answered. Shaking his head, Chen Fan simply put his hands in his pockets and went out to the restaurant in front of the garden. Before he had gone two steps, Chen Fan''s eyes lit up. He then took two steps toward a young girl in a brown coat, blocking her way. The beauty of this teenage girl had the ability to make adolescent males directly transform into a "god beast", as even her sullen cheeks seemed to be so soothing. "Hey, I don''t have a meal planned for lunch today. Why don''t I come over to your place?" Chen Fan smiled and stared at her cheek. "Too late, I have already eaten, so you go to the cafeteria to eat!" Wu Ruoyu said in a bad manner. "In a bad mood? Tell me what happened." Chen Fan reeled in his groping mode and stroked his chin. "Who is angry with you? How dare anyone be angry with boss Chen?" She stamped her foot and gave him a push, "Get out of the way, I want to go home!" "Is it your menstruation time?" Chen Fan was a little confused, as he did not stand her up recently! Why didn''t she pick up the call just now, and why was she in such a bad mood? He asked, "Who made you angry?" "Of course you, heartless bastard!" Wu Ruoyu threw a glare at Chen Fan, who was blocking her as she tried to go. Giving up, she just turned around and went back. "Hey, even when the ancient emperor wants to chop off a head, he still needs to find a suitable excuse!" Chen Fan came up to her and said, then asked, "Since when am I heartless? At least let me know the reason!" Wu Ruoyu was frowning and speechless, she walked back and forth. "Damn, you make me really confused..." Chen Fan came up again, with a shy face. Yet Wu Ruoyu still ignored him! The relationship between men and women is a very large subject, which can extend to many branches. There are all kinds of rules, even if you are old, many of which you may not be able to understand. In general, such as with Chen Fan and Wu Ruoyu, who had no physical relationship, it is not easy to ease bad feelings, unlike couples that have had a physical relationship, who only need to be shameless and hug, or have comfortable sex to make up. It was these types annoying contradictions that immediately set someone off. Therefore, Chen Fan, who was originally in good mood, was now feeling underserved. "Then I''ll go!" Chen Fan''s expression suddenly became cold, as he dropped this sentence and lifted his foot and left with no hesitation at all. He was just inexplicably angered, and couldn''t bear it, unable to soothe his girlfriend. "Woman... [inexplicable], is definitely the word used to describe you all!" Sitting in the dining room, Chen Fan, looked out the window of passers-by, shaking his head. Ring... Just then, the phone in his pocket began to ring, interrupting. He took out his phone to see that, unexpectedly, it was Wu Ruoyu''s number... "Shit, sure inexplicable enough!" Chen Fan''s brain was not able to respond for a while. He had planned to ask her out in two days. Only twenty minutes had passed, and she had called. With a snort, Chen Fan finally felt a little proud. "Where are you?" The voice of Wu Ruoyu was low and sour. "In heaven!" Chen Fan answered in a bad mood still. "What is your relationship with Yunmeng? Yesterday afternoon, I saw both of you in the yard playing with Xiao Xue, and you kissed her... " The voice of Wu Ruoyu was very jealous, and the sourness in her tone was enough to make people lose their teeth. Chapter 187 The Howls from the Bottom of the Cliff Chen Fan gaped, as he stood transfixed on the ground, the phone in his hands. The saliva in his mouth gradually dried up. "It''s ruined!" He obviously knew the reason why Wu Rouyu had flipped out. He was going around in circles in his head. Chen Fan pretended like he was a little unhappy, then he said, "Can''t you see that we have nothing going on?" "I cannot see it at all! I can''t believe that you could resist the urge and do nothing, when such a beautiful girl is staying at your house," said Wu Ruoyu bitterly. "Plus, what kind of brother are you? You immediately kissed her on the cheek, when you caught her in your arms. I bet you even had other nasty ideas in your head!" "You''re driving me crazy. Can you stop acting as if you can''t see the forests for the trees?" "What What" Wu Ruoyu was stunned. His statement obviously meant that he thought that she was merely focused on the minor details, while neglecting the major issues! "All I know is that your plot is an open secret!" Wu Ruoyu clenched her jaw on the other end of the phone line, as she spit out the words. "Take it as you like. I''m going to eat!" Chen Fan''s head was a mess. He did not even have the courage to address the issue directly. "Where are you? I want to go, too!" she demanded to know. "The food has already been served. I''ll look for you, once I''m done with my meal," said Chen Fan, while he gestured for the waiter to leave the dishes on the table. Wouldn''t it be disastrous to invite her to join me for a meal? I should really take this opportunity to figure out a solution, so that I can be done with this matter as soon as possible! He had only taken a few bites of the rice, before all of the dishes in front of him had already turned cold. Chen Fan then stood up and paid the bill. "Hey, is this Jiang Shui? Give me a call in 20 minutes. Just say that there is an emergency that I have to attend to immediately," said Chen Fan on the phone, while making his way home. "Alright, boss. I''ll definitely get the job done!" As an ambitious and noble man, who had long left his old vulgar habits behind, he should have the confidence to guide his girlfriend or wife. However, looking at the current situation, Chen Fan believed that he had no other option but to simply avoid the problem altogether. He returned to the housing estate after about five minutes. Meanwhile, Wu Ruoyu sat on the bench under the Chinese parasol tree, looking depressed. Upon seeing Chen Fan, she did not even greet him with her usual gentle gaze, like a girlfriend should. After opening the front door of his house, the two of them entered, then sat down on the sofa. Chen Fan nudged her with his arm, asking, "Can you put yourself in a better mood, please?" "Don''t you dare try to change the topic. Let me ask you, between Yun Meng and me, who do you actually like better? I will not allow you to have two girlfriends at the same time!" Wu Ruoyu''s dark-colored jacket really brought out the reddish hue of her fair skin. She glared at him, then averted her gaze immediately. Unfortunately, her action, which was supposed to be a sign of protest, looked more like she was making eyes at him instead, especially since she was such a beautiful maiden! Dang! I should have told Jiang Shui to call me after only 10 minutes! Although Chen Fan did feel remorseful, he still stubbornly said, "This isn''t an issue about who I like better, as these are two completely unrelated events, yet you insist on comparing apples to oranges! No doubt, I did kiss her on the cheek, but that does not mean that we have something going on between us! This is just a harmless act of affection, okay? Look at foreigners! They hug and kiss each other on the cheek in greetings all the time!" Wu Ruoyu understood his intentions. At that very moment, her heart was filled with anger. This fellow was beating around the bush. If there was nothing fishy going on, why would he avoid the question, instead of addressing it more directly? Wu Ruoyu started to speak, clenching her jaw. "This is China. Only couples or little children and their parents will kiss each other on the cheeks. Siblings would never do that." Hearing this, Chen Fan quickly pecked her on the cheek. "What are you doing?" Wu Ruoyu cupped her cheek, the anger glowing on her beautiful face. "Tell me, what are we?" Chen Fan sat up straight, then waited for five seconds. Upon realizing that she was not going to say a single word in reply, he then said, "We are in a relationship, right? What is the most important thing in a relationship? It is trust! We need to trust each other!" Chen Fan waved his hands, as he further emphasized his statement. "A person''s cognitive structure will obtain different results, when it is placed in different environments. For instance, you have always subconsciously suspected that there is something going on between Yun Meng and me. As such, I''m afraid that you will always come up with some irrational and erroneous judgment, were we to have any form of physical touch, even simple eye contact!" Chen Fan continued, speaking aggressively. "Allow me to draw an analogy.I feel like a person, who is being mistaken for a thief by the neighbors. Even if I were to buy a new shirt myself, the neighbors would still think that I had stolen this shirt. Even if I were to show them my receipt to prove my innocence, some people would still choose to not believe me. This is due to the fact that they might question that the receipt had been long placed inside the bag by the real owner?" Wu Ruoyu stared at Chen Fan, open-mouthed. She looked as if she was staring at an alien. Although she knew deep inside that these words were exaggerated by rhetoric, she could not compose her thoughts in time to refute him. "Ding Ling Ling Ding Ling Ling" Chen Fan''s phone ringtone broke the silence. "Hey, what''s up?" Chen Fan answered the incoming call with a straight face. "Boss, can you come over now? Mr Zhang from Tian Hai City just got off of the plane. He will arrive at our company in about 40 minutes" Jiang Shui''s voice was deafening. "Got it," responded Chen Fan in a muffled voice. He hung up the phone and turned around, then said to Wu Ruoyu, "Something came up with the company. I have to stop by there for a while." After 40 minutes, Chen Fan''s Ship Manufacturing Yard. 30 nautical miles to the north. Chen Fan still couldn''t figure out if he was in control of one or two ships. Marriage is an extremely significant event in one''s life. Evidently, one must be tremendously cautious about it, though, so perhaps the more candidates the better! Chen Fan sighed, then got up from the stone bed. He figured that the cart will always find a way around the hill when it gets there, and if there was no way to go, he would just buy some explosives to excavate a road! Recently, Chen Fan had ample time to kill. He was prepared to rack his brain over the ghost moon incense. As long as he was able to complete this arduous task, the electric eel would be able to grow even stronger. If this strength enhancement had no limitations, the electric eel would be able to boost its voltage up to a million volts. When the time came, not only would they be able to commit murder and arson, but an attack, which consisted of a continuous chain of lightning from miles away, could also be undertaken! The immense heat from the attack, which could reach up to a million degrees fahrenheit, would then be able to melt any metal objects into molten metal, all in a matter of mere seconds! In preparation for that time, the poisonous sacs of the ghost hair jellyfish had been grilled and air-dried for a week. The sacs, which were initially the size of a little hill, had already shrunk to the size of a Chery QQ3. The slight fragrance, which was emitted by the sacs, had the electric eel drooling enthusiastically. Under the grilling of the high-power artificial sunlight lamp, the poisonous sacs dried speedily. When Chen Fan was going to hit the sack at about 10 that evening, the electric eel, which was guarding the lake nearby, had evidently noticed that the sacs had further shrunk in size. Thus, the scent had become even stronger now. "Ang!" ... Suddenly, a bask of suchosaurus started emerging from the lake. The suchosaurus encircled the electric eel in an arc. They couldn''t stop howling. "Are they out of their minds? Could it be that they are going to have a mating fest?" Upon hearing the sounds, Chen Fan shifted his conscious into the electric eel. He was baffled by the scene in front of his eyes. This bask of suchosaurus, which were arranged from the largest to the smallest in size, were always being beaten up by the electric eel. Not only would they not go any closer to the shore towards the direction of the stone tower, but they also did not have even the courage to glance at it! They only dared to move around the empty land on the other side of the bank, which was separated by a cliff. At the moment, they had actually gathered together, howling non-stop at the direction of the stone tower. Could it be that After staring blankly at the scene for five minutes, Chen Fan suddenly understood what was going on. The bask of suchosaurus was probably attracted by the scent of the ghost moon incense! Just like the sea snake, which had snatched the food from the electric eel''s jaws, their brains subconsciously expressed the strong desire to devour the ghost moon incense. I guess you guys are all lobsters, as all of your skulls are filled with faeces! The ruler''s dignity was greatly provoked. This was simply atrocious! The electric eel raised its head. After letting out a howl, it immediately transformed into a sharp sword, then dashed toward the suchosaurus at a speed of 50 meters per second. "Ang Ang Ang" The electric eel fought its way toward them. The terrifying memories, which were deeply ingrained in the minds of the suchosaurus, suddenly became magnified. They started to whimper and scramble around. "Too late!" Chen Fan couldn''t just stand at the sidelines. He clenched his jaw, determined to beat the suchosaurus to the point that they couldn''t even move for days! After three hours, Chen Fan''s dreams came true. None of the suchosaurus could move at all. Instead, they just floated on the water, their bellies up. It was a tragic scene. "Howl" The electric eel raised its long upper torso. It opened its mouth and spurted out some venom, which was stored in its belly. Before the venom could sputter more than five meters away, a long bang could be heard, as it transformed into a flaming blaze. After basking in its grace and glory...came sleep! .. The scent of daybreak was like the fragrance from a young maiden''s mouth. One could not help but take two extra breaths of it. The thin mist shrouded the place like a gauzy robe, creating a hazy view. At the side of the lake, which was situated right at the middle of the Polan District, a black and white figure sat on a bench. The two of them silently stared at the water. "Why would you call me out so early in the morning?" said Chen Fan faintly, as he crossed his legs. He was a little annoyed. Wu Ruoyu''s phone call had woken him up! "I couldn''t sleep" Wu Ruoyu massaged her forehead, speaking gently. "I''m not going to look into yesterday''s problem anymore. However, I still think your relationship with Yun Meng is a little iffy." "There is essentially nothing wrong with the world. If there is any sort of trouble, it''s because some foolish people have looked for it." Chen Fan casually broke a twig from the branch beside him, then started chewing it a bit. He babbled on. "You must change this erroneous mindset of yours. You should portray me as more of a paragon of conventional Chinese virtues in the depths of your heart. As such, all of your worries will then naturally vanish." "Pffsh" Wu Ruoyu burst out laughing. She had to cough a few times to calm herself down. "Are you trying to imply that I should hypnotize myself, or that all I''ve seen and heard was merely an illusion?" "No! I''m just basically saying that there must be some form of mutual trust between a couple," he retorted. "Sometimes, I feel like you will never believe me." Chen Fan lay lazily back on the bench, then continued. "When the time comes, other ridiculous ideas will inevitably pop up in your head. You will even suspect that the cold in the deep mid-winter has frozen my body to the point that my blood vessels render my manhood incapable of doing its proper job!" "You!" They had not yet experienced any form of physical intimacy as a couple. Thus, it might be a little uncomfortable for them to freely discuss about such a vulgar topic! Hence, Wu Ruoyu, who was already blushing, extended her hand and pinched his waist as hard as she could. "Let me pinch you, too!" Chen Fan shamelessly put his arms around her slim waist. "No Sss Ah" Wu Ruo Yu was about to push him aside, but she drew in an icy cold breath instead. She felt her hair standing on end. This was because Chen Fan suddenly put his hand underneath her shirt, then placed it right on her lower abdomen. One must be aware of the fact that it was currently during the January thaw, and the temperature outside was freezing! So, the feeling of his icy cold hand on her warm skin sent shivers down her spine. "Hehe" After realizing that something was off, Chen Fan quickly took his hand out from her shirt, then hugged her gently in his arms. "Let me go. I''m still mad!" Wu Ruoyu struggled like a kitten. She would not allow Chen Fan to have his way. Chen Fan put his icy cold palms into his overcoat to warm them up. He then said, "You will have to stop being mad sooner or later. Nobody can stay mad forever, right? Since your anger will subside anyways, why don''t you let it melt away a little quicker?" After his hands were a little bit warmer than before, he put his hands underneath Wu Ruoyu''s shirt again. The whole sky looked misty, a scene further exacerbated by the heavy mist on the lake. Thus, Chen Fan was not afraid that his roguish acts would be discovered by anyone else. "It''s freezing!" Wu Ruoyu grabbed his palms. The warmth and comfort of touching a woman''s skin in the cold winter was indescribable. Plus, the curvature of her waist was beautiful and supple. It was exactly like how it was described in books. He could not resist his heart''s desire, as Chen Fan slipped his hand a little higher, stopping when it reached her chest. "Are you still mad?" Chen Fan stared at her closely, his eyes giving off a sly glint. Wu Ruo Yu definitely did not had the guts to tell him no. She blushed and immediately avoided his gaze. "Shall we go home?" he suggested. The burning desire in his chest was ignited. All he wanted to do was to carry her to the bed and make love with her. "No way! I must head to work soon!" Wu Ruoyu used all of her might to spit those words out from her mouth. She was no longer a child, so she knew exactly what was on Chen Fan''s mind. "Hehe" Chen Fan licked his chapped lips. Their relationship had progressed to such a stage that, if he were to invite her out one night, she would probably not reject him. "Sasa, you have such big boobs!" Wu Ruoyu blushed even harder after hearing his statement! She reached out to push his arms away. However, her energy had completely depleted to the depths of the core, so Chen Fan''s arms did not even budge. He kept teasing and groping her, as if he was playing an instrument. After a while, Wu Ruoyu was no longer able to push his arms away. She bit her index finger with her pearl white teeth, trying to stop herself from making a sound. Time flies when one is spending time with a beautiful woman. The sun lit up the dim sky in the blink of an eye. The gentle breeze blew across the land. The cool misty air blew on their faces. "I''m going to work!" Wu Ruoyu ran home, as if she was intoxicated. Meanwhile, Chen Fan laughed, as he smelled her lingering fragrance on his fingertips. Just like a general, who had just returned home in triumph, he stepped into the house, looking like the cat that ate the canary. Now, he was prepared to catch up on sleep! He had been battling the suchosaurus till one in the morning yesterday, so he was definitely in need of some sleep. After Chen Fan touched his pillow again, he fell into a deep sleep in a matter of minutes. "Ang!" All of a sudden, a thunderous, earth-shattering howl was heard, coming from the underground cave in the middle of the reefs. It awakened the electric eel, who had been fast asleep. It almost jumped out from the water and landed itself on the shore, as it was completely frightened by it. "Which dingus is shrieking at this hour?" Chen Fan opened his eyes abruptly. The suchosaurus would never be able to let out such haunting howls. "Ang!" Five minutes later, thunderous rumbles could be heard once again. Chen Fan finally pinpointed the sound. It was actually being emitted from the "thing" in the lake. In other words, it came from the direction of the cliff, which traversed across the cave. Not only was the electric eel afraid of the howls, the suchosaurus were also frightened out of their wits. Their heads, which slightly appeared on the surface of the water, disappeared in a matter of seconds. They then immediately retreated into the water, just like cowards! "Dang! It can''t be the white unknown creature, right?" Chen Fan suddenly recalled the string of white scales that flashed in front of his eyes in the waters right under the cliff. Chen Fan did not know what it was at that time. However, he was certain that it was not small in size, at least based on its terrifying howls. He was afraid that his initial estimation had been rather conservative. "Kill it. It must have smelled the scent of the ghost moon incense. I bet it wants to have a taste of it now." Chen Fan suddenly felt goosebumps all over his skin. He then controlled the electric eel, causing it to grab the longspear and swim toward the lake. Regardless of whether it was a snake or a polysemous aquatic dragon, he figured that it must be dead! 188 The Howls from the Bottom of the Cliff Chen Fan gaped, as he stood transfixed on the ground, the phone in his hands. The saliva in his mouth gradually dried up. "It''s ruined!" He obviously knew the reason why Wu Rouyu had flipped out. He was going around in circles in his head. Chen Fan pretended like he was a little unhappy, then he said, "Can''t you see that we have nothing going on?" "I cannot see it at all! I can''t believe that you could resist the urge and do nothing, when such a beautiful girl is staying at your house," said Wu Ruoyu bitterly. "Plus, what kind of brother are you? You immediately kissed her on the cheek, when you caught her in your arms. I bet you even had other nasty ideas in your head!" "You''re driving me crazy. Can you stop acting as if you can''t see the forests for the trees?" "What What" Wu Ruoyu was stunned. His statement obviously meant that he thought that she was merely focused on the minor details, while neglecting the major issues! "All I know is that your plot is an open secret!" Wu Ruoyu clenched her jaw on the other end of the phone line, as she spit out the words. "Take it as you like. I''m going to eat!" Chen Fan''s head was a mess. He did not even have the courage to address the issue directly. "Where are you? I want to go, too!" she demanded to know. "The food has already been served. I''ll look for you, once I''m done with my meal," said Chen Fan, while he gestured for the waiter to leave the dishes on the table. Wouldn''t it be disastrous to invite her to join me for a meal? I should really take this opportunity to figure out a solution, so that I can be done with this matter as soon as possible! He had only taken a few bites of the rice, before all of the dishes in front of him had already turned cold. Chen Fan then stood up and paid the bill. "Hey, is this Jiang Shui? Give me a call in 20 minutes. Just say that there is an emergency that I have to attend to immediately," said Chen Fan on the phone, while making his way home. "Alright, boss. I''ll definitely get the job done!" As an ambitious and noble man, who had long left his old vulgar habits behind, he should have the confidence to guide his girlfriend or wife. However, looking at the current situation, Chen Fan believed that he had no other option but to simply avoid the problem altogether. He returned to the housing estate after about five minutes. Meanwhile, Wu Ruoyu sat on the bench under the Chinese parasol tree, looking depressed. Upon seeing Chen Fan, she did not even greet him with her usual gentle gaze, like a girlfriend should. After opening the front door of his house, the two of them entered, then sat down on the sofa. Chen Fan nudged her with his arm, asking, "Can you put yourself in a better mood, please?" "Don''t you dare try to change the topic. Let me ask you, between Yun Meng and me, who do you actually like better? I will not allow you to have two girlfriends at the same time!" Wu Ruoyu''s dark-colored jacket really brought out the reddish hue of her fair skin. She glared at him, then averted her gaze immediately. Unfortunately, her action, which was supposed to be a sign of protest, looked more like she was making eyes at him instead, especially since she was such a beautiful maiden! Dang! I should have told Jiang Shui to call me after only 10 minutes! Although Chen Fan did feel remorseful, he still stubbornly said, "This isn''t an issue about who I like better, as these are two completely unrelated events, yet you insist on comparing apples to oranges! No doubt, I did kiss her on the cheek, but that does not mean that we have something going on between us! This is just a harmless act of affection, okay? Look at foreigners! They hug and kiss each other on the cheek in greetings all the time!" Wu Ruoyu understood his intentions. At that very moment, her heart was filled with anger. This fellow was beating around the bush. If there was nothing fishy going on, why would he avoid the question, instead of addressing it more directly? Wu Ruoyu started to speak, clenching her jaw. "This is China. Only couples or little children and their parents will kiss each other on the cheeks. Siblings would never do that." Hearing this, Chen Fan quickly pecked her on the cheek. "What are you doing?" Wu Ruoyu cupped her cheek, the anger glowing on her beautiful face. "Tell me, what are we?" Chen Fan sat up straight, then waited for five seconds. Upon realizing that she was not going to say a single word in reply, he then said, "We are in a relationship, right? What is the most important thing in a relationship? It is trust! We need to trust each other!" Chen Fan waved his hands, as he further emphasized his statement. "A person''s cognitive structure will obtain different results, when it is placed in different environments. For instance, you have always subconsciously suspected that there is something going on between Yun Meng and me. As such, I''m afraid that you will always come up with some irrational and erroneous judgment, were we to have any form of physical touch, even simple eye contact!" Chen Fan continued, speaking aggressively. "Allow me to draw an analogy.I feel like a person, who is being mistaken for a thief by the neighbors. Even if I were to buy a new shirt myself, the neighbors would still think that I had stolen this shirt. Even if I were to show them my receipt to prove my innocence, some people would still choose to not believe me. This is due to the fact that they might question that the receipt had been long placed inside the bag by the real owner?" Wu Ruoyu stared at Chen Fan, open-mouthed. She looked as if she was staring at an alien. Although she knew deep inside that these words were exaggerated by rhetoric, she could not compose her thoughts in time to refute him. "Ding Ling Ling Ding Ling Ling" Chen Fan''s phone ringtone broke the silence. "Hey, what''s up?" Chen Fan answered the incoming call with a straight face. "Boss, can you come over now? Mr Zhang from Tian Hai City just got off of the plane. He will arrive at our company in about 40 minutes" Jiang Shui''s voice was deafening. "Got it," responded Chen Fan in a muffled voice. He hung up the phone and turned around, then said to Wu Ruoyu, "Something came up with the company. I have to stop by there for a while." After 40 minutes, Chen Fan''s Ship Manufacturing Yard. 30 nautical miles to the north. Chen Fan still couldn''t figure out if he was in control of one or two ships. Marriage is an extremely significant event in one''s life. Evidently, one must be tremendously cautious about it, though, so perhaps the more candidates the better! Chen Fan sighed, then got up from the stone bed. He figured that the cart will always find a way around the hill when it gets there, and if there was no way to go, he would just buy some explosives to excavate a road! Recently, Chen Fan had ample time to kill. He was prepared to rack his brain over the ghost moon incense. As long as he was able to complete this arduous task, the electric eel would be able to grow even stronger. If this strength enhancement had no limitations, the electric eel would be able to boost its voltage up to a million volts. When the time came, not only would they be able to commit murder and arson, but an attack, which consisted of a continuous chain of lightning from miles away, could also be undertaken! The immense heat from the attack, which could reach up to a million degrees fahrenheit, would then be able to melt any metal objects into molten metal, all in a matter of mere seconds! In preparation for that time, the poisonous sacs of the ghost hair jellyfish had been grilled and air-dried for a week. The sacs, which were initially the size of a little hill, had already shrunk to the size of a Chery QQ3. The slight fragrance, which was emitted by the sacs, had the electric eel drooling enthusiastically. Under the grilling of the high-power artificial sunlight lamp, the poisonous sacs dried speedily. When Chen Fan was going to hit the sack at about 10 that evening, the electric eel, which was guarding the lake nearby, had evidently noticed that the sacs had further shrunk in size. Thus, the scent had become even stronger now. "Ang!" ... Suddenly, a bask of suchosaurus started emerging from the lake. The suchosaurus encircled the electric eel in an arc. They couldn''t stop howling. "Are they out of their minds? Could it be that they are going to have a mating fest?" Upon hearing the sounds, Chen Fan shifted his conscious into the electric eel. He was baffled by the scene in front of his eyes. This bask of suchosaurus, which were arranged from the largest to the smallest in size, were always being beaten up by the electric eel. Not only would they not go any closer to the shore towards the direction of the stone tower, but they also did not have even the courage to glance at it! They only dared to move around the empty land on the other side of the bank, which was separated by a cliff. At the moment, they had actually gathered together, howling non-stop at the direction of the stone tower. Could it be that After staring blankly at the scene for five minutes, Chen Fan suddenly understood what was going on. The bask of suchosaurus was probably attracted by the scent of the ghost moon incense! Just like the sea snake, which had snatched the food from the electric eel''s jaws, their brains subconsciously expressed the strong desire to devour the ghost moon incense. I guess you guys are all lobsters, as all of your skulls are filled with faeces! The ruler''s dignity was greatly provoked. This was simply atrocious! The electric eel raised its head. After letting out a howl, it immediately transformed into a sharp sword, then dashed toward the suchosaurus at a speed of 50 meters per second. "Ang Ang Ang" The electric eel fought its way toward them. The terrifying memories, which were deeply ingrained in the minds of the suchosaurus, suddenly became magnified. They started to whimper and scramble around. "Too late!" Chen Fan couldn''t just stand at the sidelines. He clenched his jaw, determined to beat the suchosaurus to the point that they couldn''t even move for days! After three hours, Chen Fan''s dreams came true. None of the suchosaurus could move at all. Instead, they just floated on the water, their bellies up. It was a tragic scene. "Howl" The electric eel raised its long upper torso. It opened its mouth and spurted out some venom, which was stored in its belly. Before the venom could sputter more than five meters away, a long bang could be heard, as it transformed into a flaming blaze. After basking in its grace and glory...came sleep! .. The scent of daybreak was like the fragrance from a young maiden''s mouth. One could not help but take two extra breaths of it. The thin mist shrouded the place like a gauzy robe, creating a hazy view. At the side of the lake, which was situated right at the middle of the Polan District, a black and white figure sat on a bench. The two of them silently stared at the water. "Why would you call me out so early in the morning?" said Chen Fan faintly, as he crossed his legs. He was a little annoyed. Wu Ruoyu''s phone call had woken him up! "I couldn''t sleep" Wu Ruoyu massaged her forehead, speaking gently. "I''m not going to look into yesterday''s problem anymore. However, I still think your relationship with Yun Meng is a little iffy." "There is essentially nothing wrong with the world. If there is any sort of trouble, it''s because some foolish people have looked for it." Chen Fan casually broke a twig from the branch beside him, then started chewing it a bit. He babbled on. "You must change this erroneous mindset of yours. You should portray me as more of a paragon of conventional Chinese virtues in the depths of your heart. As such, all of your worries will then naturally vanish." "Pffsh" Wu Ruoyu burst out laughing. She had to cough a few times to calm herself down. "Are you trying to imply that I should hypnotize myself, or that all I''ve seen and heard was merely an illusion?" "No! I''m just basically saying that there must be some form of mutual trust between a couple," he retorted. "Sometimes, I feel like you will never believe me." Chen Fan lay lazily back on the bench, then continued. "When the time comes, other ridiculous ideas will inevitably pop up in your head. You will even suspect that the cold in the deep mid-winter has frozen my body to the point that my blood vessels render my manhood incapable of doing its proper job!" "You!" They had not yet experienced any form of physical intimacy as a couple. Thus, it might be a little uncomfortable for them to freely discuss about such a vulgar topic! Hence, Wu Ruoyu, who was already blushing, extended her hand and pinched his waist as hard as she could. "Let me pinch you, too!" Chen Fan shamelessly put his arms around her slim waist. "No Sss Ah" Wu Ruo Yu was about to push him aside, but she drew in an icy cold breath instead. She felt her hair standing on end. This was because Chen Fan suddenly put his hand underneath her shirt, then placed it right on her lower abdomen. One must be aware of the fact that it was currently during the January thaw, and the temperature outside was freezing! So, the feeling of his icy cold hand on her warm skin sent shivers down her spine. "Hehe" After realizing that something was off, Chen Fan quickly took his hand out from her shirt, then hugged her gently in his arms. "Let me go. I''m still mad!" Wu Ruoyu struggled like a kitten. She would not allow Chen Fan to have his way. Chen Fan put his icy cold palms into his overcoat to warm them up. He then said, "You will have to stop being mad sooner or later. Nobody can stay mad forever, right? Since your anger will subside anyways, why don''t you let it melt away a little quicker?" After his hands were a little bit warmer than before, he put his hands underneath Wu Ruoyu''s shirt again. The whole sky looked misty, a scene further exacerbated by the heavy mist on the lake. Thus, Chen Fan was not afraid that his roguish acts would be discovered by anyone else. "It''s freezing!" Wu Ruoyu grabbed his palms. The warmth and comfort of touching a woman''s skin in the cold winter was indescribable. Plus, the curvature of her waist was beautiful and supple. It was exactly like how it was described in books. He could not resist his heart''s desire, as Chen Fan slipped his hand a little higher, stopping when it reached her chest. "Are you still mad?" Chen Fan stared at her closely, his eyes giving off a sly glint. Wu Ruo Yu definitely did not had the guts to tell him no. She blushed and immediately avoided his gaze. "Shall we go home?" he suggested. The burning desire in his chest was ignited. All he wanted to do was to carry her to the bed and make love with her. "No way! I must head to work soon!" Wu Ruoyu used all of her might to spit those words out from her mouth. She was no longer a child, so she knew exactly what was on Chen Fan''s mind. "Hehe" Chen Fan licked his chapped lips. Their relationship had progressed to such a stage that, if he were to invite her out one night, she would probably not reject him. "Sasa, you have such big boobs!" Wu Ruoyu blushed even harder after hearing his statement! She reached out to push his arms away. However, her energy had completely depleted to the depths of the core, so Chen Fan''s arms did not even budge. He kept teasing and groping her, as if he was playing an instrument. After a while, Wu Ruoyu was no longer able to push his arms away. She bit her index finger with her pearl white teeth, trying to stop herself from making a sound. Time flies when one is spending time with a beautiful woman. The sun lit up the dim sky in the blink of an eye. The gentle breeze blew across the land. The cool misty air blew on their faces. "I''m going to work!" Wu Ruoyu ran home, as if she was intoxicated. Meanwhile, Chen Fan laughed, as he smelled her lingering fragrance on his fingertips. Just like a general, who had just returned home in triumph, he stepped into the house, looking like the cat that ate the canary. Now, he was prepared to catch up on sleep! He had been battling the suchosaurus till one in the morning yesterday, so he was definitely in need of some sleep. After Chen Fan touched his pillow again, he fell into a deep sleep in a matter of minutes. "Ang!" All of a sudden, a thunderous, earth-shattering howl was heard, coming from the underground cave in the middle of the reefs. It awakened the electric eel, who had been fast asleep. It almost jumped out from the water and landed itself on the shore, as it was completely frightened by it. "Which dingus is shrieking at this hour?" Chen Fan opened his eyes abruptly. The suchosaurus would never be able to let out such haunting howls. "Ang!" Five minutes later, thunderous rumbles could be heard once again. Chen Fan finally pinpointed the sound. It was actually being emitted from the "thing" in the lake. In other words, it came from the direction of the cliff, which traversed across the cave. Not only was the electric eel afraid of the howls, the suchosaurus were also frightened out of their wits. Their heads, which slightly appeared on the surface of the water, disappeared in a matter of seconds. They then immediately retreated into the water, just like cowards! "Dang! It can''t be the white unknown creature, right?" Chen Fan suddenly recalled the string of white scales that flashed in front of his eyes in the waters right under the cliff. Chen Fan did not know what it was at that time. However, he was certain that it was not small in size, at least based on its terrifying howls. He was afraid that his initial estimation had been rather conservative. "Kill it. It must have smelled the scent of the ghost moon incense. I bet it wants to have a taste of it now." Chen Fan suddenly felt goosebumps all over his skin. He then controlled the electric eel, causing it to grab the longspear and swim toward the lake. Regardless of whether it was a snake or a polysemous aquatic dragon, he figured that it must be dead! 189 White Monster Python In order to travel the distance between the stone tower and the cliff, the electric eel could arrive within a few breaths'' time. It thundered and rolled up the cliff, then stretched out its head and looked down. Ho! All he saw was a creature that was 85 meters long, with a waist that was about seven meters thick. It was a python with white scales, using its calf sized head to stare at the electric eel, without moving. "Ah!" The electric eel was shocked and began to take two steps back, which then cause the snake, which had been running along the jagged rocks, to wind up halfway up the hill. 85 meters long? This is just to give you an idea to scale, but be aware that the world''s most enormous python, the green anaconda, can grow up to 10 meters long. The world''s longest surviving boa constrictor is only 14.85 meters long, and has been caught by humans and placed at a zoo in Indonesia for all to visit. So to get this picture in your head, versus these huge creatures of the known world, this white python was 5.7 times the length of that boa constrictor in Indonesia. And on both sides of the head of the python, there were two things that were similar to fish fins, which were flapping constantly. At the moment when Chen Fan was thinking, the head of the python, which was the size of a calf, suddenly emerged from the edge of the cliff, and its scarlet mouth vomited out cold air. Snakes, like electric eels, have no Adam''s apples and can''t make normal animal sounds. But the white python, apparently being the exception, could make a roar that could paralyze a tiger in fear. Slowly stepping back, Chen Fan knew that there were many kinds of snakes, and that their attack speeds could surpass the human motor nerves, to the rate of one point five to three times faster. As this one, obviously, couldn''t be measured by scientific means, it was also known to officially break the normal hunting method of a python, meaning that he would be done if it used its store of super stealth venom to attack. "Venom?" The electric eel opened its mouth, a bucket of clear green venom spattering out. Ho! The white python escaped the venom and opened its barbed mouth. It was difficult to describe how fast the python was. Chen Fan''s mind had just captured its movements, when there was suddenly a sharp pain in his neck. The electric eel had subconsciously pushed the voltage to its highest level. Bang! There was a loud bang, and the blue arc exploded in the mouth of the white python. Then, the venom on its scale was lit, and the flames shot out ten meters high, breaking the fire open. The python''s attack was typically followed by a bite, but the white snake didn''t go back after it was hurt. Its tail swung like a windmill, trying to capture the electric eel. But as soon as the tail was within five meters of the electric eel, the air between them exploded. The white scale also changed to black in an instant, then gave out a burning sound. When it came to the electric eel, the electric eel only stumbled, and then, nothing. The white python, who had suffered a loss, saw that his weapon did not work and that his whole body was bowed to a full moon. He then moved to the left more than ten meters, like a spring. The speed of the movement was like lightning, and Chen Fan could only stare. Clang! He dropped the spear, as at such a terrifying speed, grasping any weapon was a burden. It''s better to let go and see if you can catch it and hold it up, so that it can''t get out and then surge up the voltage. Ho! The two monsters of the same size stared at each other with big eyes and wide eyes. The black one''s neck was bloody, and the white one was blackened with smoke. Isn''t this too much like science fiction, for a python to grow like this? The attack of this snake was too strong, right? More than 30,000 volts were used, only to make the surface of the scale burn, and the damage to it was still not even bigger than the burning venom''s result. To know that, for the 60 - meter long crocodile that was in the lake, it would take only two seconds to knock it into a coma. The white and black creatures looked at each other for half a day, the first to lose patience and attack was the white python, as its body bowed to an S, then posed the ejection, only to be consumed in two seconds. Chen Fan''s intuition rang out, causing his whole body''s fine hair to stand on end. He subconsciously controlled the electric eel to avoid the battle, but he only heard a bang, followed by a pain in his underbelly that was unbearable, as if he had been hit by a train. And, of course, the python was hurt too. The entire upper body was completely black, and if they continued the fight for a few more rounds, it''s estimated that it would go from the white python to the black python in favor. Ho! The voice of the white snake began to grow hoarse, and every time it roared, it would spit out a huge pile of blood. The source of the blood was unknown, be it from the mouth or the internal injury. "Not dead yet?" Chen Fan''s eyes stared, for if they were to replace the crocodile dragon, they would have already died three times! "It''s okay, elder brother would send you to heaven!" Regretfully shaking his head, Chen Fan was ready to open the electric eel''s mouth, planning to kill it with venom. Who knew that the huge reptile-like creature knew that the electric eel wanted to spray poison, and with eyes full of resentment, it stared at the electric eel. Then, moving its body with a few twists, it surged closer to the edge of the cliff, and without hesitation, like a handle spear, it pierced into the dark water. Yes, Chen Fan fully interpreted the meaning of its eyes, which was none other than: "resentment"! Could animals use their eyes to express their emotions? Of course! For instance, if you kick the dog, how do you think the dog would look at you? Or if you throw a bone, see how the dog looks at you differently now? Such is the case in point...emotions, even animals'', are seen in the eyes! Dragging the bleeding neck to the stone tower, Chen Fan immediately drove up to the dock, then changed to using the electric eel to go to the stone tower, fed the electric eel ginseng Taisui, and then wrapped the Taisui and the ghost hair incense carefully with greenhouse plastic film. After all of this, he let the electric eel put them all in its mouth and bring them back to the dock. The python was too strong to fight, Chen Fan felt that he should honestly wait for the ghost hair incense to dry on the shore, and then find a way to kill it! After a half-day of work, the sun lamps and fans were set up, so Chen Fan sat on the sofa on a whim. The electric eel was not badly hurt in the struggle with the python. With voltage aiding the eel, the python''s speed advantage would be weakened a lot, and the most it could do would be to knock the electric eel. This was because, when muscles are stimulated, as with the voltage current, it would release the motion signal that one can''t pass, and then the python wouldn''t be able to cast its deadliest strangulation tactics. But why was there a giant snake that lived under the cliff? What does it eat? Chen Fan had never seen it come ashore to kill the alligator, and the space beneath the cliff was big, but it still certainly couldn''t stand to stay in there and eat only what could be found there for half of the year. Undercurrent? Chen Fan thought that it should not be much undercurrent, as the cliff water was calm and mirror-like, so even if there was a dark flow, some sign would be seen from the water surface. No matter what was at the bottom, the electric eel would have to solve the problem of the snake. Otherwise, it would be attracted up again in the future, when the Taisui was bred and introduced. Chapter 189 Cultivating the Ghost Moon Incense In the afternoon on the second day, Chen Fan crawled up from his bed lazily. He was prepared to purchase the expensive medicinal herbs in bulk today. He figured that the ghost moon incense would probably be completely dried in about three more days. After Chen Fan had experimented with Ginseng, wolfberries, Lingzhi mushrooms and caterpillar fungus, he figured that Ginseng was the most effective in enhancing the growth of the Tai Sui, followed by the caterpillar fungus and the wolfberry, which was the weakest among the medicinal herbs. According to the dosage calculations, the Ginseng was approximately 13 times more effective than the wolfberries. Although the wolfberries had a more reasonable price, Chen Fan did not intend to trouble himself any further, just for the sake of saving a few bucks. He ordered Yu Lin and Yiteng Yun to head separately to Liaoning Province and Jilin Province, instructing them to confirm the orders at the Ginseng cultivation farm. Chen Fan also called Wang Bin and ordered him to make a trip to the agricultural machinery market to purchase two large-scaled flour grinders. Three days later, inside the dock by the sea... All 20 of the ghost moon incense had been completely oven-dried. The smallest one was merely the size of a fist. However, it had the strongest scent and the most dazzling colors. The rest of the 19 ghost moon incense did not have a consistent size, but the largest one was slightly smaller than a football. After leaving them on top of a metal plate, Chen Fan used a tiny hammer to knock them into pieces, then threw them into the Chinese medicine grinder. Finally, he managed to obtain about 47 units of powder. He took out one unit of the powder and poured it into a glass tank. He then stirred the milky solution evenly. Chen Fan took a deep breath, then gently placed the Tai Sui into the solution. He could hardly see the Tai Sui through the milky-brown solution. Chen Fan felt like a young man, who was waiting for his wife to give birth, sitting all alone in the corridor of the delivery room. He looked worried. As he crossed his legs, his gaze was fixated on the glass tank. Logically speaking, the nutritional components of the ghost moon incense were absolutely comparable to the Great Healing Pill, as one piece of the former was enough to further increase the electric eel''s strength and voltage to another notch. After the Tai Sui had absorbed its nutrients, wouldn''t it increase tremendously in size? However, who could guarantee the final results? What if more than ten units of ghost moon incense were barely enough for the Tai Sui to become fully-grown? My dreams to quickly strengthen the electric eel would then be completely busted! Time is a funny thing. In fact, it''s almost a nuisance. Sometimes, it sweeps past our eyes, as if it is riding on a clockwork spring. Sometimes, it is as slow as a snail, which has been injected by muscle relaxers! As such, time drives everyone crazy. After two hours, the broad bean-sized Tai Sui had transformed into the size of a peanut. However, there were no changes to the ghost moon incense powder. After five hours, the peanut-sized Tai Sui turned into the size of a kumquat. The ghost moon incense powder still had no obvious changes. After sleeping for a while, the kumquat-sized Tai Sui became the size of a porcelain bowl. The color of the ghost moon incense had slightly faded. After two days, the Tai Sui was the size of a basketball. In the process, Chen Fan had used up six units of ghost moon incense powder. In total, 47 units of powder could cultivate seven Tai Sui. Chen Fan used the Kun Wu dagger to carve out six broad bean-sized tissues from the Tai Sui. He then used the ghost moon incense powder to cultivate them together. After three days, Chen Fan placed seven of the brownish-white Tai Suis inside a glass tank. He then sprinkled 200 units of Ginseng powder into the tank. Just as predicted, the seven Tai Suis had completely inherited the attributes of the ghost moon incense. As long as the smell reached Chen Fan''s nose, the electric eel would be itching for some action. The 200 units of Ginseng powder had been completely used up by the seven Tai Suis in the span of 30 hours. Chen Fan, who had been abstaining for several days, could no longer resist the temptation. After using the Kun Wu dagger to carve out several cigarette box-sized tissues, he directly threw them into the electric eel''s mouth. "This is so satisfying!" This was the sensation that could be felt by the electric eel. Such satisfaction was indeed indescribable. It was absolutely pleasurable, to the point where the electric eel would lie down in the water and refuse to even open its eyes! As Chen Fan figured it, seven pieces of cigarette box-sized tissues would be equal to seven pieces of ghost moon incense. After merely half an hour, the electric eel''s body was completely weak and numb. It felt as if the air was filled with a sweet scent. "Hey, Brother Chen, even if you''re free to fish for sharks, you don''t have to use such a huge titanium alloy hook, right?" At an open space not far from the dock, Zhang Xueyang pointed at the silver fish hook. His expression seemed to say, "Is there something wrong with your brain?" After testing out the weight of the fish hook, which had the thickness of an arm, Chen Fan rolled his eyes at him. "It is no longer challenging to fish for sharks. I want to navigate a container ship to the Arctic Ocean and fish for a whale!" "Er" Zhang Xueyang''s eyes nearly popped out of his head. He stared at him with a gaze, shocked. "Brother Chen, when the time comes, bring me along. I''m curious to see you be dragged into the water by the whale!" "Oh! How thoughtful of you!" Chen Fan squinted his eyes and smirked, "When the time comes, it''ll be great fun to use you as bait!" "Stop talking rubbish. It is possible to fish for a whale with such a huge hook. However, when the time comes, be ready to face the marine conservationists!" Zhang Xue Yang sat on the bonnet of the car and lit up a cigarette. Hong Long Long Hong Long Long... At that very moment, the engines of a Dongfeng Cummins roared, as the vehicle stopped in front of them. A middle-aged man, who wore a blue uniform, hopped out of the car. He ran to Chen Fan, saying, "Boss, I have sent the rope over as requested." "Oh my god, you''re not crazy enough to go fish for a whale, right?" Zhang Xueyang stared at the wire ropes, which had thickness of an arm, which were laying in the boot of the car. He then looked at Chen Fan, his face crumpled in confusion. After three hours, in the cave right underneath the reefs, the electric eel dragged along a longspear and swam toward the cliff at full speed. A 500 meter wire rope could be seen hanging from the spearhead of the longspear. He was prepared to use the freshly cultivated Tai Sui to attract the giant white python. Then, once it took the bait, he would electrocute it to death. Armed with a titanium alloy hook and a wire rope with the thickness of an arm, coupled with a longspear, which was half a meter long, Chen Fan believed that no matter how hard the giant python struggled, it would never be able to escape him. The electric eel lay flat under the cliff. It placed the fish hook a meter away from the surface of the water to prevent other fishes from eating it. It looked like a fisherman, who was waiting for a giant python to take the bait. The electric eel could not see anything clearly from the surface of the dark murky water. After five minutes of waiting, the electric eel realized that ripples were beginning to form at the bottom of the fish hook. "The fellow is here!" After licking its chapped lips, the electric eel was 100 percent focused on the fish hook. After a short moment, a white silhouette was reflected on the surface of the dark water. THe silhouette then swam around like a spirit. With a soft bang, it spit out its pink tongue, which then wrapped itself on the hook. "Er" The electric eel could not believe its eyes. It had actually snatched the Tai Sui away from the hook! "Howl!" The giant python, whose head was mottled with a huge wound, appeared near the hook. It howled loudly at the electric eel. Its pink tongue started vibrating violently in the air. "You simpleton!" Without saying another word, Chen Fan controlled the electric eel and made it leave. This time, he would use steel wires directly to tie it up. He was curious as to whether the giant python would be able to devour the Tai Sui again. When the electric eel returned to the dock, Chen Fan painstakingly cut out another piece of tissue from the Tai Sui. After he found a piece of steel wire, he wrung it on the fish hook with a pair of pliers. One should never underestimate the powers of these cigarette box-sized tissues. Previously, when Chen Fan had sliced off seven pieces of them to feed the electric eel, he had used almost 800 units of Ginseng powder to heal the wound of the Tai Sui. After the electric eel had eaten the seven pieces of Tai Sui, its voltage immediately boosted up to 45,000 kilovolts. Also, its speed increased up to 200 knots. The venom that it spit out was extra dense as well, unlike before, when the venom could not even poison a shark to death. One thing that left Chen Fan with regrets was that the electric eel did not shed its skin ever again. He reckoned that this was due to the small measures of nutritional components it had in its system. Thus, he was prepared to use a great amount of Ginseng to cultivate the Tai Sui for more than ten days, in order to allow its nutritional effects to rise to another level. He hoped that then he could obtain another chance for the electric eel to shed its skin. After preparing the bait, the electric eel swam to the cave, then placed the hook under the cliff. It took a bit longer time this time. After waiting for half an hour, the dark waters started to ripple again. He believed that the giant white python hid away to enjoy the pleasures that were brought about by the Tai Sui. "Bang!" The same technique was used again. The giant white python''s pink tongue moved as quick as lightning. Before Chen Fan could react to it, it immediately licked the fish hook twice. The tissues of the Tai Sui were rather tough, and it was tied on with steel wires. Thus, blood stains could be seen on the tongue of the white giant python, after it was scraped by the metal wires. It did not manage to devour the Tai Sui at all. "All it had to to was to take a bite of it. Why must it use such a complicated method?" The electric eel, which was hiding near the cliff, felt as if its heart was pounding out of its chest. "Howl!" While Chen Fan was still in a daze, the giant python''s head suddenly emerged from the water. Its scarlet red mouth was wide open. After biting the hook, it immediately disappeared into the water. The wire ropes, which were entwined on the longspear, tensed up immediately. The energy of the giant python was indescribable. The electric eel''s claws struggled to hold themselves against the mica stones underneath its feet. It then tensed up its muscles and discharged up to 45,000 volts of voltage. The electric current was then transmitted through the metal fishing equipment to the body of the giant python. "Howl!" The giant python, who was in severe pain, jumped out of the water. Its tail crashed right next to the electric eel''s legs, shattering the rocks on the cliff. At that exact moment, Chen Fan could clearly see that the fish hook had pierced through its left cheek. The tissues around it were charred in the blink of an eye. "Ah!" The electric eel opened its eyes wide. The muscles of its foreclaw, which was grabbing onto the longspear, started to expand. It insisted on bending the longspear as well. The python and the eel battled against each other. Both of them let out an earth-shattering scream, which greatly frightened the suchosaurus, which were in the lake nearby. They shivered in fear. However, in less than three seconds, the electric eel realized that the force on the longspear had suddenly weakened. It then tripped over itself as it was reversing, due to its momentum. It then started tumbling backwards. After pulling up the wire rope from the cliff, Chen Fan realized that the fish hook had completely carved the python''s cheek out. Charred scales, which were about the size of a basin, and fragments of meat particles could be seen. Green smoke spiralled upward from them. Near the shore, Chen Fan discovered that the giant python had disappeared without a trace. The pool of blood on the surface of the water proved that it had been struggling violently before. One could only blame the fish hook for being badly positioned. If it had been hooked onto its jaw, it would surely be dead by now! "Why must you force me to unleash my most effective tactics to kill you?" Chen Fan was frustrated for a short while. He was not part of any animal conservation organizations. Thus, he would have shown no sign of guilts, were he to kill the giant python. 190 Cultivating the Ghost Moon Incense In the afternoon on the second day, Chen Fan crawled up from his bed lazily. He was prepared to purchase the expensive medicinal herbs in bulk today. He figured that the ghost moon incense would probably be completely dried in about three more days. After Chen Fan had experimented with Ginseng, wolfberries, Lingzhi mushrooms and caterpillar fungus, he figured that Ginseng was the most effective in enhancing the growth of the Tai Sui, followed by the caterpillar fungus and the wolfberry, which was the weakest among the medicinal herbs. According to the dosage calculations, the Ginseng was approximately 13 times more effective than the wolfberries. Although the wolfberries had a more reasonable price, Chen Fan did not intend to trouble himself any further, just for the sake of saving a few bucks. He ordered Yu Lin and Yiteng Yun to head separately to Liaoning Province and Jilin Province, instructing them to confirm the orders at the Ginseng cultivation farm. Chen Fan also called Wang Bin and ordered him to make a trip to the agricultural machinery market to purchase two large-scaled flour grinders. Three days later, inside the dock by the sea... All 20 of the ghost moon incense had been completely oven-dried. The smallest one was merely the size of a fist. However, it had the strongest scent and the most dazzling colors. The rest of the 19 ghost moon incense did not have a consistent size, but the largest one was slightly smaller than a football. After leaving them on top of a metal plate, Chen Fan used a tiny hammer to knock them into pieces, then threw them into the Chinese medicine grinder. Finally, he managed to obtain about 47 units of powder. He took out one unit of the powder and poured it into a glass tank. He then stirred the milky solution evenly. Chen Fan took a deep breath, then gently placed the Tai Sui into the solution. He could hardly see the Tai Sui through the milky-brown solution. Chen Fan felt like a young man, who was waiting for his wife to give birth, sitting all alone in the corridor of the delivery room. He looked worried. As he crossed his legs, his gaze was fixated on the glass tank. Logically speaking, the nutritional components of the ghost moon incense were absolutely comparable to the Great Healing Pill, as one piece of the former was enough to further increase the electric eel''s strength and voltage to another notch. After the Tai Sui had absorbed its nutrients, wouldn''t it increase tremendously in size? However, who could guarantee the final results? What if more than ten units of ghost moon incense were barely enough for the Tai Sui to become fully-grown? My dreams to quickly strengthen the electric eel would then be completely busted! Time is a funny thing. In fact, it''s almost a nuisance. Sometimes, it sweeps past our eyes, as if it is riding on a clockwork spring. Sometimes, it is as slow as a snail, which has been injected by muscle relaxers! As such, time drives everyone crazy. After two hours, the broad bean-sized Tai Sui had transformed into the size of a peanut. However, there were no changes to the ghost moon incense powder. After five hours, the peanut-sized Tai Sui turned into the size of a kumquat. The ghost moon incense powder still had no obvious changes. After sleeping for a while, the kumquat-sized Tai Sui became the size of a porcelain bowl. The color of the ghost moon incense had slightly faded. After two days, the Tai Sui was the size of a basketball. In the process, Chen Fan had used up six units of ghost moon incense powder. In total, 47 units of powder could cultivate seven Tai Sui. Chen Fan used the Kun Wu dagger to carve out six broad bean-sized tissues from the Tai Sui. He then used the ghost moon incense powder to cultivate them together. After three days, Chen Fan placed seven of the brownish-white Tai Suis inside a glass tank. He then sprinkled 200 units of Ginseng powder into the tank. Just as predicted, the seven Tai Suis had completely inherited the attributes of the ghost moon incense. As long as the smell reached Chen Fan''s nose, the electric eel would be itching for some action. The 200 units of Ginseng powder had been completely used up by the seven Tai Suis in the span of 30 hours. Chen Fan, who had been abstaining for several days, could no longer resist the temptation. After using the Kun Wu dagger to carve out several cigarette box-sized tissues, he directly threw them into the electric eel''s mouth. "This is so satisfying!" This was the sensation that could be felt by the electric eel. Such satisfaction was indeed indescribable. It was absolutely pleasurable, to the point where the electric eel would lie down in the water and refuse to even open its eyes! As Chen Fan figured it, seven pieces of cigarette box-sized tissues would be equal to seven pieces of ghost moon incense. After merely half an hour, the electric eel''s body was completely weak and numb. It felt as if the air was filled with a sweet scent. "Hey, Brother Chen, even if you''re free to fish for sharks, you don''t have to use such a huge titanium alloy hook, right?" At an open space not far from the dock, Zhang Xueyang pointed at the silver fish hook. His expression seemed to say, "Is there something wrong with your brain?" After testing out the weight of the fish hook, which had the thickness of an arm, Chen Fan rolled his eyes at him. "It is no longer challenging to fish for sharks. I want to navigate a container ship to the Arctic Ocean and fish for a whale!" "Er" Zhang Xueyang''s eyes nearly popped out of his head. He stared at him with a gaze, shocked. "Brother Chen, when the time comes, bring me along. I''m curious to see you be dragged into the water by the whale!" "Oh! How thoughtful of you!" Chen Fan squinted his eyes and smirked, "When the time comes, it''ll be great fun to use you as bait!" "Stop talking rubbish. It is possible to fish for a whale with such a huge hook. However, when the time comes, be ready to face the marine conservationists!" Zhang Xue Yang sat on the bonnet of the car and lit up a cigarette. Hong Long Long Hong Long Long... At that very moment, the engines of a Dongfeng Cummins roared, as the vehicle stopped in front of them. A middle-aged man, who wore a blue uniform, hopped out of the car. He ran to Chen Fan, saying, "Boss, I have sent the rope over as requested." "Oh my god, you''re not crazy enough to go fish for a whale, right?" Zhang Xueyang stared at the wire ropes, which had thickness of an arm, which were laying in the boot of the car. He then looked at Chen Fan, his face crumpled in confusion. After three hours, in the cave right underneath the reefs, the electric eel dragged along a longspear and swam toward the cliff at full speed. A 500 meter wire rope could be seen hanging from the spearhead of the longspear. He was prepared to use the freshly cultivated Tai Sui to attract the giant white python. Then, once it took the bait, he would electrocute it to death. Armed with a titanium alloy hook and a wire rope with the thickness of an arm, coupled with a longspear, which was half a meter long, Chen Fan believed that no matter how hard the giant python struggled, it would never be able to escape him. The electric eel lay flat under the cliff. It placed the fish hook a meter away from the surface of the water to prevent other fishes from eating it. It looked like a fisherman, who was waiting for a giant python to take the bait. The electric eel could not see anything clearly from the surface of the dark murky water. After five minutes of waiting, the electric eel realized that ripples were beginning to form at the bottom of the fish hook. "The fellow is here!" After licking its chapped lips, the electric eel was 100 percent focused on the fish hook. After a short moment, a white silhouette was reflected on the surface of the dark water. THe silhouette then swam around like a spirit. With a soft bang, it spit out its pink tongue, which then wrapped itself on the hook. "Er" The electric eel could not believe its eyes. It had actually snatched the Tai Sui away from the hook! "Howl!" The giant python, whose head was mottled with a huge wound, appeared near the hook. It howled loudly at the electric eel. Its pink tongue started vibrating violently in the air. "You simpleton!" Without saying another word, Chen Fan controlled the electric eel and made it leave. This time, he would use steel wires directly to tie it up. He was curious as to whether the giant python would be able to devour the Tai Sui again. When the electric eel returned to the dock, Chen Fan painstakingly cut out another piece of tissue from the Tai Sui. After he found a piece of steel wire, he wrung it on the fish hook with a pair of pliers. One should never underestimate the powers of these cigarette box-sized tissues. Previously, when Chen Fan had sliced off seven pieces of them to feed the electric eel, he had used almost 800 units of Ginseng powder to heal the wound of the Tai Sui. After the electric eel had eaten the seven pieces of Tai Sui, its voltage immediately boosted up to 45,000 kilovolts. Also, its speed increased up to 200 knots. The venom that it spit out was extra dense as well, unlike before, when the venom could not even poison a shark to death. One thing that left Chen Fan with regrets was that the electric eel did not shed its skin ever again. He reckoned that this was due to the small measures of nutritional components it had in its system. Thus, he was prepared to use a great amount of Ginseng to cultivate the Tai Sui for more than ten days, in order to allow its nutritional effects to rise to another level. He hoped that then he could obtain another chance for the electric eel to shed its skin. After preparing the bait, the electric eel swam to the cave, then placed the hook under the cliff. It took a bit longer time this time. After waiting for half an hour, the dark waters started to ripple again. He believed that the giant white python hid away to enjoy the pleasures that were brought about by the Tai Sui. "Bang!" The same technique was used again. The giant white python''s pink tongue moved as quick as lightning. Before Chen Fan could react to it, it immediately licked the fish hook twice. The tissues of the Tai Sui were rather tough, and it was tied on with steel wires. Thus, blood stains could be seen on the tongue of the white giant python, after it was scraped by the metal wires. It did not manage to devour the Tai Sui at all. "All it had to to was to take a bite of it. Why must it use such a complicated method?" The electric eel, which was hiding near the cliff, felt as if its heart was pounding out of its chest. "Howl!" While Chen Fan was still in a daze, the giant python''s head suddenly emerged from the water. Its scarlet red mouth was wide open. After biting the hook, it immediately disappeared into the water. The wire ropes, which were entwined on the longspear, tensed up immediately. The energy of the giant python was indescribable. The electric eel''s claws struggled to hold themselves against the mica stones underneath its feet. It then tensed up its muscles and discharged up to 45,000 volts of voltage. The electric current was then transmitted through the metal fishing equipment to the body of the giant python. "Howl!" The giant python, who was in severe pain, jumped out of the water. Its tail crashed right next to the electric eel''s legs, shattering the rocks on the cliff. At that exact moment, Chen Fan could clearly see that the fish hook had pierced through its left cheek. The tissues around it were charred in the blink of an eye. "Ah!" The electric eel opened its eyes wide. The muscles of its foreclaw, which was grabbing onto the longspear, started to expand. It insisted on bending the longspear as well. The python and the eel battled against each other. Both of them let out an earth-shattering scream, which greatly frightened the suchosaurus, which were in the lake nearby. They shivered in fear. However, in less than three seconds, the electric eel realized that the force on the longspear had suddenly weakened. It then tripped over itself as it was reversing, due to its momentum. It then started tumbling backwards. After pulling up the wire rope from the cliff, Chen Fan realized that the fish hook had completely carved the python''s cheek out. Charred scales, which were about the size of a basin, and fragments of meat particles could be seen. Green smoke spiralled upward from them. Near the shore, Chen Fan discovered that the giant python had disappeared without a trace. The pool of blood on the surface of the water proved that it had been struggling violently before. One could only blame the fish hook for being badly positioned. If it had been hooked onto its jaw, it would surely be dead by now! "Why must you force me to unleash my most effective tactics to kill you?" Chen Fan was frustrated for a short while. He was not part of any animal conservation organizations. Thus, he would have shown no sign of guilts, were he to kill the giant python. 191 The White Python Is Equal to a Yellow Dog The ultimate kill technique was to ask the shipyard to make a basketball-sized iron case, put the venom into it, and then tie it down with a thin wire. As soon as the python came close to the bait, which would be Taisui, it would be exploded and killed. In order to increase the effect of the killing, Chen Fan also used adhesive tape to glue twenty fist-sized iron eggs onto the iron case. Iron eggs! Wouldn''t it be an anti-infantry mine, if you also put on a bicycle steel ball? The next afternoon, in the same spot in the cave, the electric eel laid motionless on the cliff face, staring straight at the handmade bomb. The bomb. The coiling paper wrapping the bomb was also a bomb, and it was a bomb that used enriched uranium -235 to produce nuclear fission. But the difference was that this bomb''s lethality was lower. The lethality of the Taisui poison bomb was unknown, but it''d probably not have any difficulty in blowing up a cow-sized head! The electric eel stood on the cliff for two hours, and still the smell of the Taisui did not attract the white python. "Did it get a serious injury?" Chen Fan''s mind was full of malicious thoughts. Ho! As if to prove it was not dead, the python that was originally under the calm water, suddenly showed its cow-sized head. As it surfaced, a thick white gas spewed from its mouth, showing its power toward the electric eel on the cliff. But the image of the python was a bit sad, as it had a large gap on the left side of the mouth, and even its head and abdomen had a lot of scars. This python that was originally beautiful and magnificent, had already become very ugly. The python was about a hundred meters from the bomb site, when it stopped and roared for a long time, without moving closer towards the bomb''s position, which made Chen Fan worried. The desperate Chen Fan quickly controlled the electric eel, swung the steel wire in his claws, and tried to shake it to the head of the snake. Then, he killed it. The python, with a bam, went into the water, vanishing without a trace. "Shit, is it like the Madame White Snake, that became a spirit?" After waiting for half an hour, the electric eel returned to the stone tower without success, pondering this myth. The python must have just eaten a hook, and been traumatized by that, so when it saw a similar scene, it judged that it was in danger and fled. Of course! The reason why a man becomes a man of all things, is that man not only has a strong learning ability, but also a strong memory ability! And thus, also has a more powerful creative ability. Speaking of creative ability, since the steel wire was not elastic, he would have to try a creative, different way. "Dally...Dally...." the electric eel ran to the edge of the lake with a spear and cut out a small hole on the mica stone. It then dug ten centimeters, buried the bombs in the pit, and hid in the lake to monitor what would happen. But after the electric eel had done all the work and was ready to run into the lake, the white python quietly swam up the cliff from 200 meters away, then fixed its gaze on the electric eel. The scene that happened next made Chen Fan''s jaw drop, as the python opened its mouth and spat out a fist-sized blue stone on the ground. It then dove into the cliff, splashing out small waves. Dementia, complete dementia did this cause! The electric eel was stunned for half a minute, only to finally struggle out of the dementia. What does this white python want to do? Peering at the blue stone, it looked as if it had been polished by man, its round surface smooth without a dent, just like a sapphire''s crystal clear beautiful color. Half an hour later, Chen Fan, who now held the unknown object in a daze, initially thought it was a sapphire, but when he took a closer look at it, he realized that it was not a stone at all. It felt cold in his hand, yet with hardly a pinch, he could feel a weak elasticity in it. Does it want to bribe him with such a beautiful gem? Or, does it want to swap this for Taisui? But, it''s not even a gem! If this thing were sold on the market, people would think that it was a man-made artifact. To know that sapphire had a hardness of nine, which is only one hardness lower than the hardest diamond in nature, it was obvious to Chen Fan that this item was a million miles from a sapphire''s standard. "Well, how would a snake know about gems, anyway?" Putting the blue stone away, Chen Fan laid on his yacht, thinking that, if the snake comes up, he would kill it without hesitation. But now, it had had a spiritual exchange with him... He kept thinking. Even if the stone was sold, it wouldn''t be worth a lot of money. However, one couldn''t necessarily measure its worth with human values. Kill it? Or not? .... Well, let''s just observe it for a while, Chen Fan ultimately decided. If it maintains this warmth of exchange attitude, Chen Fan would decide to keep it. After all, it''s not something that the average animal could do, so at least he knew it was smarter than a gorilla! If he doesn''t kill it, he''ll have to try to raise the battle quality of the electric eel, trying to get the voltage up to 100,000 volts. This would enable him to ignore the incomparable speed of the python. That way, if and when he tried to kill it, it couldn''t run away. The next day, Chen Fan was using a pulverizer to make ginseng for his Taisui and the electric eel that curled up in the lake, when heard the roar of the python. Opening his eyes, he found it perched on the edge of the cliff, its big head staring right at the electric eel. Ho! The electric eel, which was disturbed in its sleep, also lifted its head and vibrated its mouth with a powerful airflow, which was much thicker than the sound of the python, but without the resounding echo. It''s hard already, in general daily life, for the crocodile dragons, and in front of these two powerful creatures, they were so scared, that they don''t even dare show their heads. Not far from the python, a fist-sized blue stone was on the ground. But this time, instead of dropping the stone, it jumped into the water and kept staring at the electric eel, playing with the stone in its big scarlet mouth. "Damn, this is too..." Chen Fan hesitated, the meaning of the scene being easy to guess. He knew it was here for Taisui, but in case he came up with the stone every day, wouldn''t he need to send Taisui every time? Much to consider... With a few wags, the electric eel swam back to the stone tower and continued to sleep. Ho! Seeing its friendly behavior was being ignored, the white python immediately screamed, its huge body producing crackling noises. Then, it dashed to the electric eel along the surface of the water. Boom! The electric eel, with a flash of blue light and a voltage of 45,000 volts, immediately put the brakes on the savage python, from eight hundred meters away. Roar... roar...roar... the giant python, which had fled to the side, was anxious, wearing the hesitant expression of one wanting to rush again, but not daring. Annoyed by the noise, the electric eel scurried around to the edge of it, then went wild and released electricity. Like a kitten with its tail just stepped on, the white snake flew from the surface of the water, and with a speed that made Chen Fan dazzled, moved swiftly to the shore. Then, it continued to scream. "Forget it, forget it. You''re the boss!" After the electric eel had thrown a Taisui to it, he wanted the python to be out of his sight. As the eel staggered to the entrance, he went out to find food. When he returned to the stone tower, the white python had disappeared, but it revealed that it was quite human-like, as it had kept the blue stone. This stone, just like the last one, was almost identical, like it had come from the same mold. What the hell is that? If there was only one, it could be seen as a coincidence to have been left, but now that there were two, such a thing could not be natural, unless the python had a habit of polishing stones! "If he picks up the stone and comes again tomorrow, let the electric eel go down the cliff and kill it." Thinking about it, Chen Fan knew this was cruel. The Taisui was not a jelly bean, but it was a magic weapon that could strengthen the body''s quality, so he couldn''t supply it every day. Animals, after all, are animals, so they can''t be as intelligent as humans. For example, just now, when he didn''t give the Taisui to the python, it unexpectedly was enraged and attacked him. The electric eel narrowed his eyes to sleep for a long time, while Chen Fan took control of it and swam to the dock. He was ready to feed it with the Taisui in order to strengthen it. After the cultivation in these days, the Taisui had absorbed 1,700 kilograms of ginseng powder and depleted all of Chen Fan''s stock. Artificial ginseng was also ginseng, but its harsh growth conditions and long maturity cycle greatly limits its ability to mass produce, like a radish. To this end, Chen Fan could only again change his idea to swap and use instead the Ganoderma, red ginseng, Sanqi, He Shouwu, crocus flower and so on, as these were the mass produced artificial cultivations of precious herbs available to him. As for the level of Chinese wolfberry, it was not that Chen Fan didn''t want to use it, but it was just that it required a lot, which he saw as a big waste of time, having to devote to grinding and pouring that particular medicine. "Money... money..." Chen Fan could not help but feel heartache. From the time he started breeding the Taisui, the total cost had amounted to almost thirteen million. And by the end of this year, it would be at least 200 million RMB. Two hundred million... Once upon a time, he remembered when he had been still struggling with the difference between the price of Master Kong instant noodles and Fu Manduo noodles, and now, the money was directly up to eleven digits! "Money... you are the greatest and the most wretched invention of all human beings!" After two sentences of a monologue, Chen Fan pulled out a dagger and cut seven pieces the size of a bowl from the body of the Taisui. Seven Taisui, Chen Fan used the electronic scale to measure, total nine catty and two Liang, heavier than the Taisui before. After dropping it into the electric eel''s mouth, it still had the feeling of being lazy and light. After a night, the sensation became itchy, as if there were thousands of invisible hands scratching the skin of the electric eel. Chen Fan, who had already had the experience, knew that the electric eel was about to shed its skin again. Indeed, as expected, by the time of noon, this tickle gradually concentrated on the skin, making him feel like peeling off the skin, so as to relieve the itch. Ho! The electric eel swam to the rocks, its huge body rubbing against the rocks. The electric eel shed its skin, which was different from a snake shedding its skin. The snake shed its skin in a whole piece, like one''s taking off a shirt. But with the electric eel, it was about the same as shedding the cuticle of the dead skin, not like a snake, which was known for shedding skin in the lap. The first thing that came off was the tail section, and when scales the roughness of buffalo skin were peeled off, they revealed black and tender scales inside. Even the terrible scars that had been left by the mine were shed, leaving no sign of them on the new skin. It took some time for the old skin to shed off, and the electric eel was feeling lazy, as if its whole body strength was being used up. So, he just ate a few sharks and came back to the lake in the cave to rest. The strengthening effect was very obvious, as the electric eel had not only greatly enhanced its defense force, but even its vision improved. Also, the primary voltage rose to fifty-five thousand voltage, and the output current was seven hundred amperes! So, you may be wondering, just what is an output current of more than 50,000 volts and 700 amperes? Let''s just say that, if it was converted to an electric motor, it could drive a ten thousand ton ship to thirty knots. And, if it electrified a person, it would take just five seconds to turn them into a burning meat! Ho! As Chen Fan was getting into a state of speculation, the python, which was hiding under the cliff, swam to the bank and roared. "You are forcing me to kill you!" The electric eel''s eyes stared at the distant python, feeling hot, wondering if it had not had enough?! Was it thinking that the Taisui are jelly beans? The electric eel swam up to it, then opened its mouth. Thick, dark green venom, like an Olympic champion''s bow and arrow, which was fast, accurate and fierce, then spurt out at the python. "Ho!" The python, with a tilt, glided through the poison, then opened its scarlet mouth and pointed at the electric eel in a mad snarl. "Wait!" The electric eel blinked its eye, suddenly finding that the python''s body was fatter, and its cheeks, forehead, abdomen, and tail, of which the electric eel had beat out the ugly scars, were all gone. "God, it''s impossible!" Chen Fan''s heart was jealous, as he could see its tender, snowy scales. It must have just shredded its skin! It takes a dozen days for a normal snake to shed its skin, and yet it took only about two days for this white python. Did it eat too much Taisui, which then sped up the shedding? Snake bodies, due to the constant division of the germinal layer of cells, form a new living cell layer under the action of the enzyme. After which, the old cell layer dissolves, which can make a layer of separation between the old layer and the newborn cells. Moreover, the snakes shed their skins three to eight times a year, and each time they shed their skin, their body size can grow even larger. Ho! The python saw the electric eel''s gaze on it for a moment, and then, with a violent roar, came to remind him of its existence.But, its theatrics were a little overdone, as with a white chill, it nearly hit the electric eel''s head! To Chen Fan''s surprise, The snake did not bring the blue stone. Instead, the eel brought a two-meter long fish, the whole body of which looked like jelly. "Bribery?" The electric eel did not hesitate to grab the fish and turn around. Ho! Looking at the black back departing, the boa constrictor heaved a cry and staged a freestyle dive again. "Quite reasonable!" The electric eel smiled and looked at the jelly-like fish. It did not ask for Taisui this time, which made Chen Fan feel more than a little proud. The only flaw was that the python''s attitude was quite manic. But, in his non-human identity, he was too lazy to care at the moment. This strange fish had a long body. In addition, other than the tail having two fish fins, the rest of it was like light jelly. Just looking at it and made the electric eel drool. The electric eel immediately liked the taste. Cool and lubricated, the taste was tender and sweet, like lychee. "Crunch, crunch," the two meters fish was eaten by the electric eel. After biting off the tail and head, he took the whole thing in his mouth, then after tasting it for a long time, he swallowed. After eating the delicious fish, he suddenly recalled that the python did not seem to have any organs to grab things with, but only the mouth. In other words, the fish was picked up by it in its mouth. "Oh..." He was a neat freak electric eel, and would not eat any fish that looked ugly or old and sick, so this time he unexpectedly made a mistake. However, the fish had been eaten, and it was too late to regret it. Chen Fan could only admit he was defeated, and after all, who made this ugly fish to taste so appetizing?! Just at this threshold, the white python swam up again, its calf size head holding a white, shimmering fish. The fish was still the same as the one that had just been eaten, and it was clear to him that the python was carrying the fish in its tail, and that the electric eel, which was rather fussy, never ate its tail and its head! The python began to roar again, after it had thrown away the white fish. The electric eel came up to it, then the tail pointed at the white fish on the ground, smashing it into a pulp. Enraged, the python''s roar was suddenly low, and with two bloodshot eyes aimed at the electric eel, it had a barbed upper jaw that opened and closed, as if it would attack the electric eel the next moment. The electric eel''s swarthy black scales suddenly became discolored, and the deep blue arcs of countless arms leapt out and exploded. The intense heat generated by the electric arc heated the water molecules in the surrounding air to the boiling point, turning it into a vast mist of fog, shooting tendrils in the electric eel''s body. Ho! The boa constrictor, aware of the gains and losses, slowly retreated a dozen meters, then continued to stare at the electric eel with angry eyes. One black and white, these two giant monsters of the same size, held fast, one with a full look of provocation in the eyes, the other a full of anger. Five seconds later, the python glared at the electric eel and jumped off the cliff with a splash. "Yellow dog!" Chen Fan looked at the spread of "fish sauce" on the ground. He sent him two high-priced Taisui that he had bred, and now, because of this fish, it wanted to attack him?! Chen Fan admitted that his move was excessive, but who thought it would make him angry? "Well, why am I angry with a python?" He wondered aloud, shaking his head. The electric eel continued to sleep beside the stone tower... 192 You Belonged to the Lobster In the late afternoon, Chen Fan saw that the ground powder had been piled up into two compartments, so he patted his hand that was filled with ginseng flavor powder, and got ready to hit the road home. Woof...Woof...Woof... Xiao Xue, who had grown into the size of an adult Tibetan mastiff, heard that familiar car sound in the distance, then immediately climbed up from the ground and cheerfully barked. "If you bark again, I''ll spay you!" Chen Fan kicked it in its bum, thinking how this guy was good at everything, but barks too loud! It was as noisy as firecrackers buzzing in his ears! Yunmeng needed to study at night, so Chen Fan usually came home after having dinner at the gate of the garden. But, there were some exceptions today, because he was going to take Xiao Xue to get a shot. There were two kinds of inoculation shots: one is the DA2L vaccine and the other is the CPV vaccine, both of which improve immunity and prevent canine infectious diseases. When he first bought the canine, Chen Fan just wanted it to be a "drug tester". But now, he has grown to have some affection for it. Then again, the Tibetan mastiff had a strong protective instinct for its home, and any stranger who came in, was not allowed to pass unless he stepped on its dead body! So, if Chen Fan was not at home, the Tibetan mastiff could also act as a guardian. "I say, young man, do you want to spay this Tibetan mastiff?" At a company called the "smart animal clinic", the chubby veterinarian prepared the vaccine with a syringe, while saying in a calm manner to Chen Fan, "Your dog is big now, and if it enters puberty without getting spayed, you will suffer. It would want to mate whenever it sees a bitch! Also, it would be particularly prone to depression and grumpy endocrine disorder." "Wouldn''t it be a eunuch, if I had it spayed? I could find a bitch for it to mate, right?" Chen Fan shook his head and drove Xiao Xue into a cage that was used to hold large dogs. "It''s okay, as the sexual ability of Tibetan mastiff is very strong, so you can find a few big bitches then." The fat vet came to the cage and looked at it carefully. "Pull the hair away from its forehead, young man, and cover its eyes." When Chen Fan did so, the fat vet saw that the head of the mastiff was covered with long hair. "I''m afraid you spent more than 200,000 RMB on this Tibetan mastiff. Such a good Tibetan mastiff really cannot be castrated, so it should be kept as a breeding dog. When it comes to puberty, you bring it over, and I''ll help you to mate it, when that time comes. You could earn at least three thousand dollars at a time!" "Good mastiff! Not only does it have an orthodox ''lion face'', but it is still a small mastiff. When it grows up, it will be like an emperor, all the bitches will be crazy for it." "Is it that valuable"? Chen Fan couldn''t help but wonder. It only cost 30,000RMB when it was first bought. Could the Taisui breeding liquid have improved the breed of the dog? "Two hundred thousand is just the present price. It would grow more in two years, if you look at it." The fat vet skillfully and quickly pricked two needles under Xiao Xue''s ear, then dropped the syringe as he spoke, using a confident tone. "Doctor, what''s wrong with my Alaskan Malamute? He has become more and more irritable recently. He likes to bite things, without barking or anything." When Chen Fan was paying, the glass door of the clinic was pushed open, revealing another new client and pup. Chen Fan''s eyes lit up. It was a young girl of about twenty-four, with her hair tied up. A tea - blue scarf was tied to the collar of her long pink dress, revealing only a beautiful oval face. And on her nose, she wore a pair of gold silk rimless spectacles, which immediately let this slender girl add two points, due to her intellectuality, quiet beauty. "Grumpy?" The fat doctor in his thirties swallowed his spittle, and when he had just taken two steps in front of the girl, the sled dog, a meter long and with his ears erect, began to howl. Howl! The Tibetan mastiff in the cage immediately returned to him, looking down at the the sled dog, which suddenly seemed to have seen a ghost, its limbs rigid and fixed to the spot. Two seconds later, he laid on the ground and pretended to be dead, and would not even respond to the girl''s teasing. These Alaskan Malamutes were a breed of dog native to northern Siberia, whose ancestors were used to hunt deer, wolves, and pull sleds. "It''s honest!" The fat doctor laughed. Tibetan mastiffs were ferocious by nature, and there were only three ways to see any dog that dares to run wild in front of it. It would either be dragged away by his master, or the enemy would surrender, or it was seriously injured when provoked by a strong opponent. Of course, the Tibetan mastiff was held by the legend, like the ground dog fighter! But it still depends on the breed. Only those who live on the Tibetan plateau, and who live a life of eating and drinking good food and have pure blood in their bodies are truly invincible Kings. The girl was also frightened by the fierce appearance of Xiao Xue''s calf-like body, even if it was hairy, and not the good kind of hairy! When Chen Fan dragged Xiao Xue''s long white hair away and passed the girl, she, with an exclamation of surprise, jumped behind the desk and covered her mouth with a nervous expression. The sled dog''s reaction was worse than her owner''s, as the canine swished from the ground, knocking over plastic tubs and shivering beneath the shelves. "Hey, sorry, sorry!" Chen Fan nodded shyly and dragged Xiao Xue, the gamer, out of the vet clinic. ............ At 10:05 p.m., Chen Fan laid leisurely on the sofa, watching the news. On the screen was news of an argument with the Japanese that were overfishing the islands. It started when two young men somehow slipped into the island in a fishing boat, then left a flag there that was strongly offensive and insulting. Both of them were college graduates, and the creative ideas they came up with for the flag were hilarious. It turned out to be a Mickey Mouse, holding a yellow and white object in his hand, in the mouth of the exaggerated red sun, making an "I''m going to throw it" gesture. This red sun cartoon head unexpectedly was excited to open up its mouth, apparently, depicting the facial expression of expectation. The two young men, both wearing a headgear that only showed their eyes, noses and mouths, uploaded the video via satellite, then fled in a boat. Now the Japanese side wanted to extradite the perpetrators, while the Chinese side pushed back on the matter and rejected this unreasonable demand. Just then, the door lock in the corridor sounded slightly, and Yunmeng came out of the misty bathroom, wiping her wet hair with a towel. Under the white cotton bathrobe, a pair of long white legs were still letting out of the steam fog, her curves looked flawless, and her collarbone and neck were as graceful as a swan. When she saw Chen Fan staring at her, Yunmeng stuck out her small tongue at him quickly. Then, she stepped on the wool carpet with her bare feet, like a dancing spirit, and flashed into her bedroom. About three minutes later, Yunmeng, who had now changed, ran out of the bedroom and curled up beside Chen Fan. "Why are you running around barefooted?" Chen Fan tapped fondly on her forehead a few times. "En..! (in a coy manner)" Yunmeng pouted and shook off his fingers. Her cheeks had not completely dissipated the glow from the mist. The wide and comfortable leather sofa made Chen Fan sink in. He then got up to touch the air conditioning remote control on the tea table, and after increasing the temperature two degrees, he fell back into the sofa again. Yunmeng pulled back her legs and waited for Chen Fan to turn to her, then blinked cunningly and smiled,"Brother Chen Fan, our teacher notified us that tomorrow afternoon at 3 o''clock, the class would hold a parents meeting!" "What? Parents...Meeting!" Chen Fan suddenly jumped up and stared with exaggerated eyes. "Such a backwards and unscientific way of interaction, why has it not been banned by the government yet?" Yunmeng was shocked by Chen Fan at first, and then held the small pillow next to her, hugging it, as she curled closer up on the sofa and laughed. She had long suspected that Chen Fan was afraid of such things, but she did not expect him to react like a mouse seeing a cat! She smiled, however, and suddenly felt a weight on her body. Then, two big hands were on her back and tickling her. Few people can resist the itch of a tickle... "Ah!" Yunmeng shouted and ran away from Chen Fan''s hands. "Tell the teacher I am ill and have a fever." Chen Fan returned to his seat, still teasing. Yunmeng straightened up the messy corners of her shirt. The laughter had made her neck, ears, and cheeks blush. "But, you are not ill!" Yunmeng approached him and put her chin between her knees with both hands." The teacher said it would be best for the parents of each student to come... " "Sigh... "Chen Fan rubbed his head painfully. He had never told his parents to go to a parents'' meeting, not since the fifth grade. But now it''s my turn to go to the parents'' meeting, and for his future wife, too! It''s a bit too close to science fiction! "Let''s make it so. You kiss me, and I''ll go!" Chen Fan raised his eyebrows and laughed. When Yunmeng heard these words, a delicate pink spread out from her neck, immediately reaching to the eyelids. What a blush she had! Muack! Yunmeng raised her thin lips and pecked him on the left side of his face. Then, she quickly drew back and put her hands on her shins again, as if nothing had happened. It was only her shy eyes that betrayed her. "Not bad, but a little too short!" Chen Fan laughed, which provoked Yunmeng to punch him in the arm. ............... The next morning, at eight o ''clock, the chill had quietly come to the land, through the glass, one could see a layer of mist, nearby lakes, sparse patches of dead leaves flying in the sky, and a gust of wind, which swirled a ripple in the water. "My name is MT. I am the indestructible body. I stand, I dodge, I defend you with my body, so don''t be afraid, as I haven''t fallen down... " Longbottom''s scroll was interrupted by a mobile phone alarm, and then Chen Fan opened his eyes lazily and turned off the alarm. He stayed in bed for a while before getting up and putting on a pair of flat shorts. If he went to bed at twelve o''clock at night, without any restrictions, he could sleep until twelve o''clock before he would wake faintly. This was a huge waste of time for Chen Fan, who was currently earning hundreds of RMB in a minute. So, he would set an alarm if he stayed up late the night before. To get everything done, Chen Fan shifted his mind to the electric eel next to the tower. Swimming fast to the eastern cliffs of the lake, the electric eel stuck its head out and looked over the jagged rocks below. Don''t get him wrong, as he was not thinking of the python, but instead, he missed the taste of the milky white fish it had brought him yesterday! These milky white fish were a kind that electric eels found none of in the lake behind them, as there is only the unique creature in the cliffs below probably. So, Chen Fan was ready to control the electric eel, as he climbed down the cliff and grabbed a few of these favored fish to feed its hunger. At just three hundred meters deep, traversing the straight cliffs to the electric eel, which was now bursting with power, shouldn''t be a big obstacle. Finding a spot where there were more bumps in the rock, the electric eel''s tail went down, its hind paw catching the bump and allowing it to keep moving down little by little. Boom... After climbing more than 50 meters, a stone under its claw broke off. After two hundred and fifty meters of acceleration, the stone the size of a water tank fell into the water, causing a huge wave. "Hu, fortunately, never loses his mind and dashes down like the python. Otherwise, if he wanted to come up, it could really take some time!" Using the other three claws to hold the electric eel in place, the heart palpitated. The python was able to climb rocks quickly, because it was as swift as the wind, and the electric eel on the land could best be described as bloated. At another point of strength, the electric eel had just climbed more than a hundred meters, when suddenly, an explosion came in its ears, and when it twisted its head to look down, it saw that the white python was half out of the water, roaring furiously at the electric eel. Roar! Roar! Roar! As if the python''s guts had been plucked out of its snakeskin, the head the size of a scalper swung back and forth, refusing to let the electric eel down. "You yellow dog!" Chen Fan said, not able to control his anger. He could only simply control the electric eel''s limbs enough to give a push, and then jump to the cliff. How heavy is the 90-meter-long electric eel, one had to wonder, as it could be seen from the huge splash of water that hit hard on the shore. Ho! At the sight of the electric eel, that had jumped down regardless of its own resistance, the python''s eyes were twice more wild than before. It suddenly sprang its S-shaped body and dashed through the wave, intent on biting the electric eel. Boom... A flash of blue light from the electric eel''s body transformed the frantic roar into a shrill scream. The python, however, had been buffeted like a magician with a bloodthirsty spell, striking the center of the current. If Chen Fan had not deliberately lowered the voltage output, it would have been electrocuted long ago. Ten seconds later a proclamation was heard... "You are a lobster, and there is a lot of excrement in the skull!" Looking at its pitiful appearance, the electric eel simply stopped its voltage output and swam up to the rocky ledge in front of the cliff. 193 The Parents’ Meeting Seeing the big black guy staggering up the cliff, the white python growled twice, then plunged its head into the water. "Are you having eggs that you laid in the bottom of the water?" The electric eel lied in a lake, lamely. How dare the python stop him? He does not know the gender of the python, but Chen Fan was sure that it must have "neurosis." At 2:20 p.m., Chen Fan, who cut off a few large cigarette pack-sized pieces of Taisui from its mother''s body, threw them to the electric eel and drove off to Yucai High School to attend a parent''s meeting. In silence, the bus soon arrived at the high school building, its bright school motto shining in the sun. "Here!" As soon as Chen Fan got out of the car, Yunmeng waved him over. "You ought to add an address, reading: dear husband!" Chen Fan covered his chin and walked up to her like a thief. "Pooh!" when Yunmeng saw Chen Fan trying to cover up, she immediately lightly punched him once. "What have you touched, as it smells good and sweet?" "It''s some spices," Chen Fan said, putting his hand in front of his nose to also smell. The fragrance of the Taisui was too strong, and every time he cut it, the smell on his hand could remain until the next day, and only then disappear. At 2:50 p.m., the class was already filled with all kinds of middle-aged men and women, of which Chen Fan was the youngest. To sit in his old school, after so many years, Chen Fan felt an indescribable feeling in his heart, as if he had returned to the previous years that he did not want to recall. He remembered things like dragged by the teacher to the office every day just to memorize English vocabulary... Just as Chen Fan was imagining these things all over again, a young girl with spectacles came in from the door, and she felt very familiar. The same pink gown, the same facethe teacher standing on the platform was unexpectedly the same girl he had met in the pet clinic yesterday. "Damn, so clever?" Chen Fan rubbed his eyes unbelievably, as he had not expected that she would be a famous high school teacher at such a young age. But, she looked a little haggard today, and her eyes were red. "Dear parents, thank you very much for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend this parent-teacher meeting. The female teacher picked up the chalk and wrote three beautiful regular script words that spelled out "Zhang Tiantian" on the blackboard, then forced out a smile and said, "My name is Zhang Tiantian, but you can call me Miss Zhang." "Good afternoon, Miss Zhang," the parents below the stage said and laughed. The parents'' meeting was nothing more than the teacher''s report on the children''s performances in school, and then a talk about how to pay attention to the children and how to learn the science of educating children. "Children nowadays like to go online, which is a big headache for parents and teachers. It not only delays a lot of learning time but also leaves them vulnerable to negative information. Parents, please raise your hands if your children are addicted to the Internet," Zhang Tiantian said with a smile. Swish... There were forty-six of them in total, and forty-three of them had raised their hands. "Miss Zhang, you say the children like to surf the Internet, so what should we as parents do?" A middle-aged woman in the back row asked. "The children are all senior grade three, so every night they go home and read novels online, only going to sleep after reading for a few hours." "Of course we have to go to the telecommunication bureau to stop broadband, then also, do not give them pocket money!" a fat man said in an experienced manner. "Sell the computer. If he doesn''t come home on time, I''ll beat him every time he is caught." "By the end of the night, I''ll cut the electricity... " "Using our will to coerce our children is counterproductive. The children are already big and have their own ways of thinking. They would think that it''s a very authoritarian, disrespectful way of doing things. Then, they will use their every move to resist this behavior on our parts if we treated them as such." The teacher shook her head, saying that she disapproved of their statements, "The children now are at a psychological level that requires respect and approval. Only by respecting their ideas, will that make them want to listen to your opinion from their hearts. This is not to say to encourage children to get to the Internet, but we want to change the way we communicate, to try to use a discussing tone, regarding him as an adult, in order to discuss the negative impact brought by getting addicted to the network. When children are fully respected, they also try to maintain the respect for parents and teachers, us adults." Then one of the parents said, "Miss Zhang, my child is a stubborn donkey. He used to steal my money every day to buy game cards. I was so angry that I beat him up, and if I found him playing games, I would hit him until he said sorry. And now, he doesn''t dare play games anymore." The male parents heard this and nodded repeatedly, thinking: If you hit him with a stick, it''s just for his own good, you won''t learn if you''re not beaten up! "And how is your relationship with your child?" Miss Zhang asked with a smile. "Er... he sees me just like he''s seeing the devil, hating and fearing me," he said. "He will only now tell everything to his mother." "Haha..." a lot of parents burst into laughter. "If there is oppression, there will be resistance, and I think you parents understand that. Children must obey the will of adults without resistance. But it doesn''t mean that the children are in agreement with adults. When they have the ability to resist the will of adults, they will go their own way just to prove that you are wrong or to show that they simply don''t care about you. I think this is all that parents are not willing to see," pointed out Miss Zhang. ...... "Yunmeng''s parent, or parents?" After about some time, Miss Zhang called Chen Fan with a sweet voice. "Hmm, yes! Here!" Chen Fan was lost a few seconds, then looked up and made eye contact with her. Miss Zhang was stunned for a moment, her eyelash blinking surprisedly, "You are Yunmeng''s? " "I''m her brother!" Chen Fan said in a casual way, not having the excitement of seeing a pretty lady revealed in his voice. "Yun... Hello, Mr. Yun!" she said, at first surprised. She then secretly clenched her teeth. Ever since yesterday, after her sled dog was frightened, the canine''s demeanor had changed totally, as his eyes were now wandering always, and even a little action could scare it, causing it to run to escape. To know that the dog was taken care of by her since it was only a month old and had been raised to the present age of four, the relationship was obviously not normal. "My name is Chen." "Oh, I''m sorry, Mr. Chen, you are so young, so you must know more about the inner emotions of children. Can you talk about your views on children''s addictions to the Internet?" Miss Zhang smiled. She would like to praise Yunmeng, but suddenly she changed her mind, ready to refute this guy or to at least let him to be embarrassed. "Addicted to the Internet?" Chen Fan, sitting in a chair, calmly said, "I think it''s good for children to have Internet access, as long as it''s not a pathological addiction." "Mr. Chen, can you give us more details?" She was secretly happy, as how would he dare to say these kind of dauntless words in the parents meeting. She knew it was absolutely a dead road. Sure enough, a lot of parents had already turned up their noses at him and looked at him as if he were an idiot. "The benefits, if I wanted to elaborate, well, I would not be able to finish about them, even by tomorrow morning. Otherwise, there wouldn''t be so many people who like the Internet, so I''ll tell you parents that you made two big mistakes." Chen Fan put up two fingers. "First, the negative information of the network affects the children! Second, why do the children become addicted to the Internet?" He continued, "Negative information is a problem that we cannot cover, and two dogs fighting for a bone can also be viewed as a negative message. The negative information that really attacks children comes from the real world. Strictly speaking, the Internet is a good tool for reducing the crime rate, because it can relieve the frustration and loneliness of one''s mood." "As for indulging in the Internet, and wasting a lot of studying time Why do children go online? Is it just too much of a temptation? The mistake is that he had all kinds of contradictions and pressures in the real world, so he wanted to relax himself through the Internet. So, who is the source of this tension and stress? It can''t be the children themselves." He went on, and on. "Don''t always attribute the problem to the children, as the children who are addicted to the Internet must have something hidden behind their reality. Only tracing the roots that are the causes of the problems, can one solve the problems of children that do not love to study. Otherwise, they will continue to vent their emotions in other ways. Because the lure of the Internet is great, it is also a slap in the face of reality." Dementia, complete dementia was caused by this explosive speech. The atmosphere in the classroom was very strange, as all the parents'' eyes were staring big, and "confused" and "lost" expressions were completely written on the faces. Some people were thinking: It''s harder to be a parent than the mayor of Zhongyun... "Liu... Liu Shuai''s parents" Miss Zhang swallowed hard and found herself unable to find any reason to contradict him. In particular, the part about "don''t always attribute the problem to your children!" The parents were also frustrated by Chen Fan''s involvement, and they continued to discuss the impact of the Internet on their children. After listening to the children''s performance reports in school, they turned around and left. "Mr. Chen, will you go to the office with me?" After the meeting, Zhang Tiantian hesitated to go to Chen Fan. "I want to talk with you about the psychological aspects of children." "No!" In the hallway, Chen Fan did not hesitate to reject her. I mean, what an international joke, going to the office?! It''s better to go to the police station! "Mr. Chen... is it that you are too busy?" Miss Zhang asked timidly. "Well, there are still important things to do this afternoon!" Chen Fan awkwardly touched his nose. "The child''s psychology is very good to think of, and more communication would be fine." With that, he quickly disappeared down the stairs. "Are there any classes at night?" Walking under the orange maple tree, Chen Fan casually dragged a leaf, pinching its thin stem and turning it around. "Yes, at half past six, we''ll begin the evening self-study." Nodding, Yunmeng glanced around like a thief, not sure what she was fearing. "Go eat first. This rotten school, I''m furious just looking at it!" Chen Fan said, as he quickened his pace. The two turned down the street, and Chen Fan targeted a restaurant that specialized in specialty snacks. The weather was so cold that these streets, which were originally so busy, now only had a sparse number of pedestrians. They were dressed in thick warm attire and were in a hurry. "Excuse me, do you know if there is a shop near here called ''Old Sea Tea?''" As Chen Fan was going to push open the glass door, a long haired girl wearing a Yves Saint Laurent brown leather jerkin was coming from the left side. She used her sweet voice, but her mandarin was blunt. The leather hunting outfit suited the hot girl''s character commonly, because this can reflect that kind of wild and athletic feeling more. But this little girl was a long haired charming sweet girl, who, if she changed the outfit, she absolutely could pretend to be a fairy from an ancient era. As soon as Chen Fan turned his head, he was attracted by her unique temperament. "Do you know, Sir?" the long haired girl again smiled and repeated. "I know," Chen Fan said, stunned a little. He snapped out of it after seeing Wu Ruoyu and Yunmeng, who could compare in beauty with this girl. He could already very expertly keep his lewd expressions hidden, not like before, when his eyes looked in all the wrong ways when he would see beautiful girls. "Go straight through the lane on the left, then turn left at the three-way intersection road, and then walk a few hundred meters... " After directing for a while, even Chen Fan was himself confused! The tea shop was famous for its centuries-old secret tea-making process, but it hid in a location tucked away in the old town, and the roads were complicated. He asked Yunmeng for a book and pen, which Chen Fan held in his hands, thinking while he drew. "Thank you so much," the long haired girl crossed her hands to her waist and bent to bow. "You... Are you a foreigner?" Chen Fan stopped writing, as only south Korean and Japanese women would make that move. Considering also, the fact that she spoke Mandarin, gave him a slightly awkward feeling, which then made him doubt. "I''m Japanese!" The long haired girl smiled and nodded. "Why a little Japanese!?" Chen Fan complained, saying in his heart, "You can''t buy it, because the tea is so limited, and the original one can only be booked in advance." However, he took back the sentence that he was about to say... "There you go," Chen Fan actually said, as he handed her the "map" that was drawn abstractly, shaking his head, and then he pulled Yunmeng into the restaurant. The long haired girl pinched the note and tried to identify it for some time, then turned to the left lane with suspicion in her eyes. But, when her figure disappeared around the corner for ten seconds, she came back in a strange and uncertain way, and not seeming to care about the note that had dropped out of her hand, she clanged open the glass door. The customers were sparse inside the dining-room, and as the long haired girl glanced half a circle around it, her eyes brightened and she exclaimed, "Dadada!" as she ran up to the man in her small leather boots. Then, seeing the man''s stunned look, she grabbed his palms. "Are you insane?" Chen Fan broke free his palm, hurried in, and took his hands and sniffed them, without saying a word. If that girl was a man, he would have slapped him. Yunmeng, however, was so nervous, that she grabbed Chen Fan''s shirt and stared at the girl with one third of her face out. "How did you get this smell on your hands?" The long haired girl sat down opposite of the two people, the look in her eyes was rich and strong in expectation. "Why do you care?" Chen Fan was alert, thinking she must know about the ghost moon incense, or she needed the ghost moon incense urgently. Otherwise, she would not be so disgraceful in her actions. Indeed, as expected, the long haired girl was asking in an urgent manner, "Is this the ghost moon incense fragrance? Do you have it? I''m willing to buy it at a high price." "Ghost moon incense? What''s that? I don''t know. This fragrance, I picked up a stone at the seaside and its smell was stained on my hand." Chen Fan secretly patted Yunmeng''s thigh, indicating that she did not need to be nervous. "And the stone?" "I threw it away!" Chen Fan''s face was calm. The long haired girl took a deep breath and said in a gentle voice, "Sir, would you please sell me that stone for five million yuan?" Chen Fan crumpled his mouth. "This stone, Miss Japan, has been thrown by me, no matter if you believe it or not. But, I want to ask you to leave, because you have seriously interfered with my meal." Don''t say five million, because even if it was for five billion, Chen Fan would not sell it. Especially now that ghost monon incense already had no remaining stock, and could only be produced by the Taisui, which could be like a virus, self-propagating! Again, sell to her? When god comes to earth, he would consider it! "I''m sorry, I''ll wait for you to finish dinner!" The girl with long hair stood up, bowed with her hands on her stomach, and stood beside it, like a lamp post. "Chen Fan, this woman is very strange, as she is willing to spend five million to buy a stone." Yunmeng puckered her mouth, this person was too strange, barging in the dining-room unexpectedly, pulling a man''s hand and not letting go. Of course, she did not think of the fact that her own left hand was still holding the same man''s shirt. In this case, how could two people be in a mood to eat? After a few bites, Chen Fan was ready to leave. "Sir, sir, shall we find a place to talk?" The long haired girl ran over to him, relentless. "Yunmeng, take a taxi back to school yourself!" Chen Fan tapped her weak shoulder, as with her here, he couldn''t come out with his scoundrel act, which was making him have a very passive impression. "But..." How could Yunmeng be trusted to leave him be alone with this long-haired girl? So, she jealousy pulled his arm. "Be obedient..." Chen Fan hired a taxi, then touched her small nose. "Then... Then you go home early!" Yunmeng''s tone was quite like a wife instructing husband, but seeing her eyes was like looking at the sexy secretary beside her husband. After sending off Yunmeng, Chen Fan''s honest man index, immediately fell by about 200 percent. With a hard cough, he turned his face to stare at the long haired girl with an unbridled glare. "All right, little girl, I''m going home, you should go wherever you want to play." Chen Fan glared at her and walked toward his car. As expected, the long haired girl grabbed him by the arm. 194 Nakagawa Mitasu "Are you finished? Chen Fan shook his arm and said angrily, "I said that I have thrown the stone away!" "Sir, you have a saying here that ''A straightforward person does not resort to insinuations''. We''re all adults, and there''s nothing wrong with our IQs. Why do you tell such a lame lie?" The little girl with long hair loosened her arm and said, "You can call me Nakagawa Emi. I earnestly request you to sell me the ghost moon incense, and we, the Nakagawa, will certainly pay you a grand reward." The Nakagawa family had a fascinating background. Since A.D. 1603, when the imposed great commission in Edo Shogunate first began, the first generation of householder, minister Nakagawa Gentai, was the Minister of the government. During his tenure, the Nakagawa family turned to commercial development, and continued to do so for more than 200 years. In 1996, the Nakagawa corporation was ranked second among the top 500 in the world. After the year 2001, Nakagawa''s independent accounting of its important industrial institutions made them fall rapidly from their five top ranking position, and within a few years, they''d dropped out of the five hundred top completely. In 1983, it set up its first office in Beijing, and now, it has 12 offices in China, and more than 97 joint ventures and sole proprietorships. Its business scope included the domestic trade of steel, textile, machinery, chemicals, energy, electronics and information, as well as grain, oil and food, non-ferrous metals, light industrial building materials, and much more. Arguably, the Nakagawa family''s economic strength in Japan was second only to that of the world''s largest business community. As a member of the immediate family, Nakagawa was assigned to take charge of Tianhai city and the industrial supervision of three nearby cities. Today, she was going to represent the elderly in her house, to go to the tea shop that had a tradition dating back hundreds of years, in order to meet an elderly person, who had mistook an elderly member in her household as being Chinese, and saved him, during the sino-japanese war. En route to this mission, they had unexpectedly met Chen Fan. "The Nakagawa family?" Chen Fan crumpled his mouth, I''m the young master of Chen''s family, had she read too many novels? "Nakagawa Emi, do you know what is the brand of my car?" Chen Fan, like a nouveau riche, patted his Maybach, Berlin. "Maybach, Berlin!" Nakagawa Emi said, as though she was talking about a Chery QQ, with no change in expression. She did not show surprise and admiration as expected, which made Chen Fan frustrated. Now, he said in an unkind voice, "You know, so do you think I''m going to sell something I don''t want to sell for five million dollars?" "What line of business does your family do?" Nakagawa Emi drew a gold-plated business card from her hunting suit. "I think we can establish a business partnership and provide a very convenient business channel for you, sir." Chen Fan thought her family was just a rich family in Japan, while Nakagawa thought Chen Fan was just a rich man''s son. "My household handles a tomb robber profession!" Chen Fan took the card at random and looked at it, then held it in his hand. "Once again, I won''t sell it." "󤷤Ƥ!" Nakagawa Emi said half, and realized that the other party did not understand, so she then said in Chinese, "Sir, ghost moon incense is very important to our family, so I would like to ask you to consider again." "Are you deaf or what?" Nakagawa''s face, which was originally cheerful, suddenly became cold. Then she said, "I want you to think seriously!" She was just beginning to show a very talkative, cheerful appearance. But, that didn''t mean she was really good-natured. In fact, some people from large families more or less hated rejection. This was a problem that had been cultivated over the years by the sense of superiority in the family, and thus, had been deeply rooted in their blood. "I have thought carefully!" Chen Fan raised his eyebrows, then shook the card with his finger tips. "Phew!" With sound made in his mouth, he darted the card out of the way, hitting it squarely on the light box. "Ȥ󤷤ƤɤƤ!" To Chen Fan''s surprise, Nakagawa Emi did not erupt physically, but instead did so verbally. What was she talking about? Chen Fan scowled, as it was impossible to sell her the ghost moon incense, for she was Japanese! So, Chen Fan did not bother to play with her, and after flinging off the business card, he turned away. "You will pay for your actions!" After saying that, Nakagawa Emi also turned away. "Wait!" Chen Fan suddenly pressed down the window and cried out to her with a smile, "I am a very lustful person. If you can satisfy my desire and sleep with me for a night, I think I will give you the ghost moon incense." Before he was just wanting to leave after teasing the Japanese girl, but the expression on her face did not change, as said astonishing words, "If you hand out the ghost moon incense first, I will immediately grant your wish." The voice was still crisp and sweet, but Chen Fan felt creepy hearing it. "You, crazy woman..." Chen Fan gave her a thumbs up, then fled away with his car. "󤦤ɤ⤬ʤꤢᤴȤޤ." Nakagawa Emi did not listen to Chen Fan''s provocation, but took out her phone and informed the family''s elders of the scene that just played out. ............ Half an hour later, in the seaside dock... Chen Fan, with a sore face, cleaned up the Taisui, readying himself to move them into the cave. Though he could not predict people''s actions, just by looking at their faces, the little girl did not look like a simple person, either in her tone of voice or manner. So, it was necessary for him to shift his Taisui to a safer place, just in case. "God knows I am this lucky, as just by a few fragrances on my hands, I attracted a Japanese?" Chen Fan complained bitterly, as he packed his things into the capsule. This time he reared the Taisui in the third layer sealed space, and stuck the rosin with plastic film cloth on the wall firmly, making sure the aroma inside did not leak out, and thus preventing any coveting from the crocodile dragons and the snake. The next day, Chen Fan went to the market to specially buy latex and glass, to paste on the broken wall, making a simple structure for sealing the door. As soon as he got back onto the dock, his cell phone rang in his pocket. "Well, what is it?" The phone call was from Wang Bing. Chen Fan sat on the chair leisurely and carefreely answered. "Where are you, Sir? I called you so many times, but nobody answered." "Say it directly!" "Let''s meet and talk. It''s important." Wang Bing''s tone was seldom so serious. "Then go to my house and find me. I''ll be right there!" When Chen Fan arrived home in a huff, Wang Bing was standing at the door, kicking the branches with his toes. Both of them walk into the house, the tone of Wang Bing was somewhat solemn. "Boss, when I picked up Yunmeng to go to school today, I detected two suspicious people strolling around." "Here?" Chen Fan felt very strange, as he did not do anything evil outside, so why was someone spying on him? "Yes, they were about 1.8 cm tall, thin, and wearing big black sunglasses. When I arrived, they were pretending to pass by the door." Wang Bing sat on the sofa, as he handed the picture taken with the cell phone to him. "I saw them as being suspicious, then I sent Yunmeng to school, and came back to observe a moment, only to find that they were indeed spying. Boss, have you offended anyone recently?" "My character is higher than Jesus, so how can I offend? If I was to offend a person, it would have been two days ago, a Japanese girl." Chen Fan described the scene, while looking at the photos on the phone. "If the person was her, then she wanted to get the ghost moon incense, and" Wang Bing said, and then his expression changed. "Boss, isn''t that a broken stone? Give her that, and you could even sleep with her." "What do you know?" Chen Fan slapped his hand on the coffee table. "How can we be threatened by a little Japanese girl? Even if one of us did sleep with her, you can''t give her anything. Forget it. You''ll be living downstairs in the living room from now on." Chen Fan waved his hand. "It was because of some reason, I couldn''t give it to her." "Ok!" Wang Bing agreed immediately, as she was only a Japanese little girl, how many storms and waves could she raise in Zhongyun city? "Nakagawa Emi, I''ll see what you could do!" Chen Fan''s eyes were wide and fierce. It was not surprising she could find his place. The Maybach was the best clue, as other people couldn''t afford to buy such luxury cars. And it''s not like the Maybach 62S zeppelin, where people who didn''t know about cars would not recognize it. "Do you want me to teach them a lesson, when they come again?" "Well, when you find another one, get one in and torture him." The two men talked casually, waiting until 9.30 p.m. to pick up Yunmeng from school. ............ The two buildings were located in the most prosperous commercial street of Zhongyun city, on the 36th floor of Jinding building. The building, which had only 36 floors, was a strange and mysterious place for the employees who worked there, as the decoration and design style of that floor was all created by the famous "Nakano studio" in Japan. There were even rumors that, inside, there is an artificial hot spring covering more than 40 square meters, piled with pebbles around it, all of which was transported from Japan. Other than full-time Japanese waiters, the staff here were not allowed to take the 36 floors at any time. Of course, they didn''t have a chance to get close, because there were two bodyguards guarding the 36-story elevator all year-round. In a building steeped in classical style and decorated entirely with bamboo and brocade satin, Nakagawa, dressed in upper white and lower black samurai costumes, knelt on the tatami. The meaning behind such attire is very symbolic, as a samurai wearing white represents justice, black represents wisdom, and the belt around the waist represents propriety. Of course, it''s all created by the little Japanese girl... 195 The Python Was Injured In front of her was a low square table made of sandalwood, and on it was a long, wrapped object. Unwrapping the package layer by layer, revealing the thing inside, it was a simple long katana. Nakagawa Emi held the katana, making it stand up slowly, and with the long katana sheath crossed at the waist, her right hand held the handle, as she suddenly shouted melodiously. Then, with her hand holding the long katana, she managed an absolutely superb skill of knife extraction, one which was impossible to do without years of practice. Also, it was a trick that could be directly awarded Menkyo Kaiten (initiation into the secrets) by the chief examiner of the new swordplay. Being awarded Menkyo Kaiden means that you have reached the realm of the master and can go to the ministry of teaching. "Whew!" Nakagawa Emi gave a long sigh, grabbed a towel, and wiped the fine beads of sweat from her forehead. She then went outside. "How are things going?" "Miss Nakagawa, please rest assured, we are a very powerful group, so when we want to investigate a person, wouldn''t it be easy?" Outside, a man dressed in a black coat said with a smile, "This afternoon, we will check out the area''s security system. By the way, I''m afraid the only trouble is his pet dog in the yard." "A dog?" How could a dog be a problem? Nakagawa Emi was confused. "Yes, Miss Nakagawa, strictly speaking, it is a Tibetan mastiff." The coated man gave her two digital photos. "Tibetan mastiffs never eat any strange things, and their vigilance and sense of smell are high, so it is almost impossible to enter the house without waking it." The snowy white figure attracted the attention of Nakagawa Emi at once. This was the biggest dog that Nakagawa Emi had ever seen, and the dog has already spotted the candid camera, evidenced by the frozen roar in the photo, in which she could see its strong ferocious emotion. The most special thing was its look, and Nakagawa Emi had been looking at it for half a day. She thought it could only be described as "sharp", as the Tibetan mastiff had a pair of sharp eyes. "I want this dog!" The tone of Nakagawa Emi was as solid as an iron hammer. "I''m afraid not." The man in the coat was helpless and rejected her wish. "The Tibetan mastiff has only one master in his life, and he will go on hunger strike until he dies, if he leaves that one master." ............ It was night. Chen Fan was lying on the sofa with Yunmeng, leisurely watching TV, while Wang Bing concentrated on sitting in front of the computer, playing a new 3D fighting game. The current TV channel was reporting the international news, something about happenings in Tanzania, and a Mozambique border town...non-governmental forces on both sides.57 militants killed.more than two hundred innocent people injured... Bored, and having changed two channels already, Chen Fan was suddenly interrupted by a mournful howl. Boom! Chen Fan was startled, and moved his mind to the electric eel. He quickly controlled it to the edge of the cliff. Howl! The snake growled again, but the sound was so weak, that it seemed to be cut into two pieces. If it was not because of the electric eel''s good hearing, it wouldn''t have noticed. When the electric eel ran up to him, the scene in front of him nearly scared him down. The white snake was still floating on the surface of the water, and the dark water had turned into a dazzling bloody color. On the left side of his abdomen, something had been pulled out of a gap of eight meters and two meters deep, and the ribs were clearly visible. Further down was a dozen water cylinder size circular wound, one of the most vicious ever seen, and it was directly opened in the abdomen. If not of for a layer of mucus membrane, the inside of the organ would have been shaken out. Miserable! Actually, it was tragic and miserable. It was difficult to describe the damage to the python, which was so much worse than the electric eel that was so badly damaged by the mine. Chen Fan even suspected that the snake was dead. But, as it was too late to think too much, the electric eel grabbed the jagged rocks on the cliff and began to climb down. "Hang on. How can I get it up?" Suddenly, he thought of the problem, and the electric eel climbed up and down on its own, as with a giant python, there was no possibility of coming up. Five seconds later, the electric eel swished! And, just like that, it was out of the python''s sights, and the python, with its left eye out of the water, just stared weakly over the cliff. Ang... the mouth of the python opened slightly, sending out a sound that even its own ear could not hear clearly. Boom!Boom! Boom! The electric eel disappeared after about twenty seconds, as a vigorous tumbling down the rocks to the surface was heard. Then, the light above the python darkened, as there was a loud splashing monstrous noise heard. It turned out that Chen Fan had directly controlled the electric eel and jumped off the cliff, thus saving time for climbing. In a burst of metal sound, the electric eel quickly wound itself around the snake with its five-hundred-meter cable, and then, biting the end of the steel cable with its mouth, climbed up the cliff. The weight of a slender python, which was not so stressful for the electric eel, was still too much for a rock''s enduring power, which was too weak to carry them. Hence, the electric eel was broken into three pieces of rock in order to reach the shore. "I''m going out!" After saying the sentence, Chen Fan hurried down the stairs. When the python was injured, the immediate task was to stop the bleeding. The electric eel could release the low-frequency voltage to help its wounded tissue heal faster. But that would consume many nutrients in the body, like a heavy patient. In fact, it was estimated that, before the wound stopped bleeding, it would die because of its internal weakness. So, Chen Fan was ready to run to the inside of the stone tower and cut a piece of ginseng Taisui to help him to recover. But driving needs concentration, so Chen Fan did not dare control the electric eel to return to the sea, and he could only secretly pray that the python could bear it all a little longer, and not die halfway. When Chen Fan ran onto the dock, the python had closed its eyes, and he was not sure if it had fainted or died. Fifteen minutes later, Chen Fan quickly opened the submarine and ran a few steps to the stone pagoda''s third floor, then cut pieces of Taisui the size of the bowl from the ginseng Taisui organization, before he quickly went down again. Controlling the electric eel to open the mouth of the python, he then put the Taisui in, and only then did Chen Fan have the time to look at the white python! To observe it from the point of view of the electric eel and the human eye, was completely two different conceptual angles! The large white body was as big as a train, and was covered with a layer of light. A triangular streamer was at its head, releasing a strong cool look. And, of course, there was the smell of blood. "If it hadn''t gotten hurt, it would be fatal to even stare at it!" After a long while, Chen Fan came to such a conclusion. Indeed, if the electric eel could not discharge electricity, even it was three times bigger than the giant python, it could still not defeat it, because of its fast speed. Boom! Chen Fan''s movements were suddenly stiff, as if he had been hit by Barrett''s anti-equipment sniper rifle and his heart had stopped. Because this giant python had unexpectedly opened his eyes, due to its eating the Taisui, those big eyes now fixed on Chen Fan. "Frightened me to hell!" Chen Fan, who struggled out of fear, patted his chest, then ran a few steps to the electric eel, climbed his paw to the forehead, and swore he was the owner of the electric eel. Ho! The electric eel opened its eyes and roared, glaring. Ang... the python responded weakly, then again closed its eyes. As he laid down on the second floor of the tower, he controlled the electric eel and came to the python, gently covering the python''s injured parts that looked as if it had been hit by a missile. It already consumed a piece of super ginseng King Taisui, so it presumably should have enough physical strength to support the abnormal activity of the cell consumption. The electric eel''s own best rate of stimulation, which was between two hundred and seventy volts to three hundred and ten volts, was probably the same as that of a python. Of course, the electric eel could use electric current to stimulate its injuries, and he could let the current go wherever it wanted it to go. It was impossible to stimulate other things besides the noumenon like this, and the current was out of control. Bang! After a slight electric arc striking sound, the white python''s wound suddenly shivered, not knowing if it was due to pain or not. After finding no abnormalities, the electric eel placed another paw on another wound and continued to stimulate it with electrical current. Two hours later, and the python''s skin was covered with white tissue, and the blood had stopped oozing. "You are lucky you met me. Otherwise, you would already have gone to hell." The electric eel took back its claws, and since it was not dead, it meant it would not die. Until now, Chen Fan had had time to think about a problem. That was: What was it that the python was injured by? The speed of it had been experienced by the electric eel, and it was no exaggeration to describe it as being as fast as lightning. And to say that the cliff waters were neither big nor small, and to hold a python was already an extreme "fantasy", and adding to that now, the thought that even an unknown creature might greater than the python? Chen Fan''s first reaction to such things was to shake his head, especially at the beginning, when the electric eel had plunged into the water, and the python started croaking to stop the electric eel. At that time, he had used the electromagnetics and proved the water depth was six hundred and thirty meters below. And the data, which stretched over a thousand meters to the left and right, had not found any large creatures, not even the last two-meter milky white fish! And to think. there were still thousands of meters of unexplored area, so Chen Fan did not dare go down to probe, but instead, he would just wait for the python to be in good condition again, and then decide! Ang... at this time, the white snake had already leisurely woken up, with its mouth whimpering, and its eyes fixed on the electric eel. "You say you can''t read and can''t talk, so how can I understand you?" The electric eel and the python stared at each other for a long time. "Forget it. You take care!" The electric eel patted its head with its claws, then grabbed the capsule and returned to the dock. When he got home, it was one o''clock in the morning, and Chen Fan went to bed directly. ............ At eleven o''clock the next morning, Chen Fan, who was lying in bed, opened his eyes and moved his mind to the electric eel. The white snake still laid motionless, and when the electric eel came up to it, it could only open its eyes and howl. "The spirit is much better..." After waiting for a while, Chen Fan controlled the electric eel to swim out of the cave, causing it to catch a few sharks back, ready to feed the python. The electric eel brought only one shark back when he returned, because he had come back with a 12-meter long whale shark! Pulling the whale shark over and tearing it into a piece of meat, it then passed it to the python''s mouth. Click! In one bite, the python did not hesitate to bite the whale meat into its mouth, swallow it without chewing, and then look at the whale meat again. "One, two, three... " So the electric eel gave it 17 pieces, and it was one three parts of the whale shark, and with its big mouth, it ate the rest of the whale with a spooky sound of chewing. Ang... the scarlet big mouth opened and closed, and the python did not understand why the electric eel did not let it eat full? Chen Fan did this for the python''s sake, because the way that the digestive system worked, it would take an organism and a large amount of physical energy, and even badly hurt people or animals, and in return, it would also occupy a lot of physical energy in order to heal the wounds. So, in the meantime, once you''ve eaten too much, you''re going to have a seizure of your energy... 196 Two-sided Attack With that, Wang Bing continued to bury himself in his work. Chen Fan waited to see what he could do with a roll of string. "All right!" Five minutes later, Wang Bing clapped his hand and jumped down from the flower bed. Could this also be called an alarm system? Chen Fan really wanted to go up and kick him, but he just coiled the line at random in the fence for a few laps, then put the two main lines connected to the empty beer bottles, before putting the beer bottles on the window, where they would fall if gently touched. "Can''t you make something more high class?" Chen Fan pointed to the piece of mess and complained. "Could you at least put a vibrating bell on it?" "Then, why don''t I hang two bells on it?" "It''s best to hang you on it!" Chen Fan whispered, "When do you think they will come to steal it?" "This" Wang Bing thought for a while, and said his opinion, "Later in the evening, most likely because the security system is strong, as long as someone has some relevant knowledge, they could enter without attracting the attention of the security guard. In the daytime, you will not be able to attack with force unless you use other means." "Then, would someone disguised as... " Woof. Woof.. at this time Xiao Xue, who lay prone on the floor, suddenly barked twice, lazily, interrupting Chen Fan''s voice. "Are you Mr. Chen Fan?" When Chen Fan turned around, he saw a man in a red vest standing outside the white iron art gate, addressing him. The young man had the words "Shentong delivery" printed on his chest. Stomp! Chen Fan''s heart suddenly quickened, as he thought of: red vest, black sunglasses, 180 cm height, and a small beard on his chin... "Yes, I am Mr. Chen!" Wang Bing walked up in silence and scanned his whole body like a scanner. "Here''s your parcel!" The bearded man grinned and clapped his hand on the half-meter-high square cardboard box. "From Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang nation, please sign." "Guilin?" Wang Bing laughed and glanced casually at Chen Fan. Seeing his puzzled expression, he put his hands on his back and said, "I seem to have no acquaintance there." "This... This is what it says on the package!" The mustached man took two steps forward. "Since you are Mr. Chen, then that''s right. Please sign, so that I can go back and report," he said, handing over the package. "Come in ...Come in..." Wang Bing very warmly greeted him, as he walked in the door. When the bearded man grinned and walked in, with a flash, Wang Bing''s hands grabbed his arm and twisted it into a bow, then said, "Boy, you came in at the right time. Your method is behind the times, so please try something new!" "Let go, you''re crazy!" The bearded boy struggled, but grinned with pain, as he was being pulled on his ligaments. "Say, who are you to Nakagawa Emi?" Chen Fan walked up to him, grabbed his package, ready to tear it apart, but then suddenly stopped to throw it out of the door. Xiao Xue felt the host''s hostility, and forced a deep roar from its canine throat. The roar was only relieved by Chen Fan''s touch on its hands. "Ah..Ah..., I don''t know a Nakagawa Emi!" The bearded man''s aching tears were coming down now, and he did not care about the sunglasses that fell to the ground. "Acting? You continue acting!" Chen Fan blinked and stared at him, thinking Impersonating a postman? Come on... He had no friends or relatives in Guilin, nor had he heard of anyone who wanted to send him a parcel by mail from Guilin. "I''ll give you five seconds to think about it, and don''t give yourself a lifetime of regrets just because you deny it." Wang Bin increased his strength and said, "What did Nakagawa Emi send you to do?" His tone was cold and harsh, and anyone who heard him could tell that he was not joking. "Ah... " The pain in his arm and the stress in his mind caused the bearded man to feel depressed, as he shouted, "I''m a postman, so I don''t know what are you talking about!" "I''m not satisfied with your answer, so... " Wang Bing tried to give him a taste of pain, but he was interrupted by a crisp cell phone ring. The source of the sound was Chen Fan, who looked around for a few rounds and then hesitated for two seconds before pulling out his phone. "Shh!" Chen Fan saw the number and quickly made a silencing gesture to Wang Bing. "Well, I''ve been busy these days, so sometimes I turn off my cell phone." "Yeah!" "Oh?" "Guilin?" Chen Fan eyes suddenly magnified six times and his voice became lamentable. "Loose... Let him go. It was a mistake... Misunderstanding... " His eyelashes flickered and danced, and there was an indescribable awkwardness in them. "He is a postman, and the things were mailed from Guilin by my father." The call came from his father, who first complained about why his cell phone had been disconnected for several days, then told him that he would be home in three more days. He also said that he went to the home of his old classmates in Guilin. They sent a lot of special products, such as Luo Han Guo and Lipu taro meat and other stuff for them. Since it was not convenient to bring it all back, he mailed it. Pit-a-pat! Wang Bing, who was in a daze, let go of his hands and wanted to apologize. The postman, like he had seen a ghost, fled the scene with a whimper, forgetting about his responsibilities. "Grow a watermelon and bear a pumpkin!" Wang Bing could not help complaining, and then went outside to pick up the box. .................. At 7:30 p.m., Chen Fan and Wang Bing sat around the tea table in the Bolan community of Zhongyun city, staring at the hot pot boiling in front of them. Beside the tea table, lying on Chen Fan''s feet, was Xiao Xue, sticking its tongue out and, occasionally drooling. Beef rolls, lamb rolls, various kinds of seafood, etc. filled the table. "Here!" Chen Fan tore a piece of the mutton roll that had just been taken out from the plastic film, and put in front of Xiao Xue, letting this unfussy guy satisfy his canine craving. To eat hot pot on a cold day was a good thing. When the soup boiled, Wang Bing immediately picked up the pieces of fresh meat and stuffed them inside, then, after waiting for ten seconds, he couldn''t wait to put them in his mouth. Both of them sighed with pleasure when the hot meat was placed in their mouths. After drinking and eating, Chen Fan slouched on the sofa. He was full. He also had to take care of the seriously injured python and his electric eel. After a few days of care from the electric eel, the python was able to move its body, and the ferocious wound began to form a layer of a deep red callus. Two sharks were caught and given to it to eat. While the electric eel was going out to find food again, Wang Bing nudged him on the couch. "Boss, it''s time, let''s go and pick up Yunmeng." "You go alone. I''ll lay here for a moment, because I didn''t sleep well last night," Chen Fan opened his eyes and said downheartedly. Putting all his attention on the electric eel, the body that had no movement for some time, would go into a state of half asleep, so when he came back, the physical machine, which had relaxed, would be again active. Then, the outsiders who see him, would see a person who was non-energetic, as he had technically just gotten up. "Overindulging?" Wang Bing was amused by his appearance. "You can''t stand being sleepy just after 9 o''clock," he said with a few sniggings, and before Chen Fan''s fist hit him, he grabbed the key of the BMW on the coffee table and ran away. Crumpling his mouth, Chen Fan continued to control the electric eel to find food. Two large ugly fish were spared, and when he had finished killing three thresher sharks and sailed back with a full stomach, he was suddenly awakened by the breaking clear crisp sound of a wine bottle. Whoosh! Chen Fan bounced up from the sofa, as if he had experienced an electric shock. He shook his head vigorously twice, to shake off the dizzy feeling of sitting for too long. The crisp crack from under the window told Chen Fan that the alarm system Wang Bing had set up was working. "Who?" Chen Fan hid behind the wall and gave a loud shout, but after the gentle sound, all around him fell into silence suddenly, and no light or sound came. Chen Fan did not say anything, but just picked up Xiao Xue and dashed forward to the balcony of the 3rd floor. In the beginning, Wang Bin told him that, if anyone wanted to get in the house, he would surely try to kill Xiao Xue, so he kept the dog in his bedroom for the time being. Hiding in the platform of vision, glancing at the gate position, Chen Fan only felt numbness, like needles pricking his head. It was a chilling feeling, and in the white garden gate, unexpectedly, came three men in all black, holding something like a telescope. The other side also quickly found Chen Fan, and the man in the middle was slightly stunned, then he smiled at him. "Damn!" Chen Fan retracted his head, then took out his cell phone to call Wang Bing, only to find that the signal that was always full, now showed the words "searching the Internet". Could it be a cell phone signal blocker? Chen Fan did not expect that he still had the opportunity to try the way to deal with high school students taking high school exams for the second time. The dealers for this kind of stuff could be found easily on the internet, and the handheld terminal was not even the size of an interphone, but could shield a signal range that reached 30 meters to 100 meters! Of course, Chen Fan did not buy this kind of high-quality goods, but he had more advanced communication equipment than this. The power of the cell phone signal shield was too low, as it only covered the signal range of 860-960mhz. Rushing to the second floor, Chen Fan took out the satellite phone from the bedroom, and just when he wanted to run to the third floor, the whole bedroom suddenly went dark. He dragged Xiao Xue to the third floor in the dark, and he finally knew what those people were holding: night-vision goggles... The only difference between a gadget you could buy for thousands of RMB on Taobao was in quality. However, at the moment, the electricity was cut off and Chen Fan did not care about it. Satellite phone signals came directly from a satellite, and were made to block signals from the the sky. Hence, they would have to set up in the distance some high power jammers at a 45 angle, in the face of an interference area, adopting the frequency sweep broadband pulse directional scanning and the implementation of lateral disturbance on the ground. They would then have to make a specific area of the l-band satellite receiving antenna, losing the ability to receive. The costs of such an operation would obviously costly and complex, requiring many people to participate in a single commissioning. As such, only the military had such equipment. ......... It was now 9:35 p.m. at the door of Yucai High School in Zhongyun city. Wang Bing smiled and stared at the white light in front of him, and at the three young men with bulging muscles. Their eyes were like those of a wild dog on an African prairie, overlooking a hare. It was obvious that they were not kind. 197 Two-sided Attacks 2 "Hi!" Wang Bing came forward with great enthusiasm. "Your expressions are so fierce, I hope I didn''t offend you. Why do you look at me like you want to eat me?" Clang! Wuling Light''s side door was pulled open, and three men, their eyes filled with hidden good deeds, surrounded Wang Bing. "Boy, darling, cooperate with us and take the young sister out, otherwise we''ll talk with the knife." Wang Bing was a person, who was never anxious, even the world was falling apart. In fact, he almost laughed when he heard this. He hurriedly made an exaggerated facial expression,and said, "I just saw three mice, barking around a cat. Don''t you think that is funny?" The few people were not fools, and they felt that this person was either insane or very very strong. Then, the person who was on the left side lifted up his garments and pulled out a tube with a high voltage electricity stick from the belts. He then pressed a button, and a blue spark shot out, flashing in the middle of the night, making anyone who saw it afraid. Bang! As the shocking thing happened, he only felt the stars in his eyes, and before he could figure out what was happening, he felt as if he were all over the place, completely weightless. The remaining two people felt danger, both touching their lower backs. Their eyes suddenly saw a shadow in the amplification, then their legs felt like puddles of mud, and they fell to the ground, as if they had been drugged. "Hey, boy, let''s talk!" Pulling back his fist, Wang Bing went to the driver''s cab and leaned over the window to calm down. The driver looked like a man who had been caught in the testicles by Tarzan, as he was overwhelmed by what had just happened in front of him. In two seconds, he hit the guy''s knee, and then hit one of them with his right hand. Ring...Ring... The cheerful ringtone interrupted the both of them that were staring at each other, while the driver, who was just trying to breathe a sigh of relief, was knocked over by Wang Bing. Under the orange light of the school gate, there were a few pedestrians that noticed this scene, including two socially responsible, relatively strong youths, who quietly took out their phones, wanting to notify the police. "Have you picked up Yunmeng?" "She had five minutes to finish school, and she had just met a bad intentioned bread van, but the people inside were knocked down by me." Wang Bing kept scanning the surrounding environment, his sight stopping at a few pedestrians. "Then you''ll come back after you get her? I''ve got a few bad people walking around the door." Chen Fan compared the priorities, not hesitating to let Wang Bing pick Yunmeng first. With these few malicious men, he promised himself not to use weapons, but would at least make the enemy cry and leave. ......... Clang! The iron gate downstairs was opened by someone with long clamps, and three mystery man with black goggles flickered into the yard. They moved silently and were agile, like a cat, as if they were professional robbers. "Three!" The leading goose pricked up three fingers and pointed the sky. Swish...Swish...Swish... Two of the mystery men pulled out telescopic sticks from their backs, and one pulled out a 64 version 7.62mm pistol with a muffler. After untwisting the safe inside, the gunman slowly moved up the stairs, with the help of the dark green light of his night vision equipment. The remaining two mysterious men stuck their backs together and moved slowly up the stairs, in order to prevent the huge Tibetan mastiff from spilling out of nowhere. Their night-vision goggles worked without an infrared headlamp light target and the use of weak light, so the target reflected light through the image intensifier, which enhanced vision for the human eye, so that it could feel the visible things on the screen to observe and target images. It proved to be a great asset today especially. Just turned the corner, Chen Fan''s body tensed, as he was paying close attention to prevent someone from attacking from the corner. Suddenly, a white light flashed through the corridors, the handheld Xe flash tube was lit, and a sudden outbreak of white light made the sight of all of them become white for the moment. Then, the goggles'' light sensor fault exceeded their bid, which caused electronic blinding incidents. The dark environment was infiltrated by a flash of light, not to mention a very quick light sensor, whereby even without it, people would experience sudden blindness. He also had high-tech stuff... This was the last thought of the man with the gun, and after a second, he was thrown from the corner by Chen Fan. Such blinding weapons, which were dependent on the camera''s external flash, worked well against the night vision device. Thus, in a dark environment, Chen Fan could not be easily defeated. He, too, had bought several of the night vision devices, and they were all the most expensive models. 198 Sudden Even Qiu! The moment the mysterious man fell to the ground, he pulled the trigger subconsciously. The 7.62mm bullet roared across Chen Fan''s head, blowing open a finger-thick black hole in the ceiling. "Damn your masters, Nakagawa Emi"Chen Fan felt only numbness all over, and a chill feeling in his spine. He had guns, too, but he did not say anything. He couldn''t shoot people, not even in his own home. He was not a murderous gangster, but was just a kid, who grew up in the peace years, a naughty kid, who used to fight in school and never dared hurt anyone. "Don''t move, for if you move again, I''ll shoot!" Chen Fan acted cruel and took out a pistol from his back. The crisp sound of loading bullets was heard, leaving two mysterious people, who could not see the scene, at a loss. The pistols he had seized were of high quality, and were made by the old Italian gun company Beretta, which had been hijacked from a ship by Wei Songyue, before being taken back by Wang Bing. With the help of a night vision device, Chen Fan zoomed down several flights of stairs, grabbed a black man''s retractable electric baton, and held it in his hand. He knew how powerful this thing was. A bear bigger than a human could fall down like a fallen tree, if he was hit by it. Crackling, crackling, crackling, the two men in black, who had been trapped in the corner of the wall, showed looks of horror. Another man, who had been kicked by Chen Fan in his chin, was acting as if he had been possessed, unable to struggle, when he heard the crackling sound of the electric baton. After he was shot by the electric batons, he was immediately as if he had been cut in the nervous system, his whole body going rigid. "It''s better than a handgun or something, as it works faster and has no serious effect." Chen Fan kicked the two men, who fell down, before he could even snort. Seeing that they did not respond, he leaned over and prodded them. Chen Fan, who was not prepared for such an outcome, was scared and had a chill. The three men dressed in black seemed unaware that, hidden in his clothes, placed at his waist and near his ribs, were all deadly weapons: the SUT retractable fighting stick, a leather gun sheath, a spare cartridge clip, a small revolver... "My dear," Chen Fan gasped. Are they going to fight in Afghanistan or against a law-abiding businessman? Without the help of the flash, how could he be so ruthless as to lay out these three guys, who wanted his life? "Hello, have you picked up Yunmeng?" Chen Fan phoned his friend, after dragging the three "dead pigs" into the living room and running to the balcony on the third floor, where the satellite signals were good. "I''m on campus now. I''ve got her. I''ll be home in twelve minutes." "Well, those three have been knocked down by me with my electric baton." Chen Fan did not show any expression, while touching Xiao Xue, which he had locked on the balcony. He then said quietly, "Don''t rush back, take Yunmeng somewhere to eat something. It''s not good for her to see this scene. When I take the three men to the dock by the sea, you can come back, and we''ll raid them all night." "Well, well, I''m good at that!" Wang Bing''s voice was full of impatience. "You hurry up, and when you are done, call me!" "Yeah!" After pressing the phone off, Chen Fan ran downstairs, ready to find some ropes and strips, to use to tie them up in hemp. "How dare you send someone to my house to rob me?" he demanded of the robbers. "I''ll ask for your details, and the little girl will be whining for her father and mother." ............ Two men in black uniforms and yellow armbands walked side by side on the tree-lined boulevard around the lake, their thick black oxen boots kicking up the asphalt. "Whew, it''s cold in this weather! The man on the left looked up and exhaled a string of white fog. "By the way, Ma Shuai, how is your foreign wife?" "How else? Her family wants me to take 100 thousand RMB in monetary gifts, and then buy a commodity house in the county town. They say that if I do not, then we are over!" The robust young man, called Ma Shuai, was not surprised. "The parents these days are not marrying their daughters, they are selling them." "Who says? It''s supposed to be a good job for us, to have a secure salary of 3,000 RMB a month and a few hundred RMB bonus every year. But if you want to buy a house and get married, you have to work for fifteen years, all without eating or drinking!" "Yeah... " Ma Shuai rubbed the hand that was frozen and pale. "Wait for me to save enough, like 100 thousand, and ask my parents for tens of thousands, and then think of a way to pay the down payment! As for the gift money? Sheesh. Only then will she marry if she likes, and if she doesn''t, it''s okay. Do they really think that we men are worse than donkeys, who are tired of supporting a wife and putting effort on her mother''s house?" While complaining, Ma Shuai''s cell phone suddenly rang, and he took a look at it. "My girlfriend''s calling!" Ma Shuai let out a bitter laugh, then pressed the on the button to answer. "Hello," he said as he performed his duty of patrol, using all kinds of flattering words to ward off his girlfriend''s complaints. Zi... zi... As he continued walking more than 100 meters down the lake''s tarmac, there was a steady hum of electricity that sounded from his cell phone. "What''s wrong with the signal?" Ma Shuai, who was already upset, began to frown. "No, my signal is full!" When he looked at his phone, he found that the signal on his side was only showing two grids. He walked one step forward, due to his habit, and the signal was lowered by another one. "Hello...Hello" Ma Shuai roared a few times, as the detection signal was getting worse and worse, so he had to hang up the phone. "What a stupid cell phone!" There were special mobile base stations and Unicom base stations in the community, even in the basement, where the calls would not be affected, so he thought his phone was out of order. After about 50 meters, he noticed that the signal on his cell phone had suddenly changed from no service area to now having a grid signal. "Eh?" The flat-headed man suddenly stopped. "My cell phone, like yours, has one signal." They exchanged a look, then, without saying a word, they quickened their pace at the same time and walked thirty meters. When the signal was full, the two men doubled their speeds, and their face expressions changed greatly. "Hello, duty room, near area A, no. 8, there is a mobile phone jammer working. Send someone here immediately." Ma Shuai ran outside the interference area and called out on his walkie-talkie. In less than a minute, all 12 security guards in the entire duty room rushed in their four-wheel battery cars to meet the two men. "Let''s change the walkie-talkie channel to 455MHZ!" Security chief Zhuo Peng took out his cellphone and took a look at it. The working atmosphere of the mobile signal jammer was very limited. It only worked for a fixed frequency range of mobile phones, and could not interfere with any v-segment radio frequency walkie-talkie, which could be tuned at any time. Unless a high power broadband jammer was used, to break down all radio signals in the range. (That''s the kind of jamming car used by special forces to prevent a remotely controlled bomb from exploding.) "Chief!" Ma Shuai touched Zhuo Peng with his arms, pointing to the villa 30 meters away, and said, "I estimate that the signal source comes from there, as all the houses nearby have their lights on, but that house does not, and the door is wide open, which is very suspicious." "You guys get the electro bike out of here, call the police, then go to the duty room and get the webbing gun and the night-vision goggles. The rest of you come hide in the grass with me!" Zhuo Peng looked worried, as the people who lived here were all among the Zhongyun rich class, so if anyone was hurt, he would be the first one to be blamed, because he was the security chief. Swish! A large group of men heard this sound and immediately dove into the grass behind them. Then, they stared at Zhuo Peng with confused eyes, waiting for his next instruction. "Wait till the police come!" Zhuo Peng whispered. "Some high-tech thing was used. It''s definitely not a theft, but something more like a kidnapping, or extortion. Plus, we don''t have weapons." In the grass, not far from the guards, two men in black were lying on the ground. They called nervously on their walkie-talkie, "Get out of here! The security has found us out. Retreat quickly..." Unfortunately, they were answered by only a blind tone in their headphones. Time passed, about five minutes, before two police cars roared and dashed to the door of the community. Then, seven policemen came, holding guns in one hand, and one hand clutching their large-brimmed hats, causing both of the men to run with security to the lake. It''s no joke, if this kind of big thing happened in the villa of the Bolan community and was not handled well, they would bear the anger of the director. "You came, comrade police!" In the green space near the lake, it was crowded with twenty men. Zhuo Peng toughly climbed out from the center, and said to the highest honorably titled middle-aged men among them, "The resident is called Chen Fan, and there is a lovely little girl staying with him. He should be the richest one in our neighborhood. He drives over 10 million luxury cars." "More than ten million?" All the policemen gasped, as this kind of person could make it into the top ten of the list of most important and rich people. "Are you holding a night vision device?" the old policeman said in a somewhat awkward tone, when he saw that the guards were well-equipped with all the fancy equipment, except for the unloaded pistols. "Well, these are authentic German, with their own infrared auxiliary light sources." Without even thinking, Zhuo Peng handed him his night-vision goggles. The night vision device was just bought by the developer, in order to pose for, and then be photographed for a brochure for the wealthy to see. It must be said that, once they put the electric police stick, net rope gun, and night vision device on them, the effect was very good, as all the households gave them the thumbs up. But one still had to wonder, what''s the use of these security guards, who can''t get real guns, even with armored vehicles? In case of danger, you still have to call the police for help?! "Xiao Liu, you have the best shot here. Take the night vision device and go in." As the middle-aged policeman spoke, he pulled out his gun. ......... What happened outside seemed like it took a long time, but it didn''t even take ten minutes. Chen Fan, on the other hand, had just wrapped the three men in sheets and tied them up with ropes. "Mmm...Mmm..." When Chen Fan placed the first "mummy" downstairs, he just woke up from the coma, and both his legs were kicking in resistance. Bang! Chen Fan threw him downstairs in the living room, then pushed the electric baton switch on and again plunged him into a coma. Returning back to the second floor, he went and got the other two. Woof...Woof...Woof...when carrying another person, Chen Fan suddenly heard a crazy howl from Xiao Xue that was on the third floor, then he immediately threw off the mummy on his shoulder, and leapt to the window. "Why are there two more?" Chen Fan caught two figures in his line of sight, who were approaching after a flash, all the while feeling the nerves in his temple jumping. Did their accomplices see the people had not yet come out, and then get suspicious? Taking a deep breath, Chen Fan tiptoed to the edge of the stairs, holding the flash in his left hand and the muffled pistol he had seized from the enemy in his right hand, trying to relax. It was certainly not as easy as it had been, and when the man saw his companion downstairs, he was sure to alert himself, ready to pull the trigger at the slightest movement. Indeed, the "mummy" lying across the floor downstairs startled the two policemen, causing them to break out in a cold sweat. "Team Zhang, he''s alive!" Police Officer Liu pulled the mummy''s face away, and tried to test if it was breathing, then said in a barely inaudible voice. "Why is there only one young man? What about the pretty little girl that the security guard spoke of?" Zhang, who was on guard, looked back. "No harm done, and the breathing is steady!" Thirty seconds later, Liu said. "Check the first floor of the room. There''s a dog howling, so there might be someone in the room." After two police officers checked the two guest rooms on the first floor, the storage room, kitchen, and bathroom, Mr. Zhang pointed his left hand to the second floor and made a cautious gesture. Although the two people were careful to keep light footsteps, when their leather shoes trampled on the wooden stairs and floors, it still made a slight noise. Also, when the two people made use of the aid of night vision apparatus, and walked to the corner of stairs lightly, the white light that gives dazzling light on the stairs, let their field of vision become green and faint for a moment. Bang! Bang! Bang! As trained police, the two pulled the trigger in an instant, firing a bullet that fell flat on the stairs. Then, quickly pulling off the goggles, their left hands took the strong flashlights from their waist belt buckles, and one was in charge of the second floor, and the other had a slightly slanting pistol, which was aimed at the stairs on the third floor. Both were beware of someone, who was armed with the black gun. Then, three shots, like a thunderbolt cutting through the night sky, were immediately sent, shocking the policemen who were lying in ambush outside the house. The security guards, on the other hand, were like enemies who were about to come over, as their adrenaline rose. Of course, the biggest reaction was from Chen Fan, which was to wonder if this group of robbers was crazy, or if their brains had been kicked by a donkey? He had not expected that anyone would not hesitate to return fire with a pistol without a silencer. Do they really think that the Chinese government is so ignorant? In such a community, with a gun being shot without a silencer, it would definitely attract the security! Then, when the big police organization arrives, there is no need to say anything about the Nakagawa family, because even if the king of heaven comes, he would have to surrender. The scene of a world famous shooter taking the policeman was nothing, as these scenes could only be seen in novels and movies. Unless... Chen Fan thought of a possibility: That is, unless they have the security of the community under control! Two strong lights flashed, lighting up the entire second floor, and Chen Fan, who was hiding at the side, with cold sweat, simply pulled off his night vision apparatus. This group of enemies was more daring than he had ever imagined, and he was vexed that he did not care about the existence of Nakagawa Emi Now, when the situation was as such, Chen Fan really wanted to control the electric eels, to catch a ghost moon jellyfish and give it to her. However, the world was not satisfactory, as when you want to get your own way, there would always be someone interfering. The strong flashlight, which had remained stationary, suddenly gave a regular shudder, and there was a slight movement. "Damn!" Chen Fan could not help but curse. Beside him, was a bedroom where he could hide, but it also meant that the enemy could rely on two corners from outside to hide, not like the stairs, where the terrain was narrow, and the enemy could not hide. Thinking of the solid spiral steel welded into the security window, Chen Fan could only brazen out a gunfight. Whether it would cause him more trouble, or even cause him to be caught by the police afterwards, this was not a matter of consideration. After all, life was what mattered most. Chen Fan thought for 0.5 seconds and decided to use his Beretta rapid-fire pistol. They were desperate, anyway, with pistols without mufflers, and he was too lazy to care either way. So, just what is a rapid-fire pistol? It was a gun where the quick and slow machine on the left side of the bolt was adjusted to rapid fire mode, and then the trigger was not loose. The bullet in the magazine can be shot out in 3.5 seconds, and it wa best used to suppress the fire and to deal with mass enemies. At the time, Wang Bing had seized five cartridges, and now he had a two thirty bullet cartridge. So, to empty a magazine and replace it in a second... Thinking of this, with a pale face, Chen Fan was anxious, and gently flicked the pistol''s speed machine. He took a deep breath, then he took out a Zippo sterling silver lighter in his arms. He aimed at the third floor and threw it hard. Small and delicate lighters soared across a beautiful arc in mid-air, then with a crashing sound, they had an impact on the wooden floor, successfully attracting the attention of both of them, who were on the stairs. 199 Run to the Road Wildly Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! The two of them were tensed, to the point where their muscles were twitching with and their nervous systems pulled the trigger, when they heard the movement. Bang! Chen Fan had just shown a little part of the pistol, and one of the bullets was nailed to the wall below the muzzle of the gun, its shrapnel scratched by the sputtered bullet. "Damn, such a quick reaction?" As he stood up, Chen Fan, who was just about to raise a pistol, heard a sentence that came from the opposite side, which made him feel like he''d been petrified by the sorcerer of Medusa. "Put down your guns and hold your hands on your head! We''re the police!" The older team member, Zhang, suddenly shouted, just now, the two of them were defeated inexplicably by a flashing blindness. Then, they started shooting quickly, even forgetting to shout out their identity, according to the rules. Then, when they saw the black muzzle, they realized that they were in a gun battle with the "criminals". "Put your hands on your head and come out!" Police officer Xiao Liu also shouted, as he hoped that the other side would be afraid of the police''s authority and surrender. "The police?" Chen Fan felt like he had just woken up from a dream, and after rubbing his ears three times, he made sure that it was true. So, this group of audacious criminals really claimed themselves to be police officers? "Quick, hands on your head!" "Throw your identity card here, and I''ll see!" Chen Fan was a little shocked, as he said in a tooth quivering manner. He thought: The police? Go to hell, as you come here for no reason? Then, after they come, they first fired, then only shouted out their identity after? "Sure!" Zhang swiftly took the black book with the silver national emblem out of his pocket, and then dropped it at the top of the stairs. "There''s the identity!" Pursing his lips, Chen Fan glanced at the black book that had dropped in the middle of the stairs in caution. As there were no auxiliary items to hook it over behind him, it was absolutely impossible to reach for. In fact, even if he took it, he also could not differentiate whether it was true or false in authenticity terms. But the word "police" was a great deterrent to him, and if the two were real policemen, the consequences of the attack on the police would be great. "Who are you?" When Zhang saw that there was no movement, he shouted. The dog on the third floor was so loud, like it had an engine in his lungs, and he didn''t stop barking for a moment. "I''m the owner of this villa. Three gunmen came in, and I overpowered them." "Then you come out with your hands on your head at once!'' Zhang could not care whether he was the owner of the household or not at the moment, he only saw the flash of the muscle of the gun. "Hey, Zhang, Zhang..." Then, hearing the radio, he remembered his companion''s question. "Wait a minute. I''ll turn it up." He turned the volume control knob on the radio to the maximum and said, "Say it again." "What''s going on inside? Need us to go in and help?" "The situation is unclear for the moment, just because we were shined on by some light, then we fired a few shots, so as of now, you should not leave your position, in order to prevent someone from escaping from the window of the villa." Zhang''s mouth muttered, "Has the information of the household owner come out?" "It''s out... " The voice on the radio hesitated. "Zhang, this man''s assets are over 100 million, so he is a big man. Would you like to ask the city council to send their armed police?" "Temporarily, no. You send two people over. There''s an unidentified man downstairs in a coma, so you let a person carry him out to identify him. If he is the owner of the household, immediately notify metro, and if not, just wait for my command." "Yes!" "What are you whispering about? "Chen Fan asked aloud. "In confirming your identity, believe me, we are the police, so you can now come out with your hands on your head." "Not now!" How could Chen Fan go out, just because of the other side''s sweet talk? His eyes turned, and he came up with a solution. "To prove you are not gangsters, you can..." His words had not finished, when the scene abruptly changed. Bang! On the third floor, Xiao Xue, which was locked in, smashed the glass door, roaring down the stairs. Chen Fan, stunned, stood in the same spot, his hand that was holding the Beretta automatic pistol became soft, like a noodle. The balcony door that was as thick as the glass door of a barbershop, unexpectedly was it knocked by the canine. The dog then ran down 10 layers of ladder in just a few huge leaps. The pup''s forehead was also infected with scarlet blood, and its glare showed any enemy that it would tear up anyone who dared try to stop it. "Don''t shoot!" Chen Fan suddenly shouted, wanting to rush out to grab Xiao Xue. "Ah!" Where have two policemen seen such a big, fierce dog? If they were bitten by this kind of dog, even if they didn''t die they would be disabled for life. Bang! Bang! Two blind bullets immediately shot toward the direction of Xiao Xue, hitting him, causing the canine to hit the ground and roll. "Ah!" How would Chen Fan at this time know between true police or false police? He put out the barrel and pulled the trigger, fast like a bolt of lightning. Dada dada... A burst of an uzi''s assault rifle sounded in the house, nearly four times in a second, and immediately filled the corridor with bullets. Boom! Two police officers, who were lying on the stairs, could only return fire twice and did not dare resist. And those bullets that splashed on those walls, made the two of them shout. The policeman, Xiao Liu, who just wanted to embrace his head, suddenly felt pain in his leg, reaching down to touch it, and only feeling hot liquid. After punching the cartridge, Chen Fan immediately pressed the cartridge clip, butt before the clip was free to land, he "clanged" and loaded the new cartridge. There was no time to take aim, and a shuttle was almost completely tilted to the wall of the staircase, for now it was necessary to kill two men... "Withdraw!" The older team member, suddenly bouncing off the ground, tore his lungs and shouted as he ran down the stairs, tugging at his wounded leg. His heart was so excited that he blew off the command. So, this bandit got a submachine gun? The villa must be surrounded, and they must have called for support. "Xiao Xue! Xiao Xue!" Chen Fan quickly ran to the poor dog, which was now like it had fallen into a paint shop, with a bloody head. The shoulder was also injured, with a wine cup sized blood hole, which was at a 45-degree Angle through the tendons. Flee! This was Chen Fan''s only thought at the moment, as he quickly picked up Xiao Xue with his left hand, and then with the right hand took the gun to explore downstairs. How to flee? He wondered. But then, two seconds later, he had a good idea! "Quick, inform the city bureau, let them send the police force to come." After the two policemen had escaped the gate, they shouted. ............... "Zhang, the coma guy is not the owner of the household! The armed police squadron has set off and will be there in fifteen minutes. This is the basic information of the head of the household," a police officer said, handing him the newly released document. Halfway through his speech, two xenon headlights suddenly appeared in the villa, followed by a huge roar of engines. "Stop!" Zhang, with a swish, came out from the green grass, a polished 92-style pistol pointed directly at the front window of the car. He had also discovered the car when he searched the garage, but after he pulled the door twice, and it did not open, he then leaned forward with night-vision goggles and observed. Then, having not found someone from inside, he left the garage, without too much care. "Stop!" Three security guards followed, and two policemen emerged from different positions, each with a lethal weapon. And with their costumes, to try hide in the car, Chen Fan was completely dumbfounded. The black uniforms made him realize just how badly he had made a mistake, but it was too late to regret it. On the gas pedal, Chen Fan ignored the "black uniform" coming out of the grass and went crazily toward the seaside instead. Concerning the more than 10 million Maybach, even its rear lights were bulletproof, not to mention the eight-centimeter thick front window that was comparable to the car of a small country''s President... Bang, bang, bang! After a flurry of bean-like shots, the glass was smashed into several cracks, resulting in only a few grooves into the body of Maybach. "Bulletproof car?" Under the orange street lamps, the police were visibly shocked. "The general administration, the existing one armed with automatic weapons, a driver escaping from the Bolan community, please send someone to hunt immediately." the call for distress was given rapid fire... Boom! The community gate was closed for protection in haste. "Eleven miles, only eleven miles from the seaside dockyard!" The infinitely variable throttle was almost completely twisted by Chen Fan, but so long as he got there all would be well. And not to mention the police, for even if Gouda comes, it would be useless. At 10:20 at night, there was not much traffic on the wide street, which allowed Chen Fan to drive wildly. What is the concept of a car with a speed of 150 horses, he thought...with such, he power at his command, he could there in three minutes. All the pedestrians on the road looked at the roaring car with shock, as Chen Fan appeared to be a "madman", who dared to drive so fast in the city center. Wait for the police to catch him, they thought! "OoOoOoOo! After the car, which was fast and furious, disappeared behind a pedestrian''s eye, three police cars followed it, sirens blaring. With today''s science and technology so developed, with the cameras around the major streets, anyone trying to play "grand theft auto" would find that it''s really very hard. Of course, this difficulty factor would change according to the quality of the police''s tracking equipment. The average car could get caught by just having to face an obstruction at the intersection, causing it to spin out of control. But for a Maybach, which was piled up with super technology, it certainly could not be so easily defeated or deterred! 200 Portal? The special tires for German special vehicles, which were filled with high polymer bulletproof refill fluid, could automatically fill the holes caused by steel nails and bullets within one second. And, when the vehicle computer detects the pressure loss in the tire, it would immediately start the vehicle inflation system, so long as it was not too big a hole, it could still drive safely. Of course, this was all just based on the fact that it was punctured, and in fact, inside the tire, there are two layers of reinforced metal mesh that can resist the design of a small-bore bullet. "The car ahead, stop at once! The car ahead" Two white police cars, which had come from some unknown nearby corner, could no longer see the car, before the second sentence was uttered. Honk! Honk! Honk! The road was filled with the sound of car brakes and the screams of pedestrians. It was of inherent interest to the people to see such excitement. The crowds, who witnessed the scene of the chase, were enthralled as they watched. A little more than two minutes was not enough to direct the department to gather the heavy trucks across the road and call the police cars patrolling nearby to do their best. Chen Fan knew that, with this run, he would cause big trouble, but still, he had to run. In the case that the police had already been informed of his identity, he still dare not shoot hastily, as that was definitely an act only of one who was tired of living! But what can be done about it? Don''t run, and wait to be caught and locked up in prison? Gun attacks on police have always been a felony, and when the suspects have been identified by the police, the courts would consider only the life sentences and death penalty. When Xiao Xue rushed out, he shouted for them not to shoot, and was trying to run out to catch the pup, but alas, he was a step too slow. Chen Fan understood the situation, as in that case, he would have also shot ,if he had been a policeman. No one could be blamed but himself for this. "It''s okay, who cares?" Chen Fan hit the brakes sharply, then parked near the dock. Now that he had already taken a shot, it was too late. He had now been surrounded, and it would not be just jail waiting for him, he had to wonder if the police would give him the opportunity to surrender... Two minutes wasn''t enough for the police to report this entire incident, but once they did, there would be a lot of trouble. In less than two minutes, the electric eel had reached the dock, and by this time, the distant siren could be heard. At present, there was a yacht in the shipyard. It was 30 meters long. The yacht and Maybach were both out of the question, so he left the boat with a diving capsule. Five minutes later, seven or eight police cars had dashed to the dock. They pointed their guns at the dock, and when the gate opened, it was like they were encountering the enemy. ......... Half an hour later, in a haze of grey smoke over the dark sea, Chen Fan hid in a floating diving capsule, as he turned the valve gently open and felt for the satellite phone in his pocket. The phone was to call to Wang Bing, who hung up after several calls. He didn''t know if the police could listen through Wang Big''s phone, so he figured he had better be careful. With his hand on his chin, Chen Fan was staring at the sky with boredom. About three minutes later, the phone rang. He looked at the number, which appeared to be a public phone. "What phone are you calling from now? "Looked for a phone from the roadside and called, 20 cents a minute. Boss, did you do something big?" As soon as Wang Bing got on the phone, he kept asking. "Now, the gate to the entire community is blocked by the police. And they said that someone took the Maybach and fled. And, out of the whole community, only you have one Maybach Berlin. So, it was the police, and not the people from Nakagawa Emi, who broke in?" Chen Fan explained the situation briefly, then said, "Do you think the police will issue a class arrest warrant or something?" "There''s a chance that the police would do that, as for whatever reason, you still attacked the police. If you didn''t run away, the court might have been able to get a lighter sentence, because of the three criminals. If it is not life imprisonment, then as long as you sit in the prison and earn some credits, with some help from the outside, you could stay in the jail for ten years, and then come out as a good man on good behaviour." Wang Bing scowled and grimaced. "It''s too late to say anything else now. Why don''t you just go abroad?" "Let''s talk about it later, I''ll hide for the moment." Chen Fan pinched his forehead. "Does Yunmeng know about this?" "She only knew there was a gunfight, but she didn''t know you did it. But, I think before long, the police will be able to find me." "There are police cars everywhere in the city. All major intersections have been closed down. We expect our phone to be monitored for a long time. Do you have any other phone? One without the registration of ID card?" "I have a lot of phone numbers, but I can''t get in touch with you often." Chen Fan clapped on his forehead. "What do you plan to do?" "Deal with the police, and then go home and get beaten," Wang Bing said helplessly. "Your bank card and real estate would be confiscated, so how much money do you have on other accounts?" "A lot, in the Swiss bank, over a billion dollars, all American dollars!" "Oh, that''s good for you... just go to Dubai and buy a house and marry four wives." Wang Bing was also humorous at this time. "After a few days of police inquiries have ended, I''ll call home to report my safety. Let them monitor it. Use the satellite phone, so if they can track you down in half an hour, you can throw it into the sea and later just buy a new one, since you are rich." "Anyway, I saw some speedboats coming this way." Chen Fan paid close attention to the distant lights, while he said, "You don''t hurry to find a job first, and I''ll increase your salary to a hundred thousand American dollars per month, and you get a Swiss international bank account too." "F**k...Oh, F**K! Wang Bing, cursed in both Chinese and foreign languages, before he said, "Don''t worry. I''ll do it once. I''ll come out from the police station. Want to dump them, it''s a piece of cake!" After hanging up the phone, Chen Fan immediately took control of the electric eel and shifted their sea position. He didn''t appear until they were in the open sea. Then he changed the phones. Chen Fan wasn''t sure whether the police had monitored his parents'' phone calls, but he decided to call them to tell them that he was safe, so they wouldn''t worry. When his parents got the call, they immediately asked if it was true. Chen Fan had to tell them it was true, after all, but told them not to worry about their own safety. He did not dare keep talking on the phone, which would only increase their troubles. He told them to hang up after only a few words. Back in the stone tower, Chen Fan laid on his bed, the colorful nightlight shining through the window shone on his face, reflecting the slightly tired features. Xiao Xue''s wound was fine now, as the bullet had only pierced his shoulder and did not break his bone, so was no threat to his life. The next day, when the electric eel went out to look for food, they found that there were still coast guard patrol boats passing by from time to time. This time, the fish caught by the electric eel were quite diverse, including not only some big fish about ten meters in size, but also some groupers and lobsters. The easy-to-store rice noodles in the stone tower would last him a year or two, but there were no other varieties, so Chen Fan could only eat a variety of seafood during this period. The python, who was all right now, left the cave yesterday morning and went back to its own nest. After eating the not-so-tasty seafood, Chen Fan sat in his chair and used his computer to search for information about the Nakagawa family. Chen Fan felt an unspeakable oppression in his heart, until he could have his revenge upon Nakagawa Emi. There was little information about the family on the Internet, and much of it was old news from a few years ago. Ho! Almost at the same time that Chen Fan turned off his computer, the scarred python emerged from under the cliff, calling the electric eel with its sky-piercing shriek. As he was free and at leisure, Chen Fan also did not care about this guy disturbing him, so he transferred his thought to the electric eel and swam over in dally. Seeing the electric eel swimming, the python was in a daze, and lowered his forehead as it laid two fist-sized blue stones on the ground. What''s worth noticing, was that Chen Fan had found that it had added several new scars, mostly on the back, which were shallow, but also long, similar to the finger marks that animals got with their claws. Want a ghost moon incense? Chen Fan was a little hesitant, as at present, the source of the herbal medicine had broken, and the storage had only more than 3,000 catty, so if he gave two pieces of ghost moon incense Taisui, he would need about 1000 catty to restore back the Taisui. Ho! The python was not fierce this time, but it seemed that it could understand a little bit of the meaning of "saving his life is greater than the heavens", but still, its eyes showed a look that Chen Fan did not fully understand. Ghostly, the electric eel returned to the stone tower, went to a whale shark''s rib, grabbed it in its paw, and drew a few simple figures. Chen Fan''s meaning was very simple: Since this python was so clever, and the eyes were very lively, why not see if it could express itself in terms of painting? The python stopped swinging and stared in disbelief at the electric eel. When the electric eel handed the whale shark''s ribs to it, it held them in its mouth and swallowed it. "The beast... " Chen Fan was speechless for a long time, and his ribs, the python was not afraid of being stuck by the two-meter bone! "Forget it." Shaking his head, the electric eel returned to the stone tower, took out the dagger, cut two small pieces of tissue from the Taisui, and threw them to the electric eel. When it got the Taisui, the python became visibly excited, and swallowed two pieces of it in front of the electric eel. Five minutes later, Chen Fan, holding two blue stones, was stunned, as so far he now had four. The four stone body shape''s differences were not very obvious, as they all were blue, and shiny, all very beautiful, but not very useful. ............ The next day, Chen Fan saw the white python, like a train, swimming listlessly from the cliff to the lake, and then into a ball, where it then remained motionless. Through the window, Chen Fan took a close look at the snake. The scratches on its back had now scabbed, but its eyes were blocked with white mist, like it had a cataract. "Is it ill?" He went to Baidu for a look, only to learn that this was a sign that snakes were about to shed their skin. Does it want to shed its skin here? Chen Fan understood what it meant. When pythons shed their skins, they were at their weakest and had little ability to fight back. So, did it want the electric eel''s protection? A snake that was 90 meters long must be very spectacular. Chen Fan smiled from the corners of his eyes. The snake''s slough, also known as its "dragon coat", was a famous Chinese medicine. The larger the snake, the higher the medicinal value of the "dragon coat". Apparently, it had a great effect on treating all kinds of knife wounds and burns. Hence, it could be ground into powder and sprinkled on Xiao Xue''s wound! And then, the rest could be sprinkled into the Taisui tank. At night, the two eyes of the python were completely white, and the original bright scales, had become dry. The electric eel grabbed a shark and gave it to him. When Chen Fan saw it again the next day, the scales on its surface had completely lost all water. In the position of the head, a large gap had been opened. Ang! At noon, the python gave a sudden cry, then wriggled its massive body toward the stone tower. "Fuck your sister!" Chen Fan, who was eating, jumped three feet high and knew from his posture that he wanted to use the stone tower to grind away his old skin. "I''m coming. I''m coming." The electric-eel, which opened its eyes, darted up to the shore, then pressed and held down the frail python. It then held up a swarthy, metallic front paw, prodding it gently on the door of its head, catching its old skin. Then, with a piercing sound, he pulled it from head to tail in a chain. The python, which had rubbed for decades to shed, took less than a minute to finish the job. "How could this be snakeskin? This is clearly the skin of a train." The electric eel stared blankly at the white, gray "dragon coat", which stretched out like a highway. Wild "dragon clothes" sold for about 500 RMB a kilo, and the "dragon coat" in his hand, was worth fully more than a thousand pounds. Also, the dragon coat was very light, because there was no water in it. Ho! The python, which had shed its skin, was clearly in better spirits, and with its impeccable scaly armor, it returned to its old swagger. After sticking its tongue out at the electric eel, it burst into the lake. After pulling down a piece of dragon clothes, about 200 catty, and folding the rest into a square, Chen Fan then ran out of the stone tower and dragged the "dragon coat" into the stone tower, to grind it into powder. He then sprinkled some on Xiao Xue''s wound, while the remainder was thrown into Chen Fan''s Taisui tank, to verify its nutritional value. The result was very good, as in the evening, all powder was absorbed, and the place that had been cut in the size of a fist, had grown back one out of third, much stronger than when experimenting with the planted ginseng. Ho! At some point, the python returned to the stone tower, its head the size of a scalper, swinging to and fro. And when the electric eel opened its eyes, with a clang, two blue stones fell out from its mouth. "Fuck your sister, your stone doesn''t need money, or what?" Chen Fan was completely speechless, as he really did not understand where on earth the python had gotten so many perfect sized stones. "Oh, oh!" After the python dropped the stone, the scarlet mouth opened and closed, sending out a chill, and the electric eel even felt the temperature drop by five or six degrees. With two cries, the python swam slowly towards the edge of the cliff. Before the electric eel could turn its head, it swung back several times, calling it twice again. Then it swam back "Got it!" Chen Fan suddenly clapped his forehead. The python meant for the electric eel to follow it. "With these two stones, was it asking the electric eel to avenge him?" Chen Fan felt chills, when he thought of the pitiful look of the python last time. What type of monster could make the python so? "It was agreed that, if the enemy were too strong, I would leave you alone!" With a whisper in his heart, the electric eel slowly followed the steps of the python. The electric eel now had a discharge capacity of 60,000 volts, and if it fought in the water, even if the python was 300 meters long, it could still be knocked down. Since pythons were able to escape and not be fatally wounded, its enemies were less threatening. The only thing that puzzled Chen Fan was where the enemy came from. Thus, two black, white, Jurassic monsters "banged" down from the edge of a cliff several hundred meters high, after causing a panic among the crocodile dragons in the lake. Once in the water, the originally bloated electric eel immediately burst into the king of momentum. Then, towing the figure of the king, the electric eel followed the python like a drill into the sea. Traversing more than six hundred meters of water in a blink of an eye, the python suddenly stopped, after swimming another two kilometers to the left, and the body was constantly writhing. "Er... " The electric eel''s expression was like that of a transformer clutching his testicles, and his eyeballs were popping out. The scene in front of him was like a dream. After the white python gave way to the obstructed view ahead, the electric eel was completely exposed to a strange land of more than 20 meters wide and about 15 meters high. It resembled something as strange as a mirror that was wantonly twisted by an invisible hand. As it was presented, it completely overturned the scientific view of Chen Fan''s cognition. The edge of it presented arc scattering stripes, all dancing without any regularity. However, even more shocking to the electric eel''s eyes was when this white python twisted its body, and did not even hesitate to enter this strange ripple in silence. "Space crack? Space-time channel? Portal?" Chen Fan watched all of this in awe, and felt as if his brain was being stirred into a paste by a stick. 201 Its Called the Green Water Beast. Then the white python, coming back from the unusual waves, was signaling the electric eel, which was still in a state of dementia, in order to catch up with it. The electric eel took a deep breath, then crept slowly toward the ripples. As soon as he entered the multicolored ripples, Chen Fan felt that there was a feeling of electricity flowing through his body, causing numbness. Boom! When the electric eel was completely in the South Pole magnetic field in the mind, as if moved by a large hand, suddenly turned to the left and right direction. Even the surrounding seawater also rose six or seven degrees. "What kind of a time gap is it?" The electric eel, in a completely alien environment, was completely inert. The salt and temperature of the place had changed somewhat from his place, and was surrounded by a cavernous environment. The interior space was enormous, with a width of more than 500 meters and a height of more than 300 meters. A few meters away from the ripples of the strange land were the brownstone walls, which were separated by about two thousand meters from the exit. According to the water pressure, it should be three thousand three hundred meters underwater. Chen Fan could feel it, between his body and the electric eel, there was a blockage by something that was invisible, intangible, and palpable. This barrier, like water, was a bit sticky, but it didn''t stop him from shifting his mind. He had discovered two grey snakeskins here, but they had been ruined by being soaked in the sea water for a long period. There were also several animal heads of different sizes present, looking like they had been attacked by Mei Chaofeng''s Jiuyin-baiguzhao (Mei Chaofeng in the Hero''s Biography of Firing Carve is a female monster image), with several holes in the forehead. Ho! When the python saw the electric eel come up, it sped up and shot at the exit. The cave was like the one in Tonga trench, which stands on the mountainside of a mountain range. But there was no trench here, and the cave was five hundred meters down, which was the endless sand bed. Swimming across the vast cavern, the python headed to the grey sand bed, leading the electric eel to the front. About twenty miles away, when the bottom of the sea became rough, the snake slowed abruptly and laid its body on the sand bed. For some reason, the electric eel was still on the side of the python, and stared at it with two wide eyes. The python did not roar, but raised its head and motioned him to gaze forward. The python''s head pointed to a hilly area of small mountain ranges, and the electric eel did not see any suspicious targets, and no other fish could be found. The two black and white giants were lying on their feet, and the python did not move, so the electric eel also did not move. As the time passed by, the giant python next to him suddenly quaked, as the electric eel was bored to sleep. It was staring at the monster that had come out of the bottom of the sea. "Oh, Buddha, what the hell is that?" Chen Fan was startled by the monster in the distance. It was a 20-meter-long, green-haired creature with a polar bear head. But its upper limbs were significantly longer, from the front claws to the shiny skin, and the black claw. The tail was as flat as a fin and it swam fast. The green monster did not seem to have found two "killers" lurking in front of it, as it swam to the top of the python, more than 700 meters away. Zoom! The python, with the sound of a sharp arrow, rushed at it. When the green monster was startled to find it, it ran only a hundred meters away and was then overtaken by the snake, before the train''s thick tail swept over its waist. Boom! With a thud, the monster was smashed into an s-shape. When it tried to fight back with two upper limbs, it was rolled by the tail of the python, which twirled it around, making it similar to a rice dumpling. Creak... creak With the sound like when a branch is broken, how could the green monster resist the coiling of the giant python? After struggling twice, the limbs went rigid, and the mouth began to spray blood. The electric eel, lying in the distance, stared at the python tail, which was now coiling the monster and bringing it near. The poor lad was not dead yet, and its throat was giving out loud sounds, louder than the ears could stand to capture. With his head in place, the python came to the electric eel and stepped back two miles quickly with the monster. It had been not even twenty seconds before the electric eel knew why the python had left the monster alive, then it fell back, because it wanted to get the old one out... The two bodies were 60 meters long and 70 meters long respectively, and their hair had been wrapped in grease and turned into a skin-like surface. One of the details that Chen Fan could not ignore, was that the giant python next to him had a dignified look in his eyes. The white python looked at the electric eel, and then the tail snapped, leaving the little man, who was gasping for air, to dash to the 60-meter size monster. The electric eel''s tail curled up in a blaze of water, as it did not want to fall behind the biggest. He figured that the monster should not be too strong, by analyzing the fighting process of the python. At least the python would not be killed by them, or else the python would not have rushed forward. "Green water beast, call them green water beast!" Chen Fan named the monster temporarily. When the electric eel was 300 meters from the green water beast, its mouth, slightly longer than the head, opened and gave out a high frequency of anger melody, and its upper limbs were like two piers, waving to the electric eel. Ho! The electric eel also opened its mouth, and without making any sound, it shot out a green, oily liquid. Why would the green water beast care about this sticky liquid? Well, as soon as the paw was set, he wanted to put a "double wind" on the electric eel''s head. Boom... The electric eel''s dark scales suddenly became a dazzling bluish white, in the trilled eyes of the green water beasts, the green liquid had instantly forced a qualitative change, morphing into a powerful heat. More than 3,000 meters deep, the atmosphere was already strong enough to crush a sealed tank, let alone create a space that required only two hundred pressures. Only to hear a rumbling sound, the flame suddenly burst out of the shock wave, directly to the left side of the green water beast, with the small half of the belly of it fried, as its surrounding water quickly was dyed red. Having released as much as fifty thousand volts, it quickly swept a few looks to the python, and as it seemed very mindful of the current release, the electric eel deliberately put the green water beast to more than two thousand meters, then they fought endlessly. The python, several times, tried to wrap its tail around the lower limbs of the green water animal, but it slipped off, because of its greasy hair. Bang! Hearing a noise distraction, the electric eel wondered what was that noise, just as a mass of high-pressure gun water arrows dashed into the electric eel''s eyes. Then the electric eel could only wiggle its head a little, as the water arrow hit the "red heart"! "Ah!" With his forehead hit by a battering ram, a meter and a half of water shot down on the electric eel''s forehead, and the flesh of the scales was torn open, with red blood suddenly encircling the electric eel''s eyes. The heavyweight was so heavy, that it made the electric eel''s head a little dizzy, and the eel immediately darted away to prevent another water arrow. At last, he knew that the wound the size of the water jar on the python had come to him as well, and that it must have been struck by the water arrow. If it weren''t for the hard skulls to withstand the brunt of the impact, the electric eel would probably have had the same fate as the python. The only thing that made Chen Fan confused was wondering: In what way did the opponent spray the water arrow, as even the electric eel has a water jet, and it can only spit out fifty meters. This style of attack made Chen Fan recall a kind of creature in the coastal areas in Australia, the alkaline river''s fish, also called the "archerfish", which had a length of 20 cm, and could spew out three meters from the waterline. This fish was used to attack the insects on the trees and grass. But the power of that attack, even if magnified four hundred times, was not as great as the green water beast, whose own spitting in the air, and spitting at three kilometers of water, was a totally different concept. When the dust settled and the blood in front of it spread out, it finally revealed the figure of the giant body. Seeing the enormous size of green water beast, revealed that half of its body had completely burned, the big head was as huge as a black bear, and a pair of eyes flashed with a terrifying look. What''s more, the huge tail fin was like the tail of a tuxedo, giving people the feeling as though it was going to fly. Of course, such results are always so unexpected, as withstanding up to fifty thousand volts was hard to bear by any creature. So, when Chen Fan thought it wanted to open its mouth to spit out water arrows, it made a sound frequency and high howl instead, and the green water beast swam downwards. The shriek was like a petrified spell, and when it was passed into the ears of the python, it was so full of force, that it was almost swept up by the green beast''s arm. Boom! This time, Chen Fan saw clearly the green water beast''s whole body muscle contraction. The abdomen bulged, then a thick water arrow suddenly shot out from its mouth. Unfortunately, the attacking weapon did not hurt the python, and in just a second, the python was behind it. If it hadn''t been for the inexperience of the electric eel, he''d have been able to avoid the water arrow when the green monster bulged its stomach. Bang! With one tail drawn on the back of the green water beast, the python ran out of the way with the force of the rebound, then swung up to the electric eel and rolled up the green water beast that had been killed. The python''s rascal tactics left Chen Fan speechless for a long time. Meeting a small one, and directly ravaging it till it was half-dead, then attracting the big ones. And, when it saw that the big one brought a helper, it just fled like that? What is the purpose of killing this green water animal? The electric eel, with its head on the side, was full of questions. By just seeing the monster, he knew that it didn''t look tasty, and he had so much trouble catching it, that he had almost been killed last time. When the two "monsters" returned to the cave, the python looked visibly excited, as its two eyes were twitching, and it kept sticking out its tongue. After the excitement abated, it spread out the cold and bright teeth, gnawing on the green water animal head. Pythons, like crocodiles, can''t move their jaws around and chew, but that doesn''t mean they have a weak bite. Of course, it was not strong either... 202 Golden Eagle The action of the python led Chen Fan into a burst of confusion, as he began to wonder: Does it have the disgusting habit of sucking brain marrow? The green water beast''s frontal bone may be very hard, as the python used a long time and much strength to bite into just a few half deep traces. Finally, the electric eel took the hand, and held it to its forehead, before the eel knocked it on a bulging stone. Then, it was all done. At the sight of the frontal bone being smashed open, the python immediately approached, and its pink tongue rolled out something bowl-sized, with white film. This was a layer of white mustard-like tissue, and through it, you could see a faint blue stone within. "Aren''t these the blue stones, the ones the pythons gave me? How could it come out of the head of a green water beast?" The electric eel took the object from the tongue of the python, then gently peeled off the white film. The blue stone was exactly like the last one, but clearly, this was a larger one, which had been exposed in front of the electric eel. Before he could figure out the use of the stone, Chen Fan decided he had no use of it, so he handed it back to the python. Now, a python completely doesn''t know there''s a Chinese virtue known as "implicit" quality, so when it saw that the electric eel had handed the blue stone back, it did not even hesitate before it swallowed it into its belly. "Can you eat this, too?" Chen Fan was speechless, as the blue stone was smooth to the touch, as well as slippery and tender. Chen Fan turned it over again and again to study it, and no matter from the point of weight or stiffness, it still seemed to be a stone, unlike ghost moon incense which could break open easily and melted in the heat. He had to wonder: Was the python not afraid to get "gallstones" by eating it? Seeing the python finishing its food, it was obvious that it was enjoying it, with his eyes wide open in pleasure. Following this, Chen Fan simply controlled the electric eel to swim outside, wanting to see the charm of this strange space. In the endless ocean, those craggy undersea mountains, and vast basin gullies did not interest the electric eel at all. Walking around the cave two times, Chen Fan found that the fish here were not too different from the fish in the Atlantic Ocean. They were all very strange, and he could not name them. After going around for more than a dozen nautical miles, nothing strange was seen, and the electric eel floated slowly toward the surface of the water, wanting to see if this was a super cave or another world. More than three thousand meters deep, when the electric eel swam to six hundred meters deep, his eyes were completely glazed. Through the hazy clear water''s light, it actually could faintly see a round of sun. "Oh my god!" Chen Fan''s reaction was like the excitement of Columbus after he discovered north China''s island in 1492. With feelings of both tension and excitement, he controlled the electric eel to swim to a dozen meters depth of shallow water, and looked into this strange space more clearly. Half a minute later, when the electric eel found no danger or any human traces, it quietly exposed its eyes to the water. The blue sky was thoroughly blue. In fact, Chen Fan had never seen such a blue sky. It was warm, with a bit of the smell of the sea on the face of the wind, and felt the same as the surface of cotton wool. To the left of the view, there were a number of mountains, placed around in a circle, continuous, with no end at all. To the right of the line of sight was still the blue sea, also having no end. "Oh, I''m going to occupy this place. I''m going to rule this world!" Chen Fan raised his head to the sky and sang. The giant electric eel was like a hungry wolf in a disguise, which had stumbled into a valley full of young sheep, and it was thoroughly exhilarated. "The wind suddenly ruffled, sending wrinkles into a pool of spring water, and the clouds are warm... " When it was enjoying the nice air and the environment, the electric eel was suddenly shocked. With a scream, its nostrils spewed out numerous water bubbles, and like lightning, it was back in the water, its body bent into a bow and its tail swinging desperately... Ang! A loud, clear, piercing cry erupted, as the cold claws of two mining excavators cut through the water in an instant, and the unbreakable force of the passage seemed to have hit the electric eel through the blast. With a wingspan of eighty meters, in addition to the sharp curved beak and black eyes, with its long sharp white brown paws, and no noise, the eagle was terrifying. But it was in the sun, with its glossy feathers glowing, that it was really mesmerizing, as it looked like the eagle was coated with a layer of gold. And those two pairs of sharp-edged black carving eyes were all the time giving out a kind of magnificent aura. "Too fast, this animal is too fast!" The electric eel''s heart stopped beating, as the predator plunged hundreds of meters into the water. His eyes were still in intoxicated, as the bird was not small! And, it had such a dive speed! For reference, the fastest flying bird in the world, at a size of up to three to five meters long, was the frigate bird, which could fly as fast as four hundred kilometers an hour. It could also fly as far as 1600 kilometers, which meant that the frigate bird could fly about 110 meters per second. But in front of this golden eagle, it was completely turned into a slug, and it was not qualified to even compare with this lightning fast speed. "The world is terrible. I''ll go back to the cave and be my own overlord!" With a shudder, Chen Fan controlled the electric eel and ran to the python. There were no pythons in the cave when he returned home in fear. Chen Fan thought the python had gone out to hunt for food, so he plunged his head into the strange ripples, then returned to his position. Returning to his old nest, Chen Fan found the python floating under the cliff. When the electric eel swam up to him, he gave the electric eel a lazy look and closed his eyes. The cow-sized big white head was out of the water, and if anyone could see it, he would have run out of terrified. But Chen Fan was not frightened at all now, and as he passed by, the electric eel playfully flicked the snow-white head. Ho! The python had not opened its eyes, and a glistening tooth was already halfway through the air. But, when it found it was only the electric eel, it stopped moodily. Pat! The electric eel, as it closed its eyes, flicked another tap on its forehead, then ran away quickly. ............ At ten o''clock in the evening, Chen Fan tossed and turned. It was now three days after the escape, so the police should have finished their investigation. He wanted to know something about his family! With a sigh, he controlled the electric eel to rise to the surface of the water and watched the dark night sky. There was no sound or sight apart from the noisy tide. Taking a dive tank to rise to the surface, Chen Fan pulled out a new phone card, and edited a text message that read: Kirin hotel... sincerely asking for men and women hosts...physically well, well behavior, character cheerful... PLS call 139 XXXX if you are interested in Wang Bing... He originally had wanted to use satellite phones, but he only had three satellite phones, and there were a hundred and ten mobile phone cards, each costing just around 100 RMB. So, it seemed a no-brainer. The text message would be deleted by anyone who had even two months of experience in the mobile phones after seeing it. However, Chen Fan was very confident that Wang Bing in particular would reply after reading it. He felt even more confident of this because that contact number was the earliest number he had ever used. In fact, when he first hired Wang Bing, he had used it to contact him all the time. Indeed, as expected, about ten minutes later, the new phone card received a call for the first time, and it was still a landline. "Boss!" Wang Bing''s voice was as loud as a broken donkey. "What about the police''s question?" Chen Fan said in a low voice. "It''s not as bad as I thought it would be. They were ordered by the Japanese to break into the house and rob it. The police have not issued a warrant, but according to the evidence, they have identified you as a suspect. Ma Rongtao also called me yesterday to say that he was helping you communicate with the people above, and to handle this matter in a low profile, to minimize criminal liability." Wang Bing lowered his voice and continued, "What is being debated now, is whether you attacked the police by mistake, or deliberately. It''s more serious because you were carrying a gun." "What is the difference? Two policemen were shot. I thought they were robbers. What about Yunmeng and my parents?" Chen Fan said in dismay. "There''s nothing wrong there. We weren''t there, and they couldn''t ask for anything. Now they live in the old neighborhood, and Yunmeng is on vacation. They''ve frozen your property and assets, but they haven''t confiscated it yet. Ma Rongtao said yesterday that the difficulty of this matter lies in your running away, otherwise, there would have been a lot of room for maneuvering." "Besides run away, what else could I do?" Chen Fan clapped himself on the forehead. "As long as they do not send an A class arrest warrant, and do not make all of the people in Zhongyun city know, I dunno but, have the police allowed them to leave Zhongyun?" "Not yet, but the police also sent a small spy around the neighborhood, to see if they could catch you. If you want to leave, after a while, the police will have no intention of tampering with you." "Well, look for me online, whenever there is a situation. I''m online every day." Chen Fan looked at the time and hung up the phone. After much consideration, he decided to call Ma Rongtao tomorrow. The fact that the police did not issue an A-list arrest warrant, means it was not as bad as he had expected. He would ask for more help. He would pay for it, and he would absolutely then find some help. He, however, was not hopeful in expecting to be stated as innocent. But, as long as he didn''t get a life sentence, he would try to be okay. Although, he certainly wouldn''t want to be imprisoned, but life imprisonment and non-life imprisonment are two totally different concepts. In case he was caught, the latter he had a lot of tricks to play with. Otherwise, he would have to spend more than ten years in prison if he got caught... 203 Catch All in One Draf When he returned to the cave alone, the electric eel caught two sharp-tipped fish and took them back for a late night snack. The next morning, when Chen Fan was in the middle of his dream, the white python swam next to the electric eel and gently touched the electric eel with its tail. Opening his eyes and glancing at it, the electric eel continued to sleep. But he did not think the python would send a cold breath on his back, making it like taking a cold shower in February, and he felt chilled from head to tail. "You''re nuts!" Chen Fan controlled the electric eel and used its tail to hit it, but it was eluded by the cunning python. It then used its two black eyes and looked at the electric eel. With this disturbance, Chen Fan could not sleep anymore, so he got up from the bed, and after washing, he opened the computer to surf the Internet. But the python didn''t want to let him go. The train-like body kept swimming alongside upstream from the electric eel, either giving a scratch, or a chill. After getting up and closing the laptop, Chen Fan took out the stones that the python had given him. He then took two of them and threw them out the window toward the python, since it seemed to want the things so desperately. He still didn''t understand how the python benefitted by eating the blue stone. Indeed, as expected, after seeing the two blue stones flying out of the window of the stone tower, the python immediately stopped disturbing the electric eel, and ran to the bank, then used its tongue to take the stones up. It then closed its eyes and quietly enjoyed its feast. "Is this something that strengthens the body, just like the Taisui?" With a try, Chen Fan threw the last blue stone into the electric eel''s mouth. The result was disappointing, as the fist-sized blue stone had now been in the stomach for two hours, without any trace of digesting or visible results. Chen Fan had to continue surfing the Internet, figuring that the blue stone was useless. In the afternoon, the python was in good spirits again, and when it came to the electric eel, its mouth spat to the water next to it, and visible to the naked eye, a cold mist sprayed on the surface of the water, which made the sea water freeze into a layer of ice. Such a strange sight in front of the electric eel directly stunned him, as if he had been struck by lightning. "Is it a beast?" "Warcraft?" "Genie?" The electric eel touched the ice with its paw. It was cold, not fake... He knew snakes were cold-blooded, but that didn''t mean that they were cooler than the outside world. Rather, it did not regulate its own temperature, and its temperature could only change with the outside world. So.that''s why it ate the blue stones? And, if this thing could also be strengthened, then why does it exchange the stones for ghost moon incense? Chen Fan remembered that the python had improved in speed and strength after it had taken the ghost moon incense, but there was no change in the chilled breath. Was it the ghost moon incense, which would strengthen the body, and then be paired with this blue stone, which then strengthens the spell? This seemed very likely. The electric eel''s discharge ability, which was derived from its abdominal special muscle tissue, had no relation with magic, power, or so on, so strengthening the body''s muscles would also increase its voltage. This explains why the python had not changed significantly, at least ever since it had taken the ghost moon incense, and why it could only increase by eating the blue stone. Because this chill had been classified in a "spell" category, it was not related to muscles or organs. Since this could strengthen the "spell", it certainly contained a lot of energy. So, if he should catch a hundred or a thousand, to grind to powder, letting the Taisui absorb that, the electric eel could then again eat the Taisui, to strengthen the body? Hmmmm. Thinking of it like this, the electric eel did not speak, as he patted the head of the python, motioning it to keep up with him, in order to hunt the green water beast. The python was quick to react, and with just a simple look in the eye from the electric eel, it followed behind him readily. As the electric eel returned to the location of yesterday''s ambush, he turned his gaze to the snake. The python gently poked out its tongue on the bottom of the sea, then remained motionless. The python''s patience was so good, that it could lie in wait for a few days, just to ambush the creatures passing in front of it. The electric eel''s patience was not known, but he already knew it was not good. Leaving the python behind, the electric eel stuck its belly on the bottom of the sea, slowly moving toward the hills, ready to strike. Ho! The python saw his movements, swam up at once, and with an impatient eye, caught him with his tail. "Is there any danger?" when he thought of the miserable appearance of the last python, he thought that it might have to endure loss, which made it cautious. Stopping to pat it on the head, the electric eel''s eyes and expression signaled to the python to stay there, and that he would go alone. Its attack was too simple, and the bite force was not strong, as it could only use its teeth to break the muscle, but could not cause further damage. Also, it was very difficult for those who were covered with grease, as it was. Furthermore, the python''s great ice attack was temporarily unable to form a lethal force. Hence, it would not be much use to let it go up, so the electric eel decided it would rather go alone. The python seemed to understand this all, and he wagged his tail and continued to lurk. Chen Fan then lifted his spirit and controlled the electric eel to move toward the hills. The boundless hills were like a mountain range, stretching to the end of one''s line of sight. When the electric eel was close to a rock, it gradually increased its own voltage to release, in order to allow it to measure the surrounding terrain. The current limit of 60,000 volts could detect a range of 3,500 meters. It was definitely a home travel, killing, and fire setting weapon. First, the voltage was opened to three thousand volts, and after accomplishing the clearance of hundreds of meters without danger, Chen Fan gradually increased the output. There was no danger within a kilometer, so the electric eel dug its head out of the stone and broke into the unknown territory. The rolling line of the hills was gentle and sloped. The electric eel, clinging to the rock for more than five thousand meters, was about to find its first target, when it thought it had already failed. What it saw was a fifty meter long green water beast, curled up on its knees, asleep and unaware of the danger. Relaxing his nervous mood, Chen Fan must be quick and decisive, as he could not let it send out a high-frequency shout. One step at a time, silently he crept closer to it. When he was at a distance of two hundred and twenty meters, the green water animal seemed to become aware, as the head turned around and the eyes opened wide. Boom... Without hesitation, the electric eel''s swarthy scales instantly turned to dazzling blue light. The green water beast was seized by a metamorphosis, as its massive body suddenly curled up into a shrimp, with its mouth that was not open fully enduring a second blow. Boom! The electric eel came up to him, and the claw the size of a van caught him in the head. The other three claws clicked and grasped its two upper limbs. The high-pressure attack in the flesh was more effective than any highly toxic chemical assault, and the green water beast struggled for two seconds, then went off to see the great god. Using the same technique to remove the blue stones from its frontal bone, the electric eel kept looking for another target. He continued to wander for about thirty seconds, and a green water beast came into the electric eel''s sight. This was a little guy just over twenty meters long, that was looking around but finding that there was no other big blue water beast around. The little guy was easy to hunt. He did not care whether it saw him, as he rushed up to make sure it was killed before it could even shout. Unfortunately, this guy''s frontal bone was too small, as it was just a little bit bigger than an egg, and the color was not that blue, but was more of a green. "No wonder the boa constrictor didn''t take the little one yesterday." Shaking his head, he continued to hunt the next target. By using the enhanced good eyesight of the electric eel and the human mind of a man, the electric eel found great success in his hunt. By noon, he had received fifteen blue stones of varying sizes as the spoils of his battles. When he felt it was enough, he went back to the house. There, Chen Fan seemed to find something strange in the distance. As he approached, he realized that the color of the seawater was different, because it was actually a mountain that stood in the hills. The mountain was about 1, 200 meters high, and the mountainside was very thick. The electric eel made a great circle around it. It was three to five kilometers, so not a big one, but not a small mountain either. More interesting to Chen Fan was that, at the top of the mountain, occasionally, there was a green water beast swimming around. On the rocks below the hillside, Chen Fan carefully controlled the electric eel to the top of the mountain. Then, Chen Fan gawked at the scene, his mouth opened and closed, as he was again excited and nervous. He found that there was so many green water beasts... The mountaintop was flat, and the central part had an obvious big concave, which was just in the sight of the electric eel. As such, he would have found more than 50 green water beasts, each a minimum of 10 meters long, the largest of which was more than eighty meters long. And the more they got in the middle, the denser they were, and the whole mountain was conservatively estimated to have six or seven hundred of them! I''m too excited, too nervous! Chen Fan''s thoughts swirled. What if he could get rid of all of them? Even if nothing else, if these things could be ground to powder, how many levels would it let the electric eel''s strength, speed, and voltage increase? If the python swallowed it, then its ice attack, which would cause a temporary freeze, should not be too much of a problem... Unfortunately, Chen Fan could only fantasize in his mind, as so many green water beasts were all together, and the result of his killing would be absolutely worse than that of the python, so much so that his bones might never be found... "Sigh." Chen Fan was like a successful intruder into the headquarters of the Swiss bank, the thieve at the bottom of the vault, where tons of tons of gold was in sight, but there was too much of the gold, so he could not take it all away, and could only stare. "God, can you lend me a nuclear bomb... " Chen Fan even had a thought to rob a nuclear submarine, but he did not have the ability to ignite a nuclear missile. Thirty seconds later, he found a little green water beast swimming on this side, so he could withdraw his head and go home. Back at the area where they waited yesterday, the python was still lying motionless, and beside it was a bloody 40-meter-long green water animal that was lying on its back. When the electric eel came back, the python was so excited, that it swam out of the sand pit and around the electric eel.He took the blue stone he had harvested and gave it to glance. The electric eel picked up the green water animal from the ground and swam to the old nest. The python followed him obediently. .................. "One for you, one for me, one for me, one for me... one for you" Five minutes later, two black and white prehistoric behemoths, were staring at each other with their big eyes, while they laid on the edge of the cliff. The black one was splitting the stones, counting from the bluestones for the white giant, which was staring back, as he took three small stones and set them aside. Ho! The white snake cocked up half of its body, opened its mouth, and roared. Then the pink tongue swallowed and looked like it wanted to lick the electric eel''s head. "Get lost!" The electric eel unmercifully interrupted its good wishes, snatching up the blue stone on the ground and exiting. The python killed one himself, and Chen Fan gave it three, so that he had twelve blue stones left. When he returned to the stone tower, Chen Fan picked out a piece and placed it on the iron plate. Then he tapped it with a hammer. The blue stones were as hard as regular stones, and Chen Fan took a long time to break them into powders of varying sizes. In turns, all the bluestones were broken, and Chen Fan patted his hands and carefully poured them into a glass jar with a ghost moon incense Taisui. If he succeeded, he wouldn''t have to worry about adding a lot of herbs. After washing his hands to eat, Chen Fan again logged onto the Chinese net, then read a few hours of a novel, but still, the blue liquid in the pool did not reduce at all. "Was it impossible?" Chen Fan looked at the glass tank, suspicious. He experimented with many strange substances, and all could be swallowed up by the Taisui. What''s more, it''s fast, and it''s obvious in an hour or two, so there''s no reason why a python could digest something, and the Taisui not be able to then absorb it, too. Chen Fan suddenly realized that one possibility could be that the blue stone energy was too much, so it greatly extended the time that the Taisui needed to digest. It was like that time, when he did the experiment with the ghost moon incense... He took out a dagger and cut the size of an egg from his Taisui, to make it easier to observe. Indeed, as expected, by six o''clock in the evening, the tissue that was missing from the Taisui had recovered by half, and the blue liquid in the fiberglass had not changed. "Yes!" Chen Fan made a snap with his fingers, as he didn''t have to worry about the herbal medicine anymore. "How good would it be to have all the blue water beasts in the mountains?" Lying in bed, Chen Fan daydreamed of this. Blue stones were easy to keep, and they could save a lot of time, without worrying about energy. And the sea was so large, that there was nothing strange about the place where the blue water beasts had taken its place. Chen Fan did not believe that the group of green water beasts were also like the ghost hair jellyfish, which is a unique species, where killing them could make them extinct. In summation, Chen Fan thought that there must then be many kinds of animal that had the stone in their head in the undulating world. ............... After pondering for a long time, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration and thought of a feasible solution. The venom that now spewed from the electric eel had become so viscous, that it was very near like the petroleum oil. So, what if he could fill it in the abandoned submersible that the Frenchman gave him? The submersible was fully 15 meters long and three meters high, and when it was fully charged, it was able to detach the liquid thoroughly with a high power voltage. Not to mention the possible help it would be in killing hundreds of green water beast, or at least all the green water beasts around the capsule. If the effect was not good, he could control the electric eel to go to the war zone in World War 2 and salvage some of the sunken ships. During that time, most of the naval bombs were filled with TNT, as well as a small amount of mixed explosives and black Sorkin, which were more than twice as powerful as venom. Chen Fan could not help but feel excited at the thought of the idea, this allied army, and Japan in 1944, the six-day near sea battle of Leyte Island in the Philippines, light aircraft carriers, both sides with 35 ships. Not to mention the two hundred other warships, and more than two thousand planes! With so many fighting machines, the number of ships that sank was also alarming. Japan had four aircraft carriers, three battleships, six heavy cruisers, and so on. The United States had three aircraft carriers, and more than 1,000 aircrafts, and so on. So how many unexploded bombs were there in that area? It''s so wicked... Chen Fan also trembled thinking of this idea, about how some of the warships were taken out, but there were so many numbers of ships that they couldn''t salvage, or that had no salvage value. IF the electric eel swept through several rounds, could it pick out the quantities of bombs that could blow up a small country? When he got up and turned on his computer, he quickly searched the world''s largest sea battle data, then set out immediately after clearing the spot. It was easy to find the exact location, after getting the exact address and then going to Google and searching for it. Closing the computer, Chen Fan rushed outside the stone tower, ready to clean out the abandoned capsule, and convert it into a super bomb. In the capsule, Chen Fan filled the tank half full of the Taisui liquid. He then took out the pump, and transferred the liquid into the plastic greenhouse film. The plastic greenhouse film, which was made for simple storage, was once used to keep some of the freshwater filters, the glass jars, the battery packs, and so on, and then the electric eel would carry it in its mouths to the caves. To make things easy, he bought a dozen of them and put them in the dock, and it was a good thing, too, as it had now was making its use! The soapy water was soon removed, and Chen Fan moved his mind to the electric eel, letting it spray poison into the capsule. After adding a few more bombs in it, it would be absolutely a big killer! 204 The Sunken Warship The poison sacs in the electric eel''s abdomen just thickened and did not increase in amount. At this rate, it would take about three days for the submersible to be filled up. When the electric eel was finished, he rubbed his hands, took out a phone card and stuffed it in his pocket. Returning to the sea, Chen Fan quietly took out the phone and wanted to make a call to Wu Ruoyu, before calling Ma Rongtao, but hesitated for half a day, as he really didn''t know what to say. "Well, let''s settle this mess first!" He pinched his nose shyly and pressed a number. It was past ten o''clock at night in the villa at the foot of Qingshan mountain in Zhongyun city. "Well, Shasha, how would I put off his business? Not to mention how much he has done for me, but even if I don''t know him, you''ve said it. How would I reject him? I''ve been busy these two days. Director Zhang called at noon. He said the case was going to be classified as a negligent attack on the police." "But the negligent attack of police is still an attack of police! The two policemen said that it took them a long time to show their identities after they shot," said Wu Ruoyu, who sat next to him rubbing her chin with her forefinger and thumb. "It''s not a question of identity," he said. "Even if they don''t show their identity, anyone who beats them is considered to have attacked the police." Ma Rongtao lit a cigarette, and after sucking in twice, he whispered, "Although the wounded policeman was ok, he had no arms license, plus he ran, so the case was completely opened." In the middle of the conversation, his cell phone rang, and Ma Rongtao glanced at the number, before pressing the answer button. "Hello, hello, may I know who''s calling, please?" he asked, while smoking. Then, his eyes widened in surprise, and he looked at the Wu Ruoyu nearby and said, "You are a tough guy that you even dare to shoot the police ..." It must be said that a woman''s sixth sense is very strong, as he didn''t say a few words, but Wu Ruoyu immediately realized who was calling, then when she approached to the front, Ma Rongtao gave the phone to her in an awkward motion. "Chen fan, where have you been?" Wu Ruoyu''s lips quivered. "Ah!" Chen Fan on the other side of the phone was shocked, this was no coincidence... "I..I...I am at sea!" Chen Fan''s words immediately became lamentable, and after saying this, he did not know what to say next. "You... Why didn''t you call me... " She felt very chagrined, and after this matter, she was frightened to death. And to add insult, to think this guy had time to call her uncle, but did not call her... "This... " Chen Fan couldn''t even think of a bad reason, or any excuse for that matter. "Can you tell me where you are? You don''t need to run," she said in a pleading voice. "As long as no one was killed, it would be easy to settle, as you''re the victim, too, right?" "In the country, in a big ship," Chen Fan said with a bitter smile. "I don''t want to run, but my only thought is about how to avoid being caught by the police." "Why are you so stupid... " Wu Ruoyu''s voice trailed off and her eyes grew moist. "Let me talk," Ma Rongtao said helplessly. "I will help you find some way. The civil case cannot be turned over, but this was a misunderstanding, and it did not cause any truly bad impact. I have comforted the two policemen on your behalf, and they said they would help you when taking their evidence in court." "Well, sorry for troubling you, Uncle Ma!" Chen Fan was a little embarrassed and said. "It''s okay to spend, no matter how much of money. In fact, what if you give me your bank account number, and I''ll first remit money to you?" "The money can wait!" Ma Rongtao interrupted. "Do you have any way for us to contact you?" "The phone can''t be turned on every day for the time being, but you can find me online." Chen Fan then said a series of QQ Numbers. ............... At eleven o''clock the next morning, Chen Fan woke up from his sleep. Last night, he talked with Wu Ruoyu from about midnight until two o''clock in the morning. After getting out of bed to wash up and finish lunch, Chen Fan continued to lie in bed, ready to control the electric eel''s journey to nearby Leyte island in the Philippines. It''s just over 1,300 nautical miles from Zhongyun city, and an electric eel can now reach a speed of 230 knots in just six hours. When controlling the electric eel to the south of the cave and in Philippine waters, Chen Fan also stole a large net from a fishing boat that was trawling there, so he was ready to carry a bomb. In covering the largest naval warfare in human history, the historical records were very comprehensive, so when the electric eel arrived at the southwest of the Leyte island, and then plunged to the bottom of the sea to search for the sunken ship, he had historical precedence on his side to lead him. The sea was more than six hundred meters deep, and the farther south it was, the deeper it was. According to historical records, more than 200 ships of all kinds were sunk here, as well as the remains of fighter aircraft throughout the sea. Fishermen here were said to have been able to trawl aircraft and unexploded bombs in shallow seas. If the ship was unfortunately towed to the wreckage, the net would have to be abandoned. Bypassing the fishing boats, the electric eel began searching from a hundred miles off the island, right up to the sea floor. More than 200 warships, that''s a lot! But, in the vast sea, the only way to find them was by luck. The electric eel was certainly lucky today, when after 35 minutes of stabbing four suspected targets with a spear, it managed to find a clearly artificial coral bush. IN actuality, it was a ship that was 85 meters long, nine meters wide, and covered with coral and vegetation. At the head and tail of the ship, two large caliber main guns could be seen. As for the observation deck and the cabin and so on, the superstructure had long since disappeared. In the middle left, there was a big hole that almost tore into the deck. Upon close inspection, there was no doubt about it..it was broken by a torpedo and that was the main cause of its sinking. According to the model, it was supposed to be a large destroyer, and the ammunition depots were not detonated. Otherwise, it would be broken into pieces, so many that even a world''s best jigsaw puzzle master could not put them back together. The ammunition depots of warships were usually set up under the main gun, which is convenient for the transportation of ammunition. Moreover, the main gun was the hardest part of the warship, which could also act as a shield. At the head of the ship, the electric eel thrusts a titanium spear through the deck slot, then grabbed the tail with its two hind claws and used the lever method to pull the spear down. As the electric eel grew stronger, the 30-meter-long spear was wrenched out of a bend, and the ship''s deck erupted. The sound of steel rustling spread through the surrounding seas. The steel plates that had been corroded by the sea for decades were eventually defeated by the electric eel''s violence. Boom! A sound was heard, along with sight of a the thick dust roll, as the steel plate was thrown 20 meters away. After the first piece, there followed the second and the third, and within five minutes, the big riveted pieces had been pried clean by the electric eel, exposing the "soft meat" below them. After opening the first storage compartment with a spear carefully, the electric eel finally opened the ammunition compartment. If Chen Fan had not been prepared, he would not have been able to identify what was wrapped in a layer of white matter as being a bomb that could crack the mountain. There are three types of bombs: a bullet-shaped cannon ball, a cigar-shaped torpedo and, finally, a deep-water bomb the size of a petrol tank. Glancing around, the electric eel gently removed the 13 deep-water bombs with its claws. He didn''t want the rest, as they were not as powerful as deep water bombs, because they take up too much space with propellant and engine thrusters. After finishing the bow, he went back to the stern and opened the ammunition compartment in the same way. Chen Fan found that there were fewer bombs and only five deep water bombs there. A total of 18 were discovered when all was said and done. To put it in perspective, a single bomb weighing 300 kilograms was enough to blow up the pentagon, not to mention a group of green water animals. Hence, he would not have the space to keep it all for himself, so if he took much, he would be anxious. After carefully wrapping 18 deep-water bombs in fishing nets, the electric eel grabbed them and swam quickly toward Zhongyun city. In general, bombs that had been buried or experienced flooding for more than a decade, weren''t a threat, and one needn''t be worried that any would explode once touched, because of the rust corrosion and the springs, which completely run out of steam. Hence, if the bomb were to explode, it would have exploded within a year or two ago, not now. So, as long as the electric eel didn''t release any electricity, these deep-water bombs, which hadn''t been fit with a pin, wouldn''t explode. Being lucky, on the way home, the electric eel found another treasure! It was a 150-meter-long battleship, which consisted of two double-row, three-column main turrets and six-story command buildings, various anti-aircraft guns, quick-fire guns, torpedo launchers, deep-water bomb catapults and observation towers. The battleship was torpedoed out of three large holes in the bottom, almost breaking it in two. By transferring his thoughts to the ontology, Chen Fan recorded the coordinates of the battleship with his book, which he could then explore later when needed. Six hours later, the electric eel returned to the cave, but it carried only a spear, leaving the deep-water bomb outside instead of bringing it in. Now that the bomb was in place, after waiting for the electric eel to fill it with poison, he could finally sweep away the herd. ............... The next day at 12 o''clock at night, the electric eel furtively dragged the bomb inside, as if he was dragging a gas tank, then gingerly took six out of the fishing nets and put them into the submersible, half filled with poison. The 15-meter-long capsule, which was still just fine after six deep-water bombs had been dropped, and had no room left. Tightening the valve, the electric eel grabbed it in its front claws and walked like a penguin toward the cliff. With caution, the electric eel did not throw the diving capsule into the cliff, but instead, he used a metal rope to put it down. Then, on the other side of the lake, he attached the remaining twelve deep water bombs to the cliffs in the same way. The sleeping python watched as the electric eel grabbed the diving pod with its front claws and the back two clawed at the jagged end of the fishing net. Ho! He didn''t understand why the electric eel swam up with all these burdens and kept growling softly... "Darling, don''t shout! What if you roared them, and they blast, then we''d all die!" the frightened electric eel hurriedly bumped its head against it, signaling ''quiet''! When the python had stopped, the electric eel slipped away without saying a word. Unable to use any voltage auxiliary means, the electric eel had to rely on a pair of eyes to circumvent the green water beasts, circumventing into the distant hills, as he silently prayed in his heart. Mercifully, all of the group of green water beasts had fallen asleep. Perhaps god had heard his prayer, as when the electric eel crossed the hill from more than a thousand meters of water, there was not a green water beast in sight! "Whew!" The electric eel looked up at the mountain, where he had fought a few times, and took a deep breath, then swam above in diameter, ready to drop bombs from high places like bombers. They don''t know what it is, anyway, so maybe they''ll just throw it away after they play with the bomb like a toy... At the top of the mountain, a thousand meters away, the electric eel could barely see the group of green water animals lying there resting. When they reached the middle of the mountain, the green water beasts crowded together. According to previous encounters, they could swim up to 150 knots, and electric eels should be able to outrun them after dropping bombs. It was too far from the edge of the mountain for the electric eel to escape, so after wandering around the mountain, Chen Fan chose a place two kilometers from the edge of the mountain. Finding his place, he was about to drop the bomb when, for some reason, a green water beast that was lying on the edge of the mountain suddenly twisted its body a few times, then called out twice. This action made the electric eel, who hid on top, break out in cold sweats, as if they found him, all of his efforts would be a waste. But the creature stopped after a few calls, and the surrounding beasts did not answer. After waiting more than 20 seconds, the green water beast below had not moved, so Chen Fan counted silently in his heart! Three! Two! One! After three silent counts, the front claws of the electric eel suddenly loosened, and the back claws loosened the net on one side and gave a strong shake. Dropping the bomb, the electric eel immediately turned its head and made a graceful arc in the water, swimming quickly under the mountain. The 15-meter-long capsule, like a silent spell, took more than 20 seconds to sink into the middle of the beast before it was discovered. Then they opened their eyes one by one and tapped it in a curious way. They didn''t realize how dangerous this guy was. The deep-water bombs scattered around, and apart from a few brutes, they did not arouse the alarm of their kind. If there was danger, there would be companions to call the police. At this time, the electric eel nervously hid in the 200 - meter high mountain. He was calculating how to detonate the bombs without hurting himself. In pursuit of perfection, Chen Fan also cut a fist-sized piece of ginseng Taisui and gave it to him to eat. By current calculations of 64,000 KV, the effective sweep of electric current is 3km, meaning the electric eels could hide at the bottom of the mountain. Whatever it was, it could withstand a certain amount of shock, and granite, more than 800 meters thick, which could endure a nuclear bomb. The shock wave moved horizontally, turning only when it comes to obstacles, and apparently, there were no obstacles around the mountain. So, the electric eel was not in danger, as long as it was able to resist the aftershock of the sea... 205 Seventy Thousand Volts "I should be able to resist!" The electric eel put its whole stomach on the wall, ready to use its strong back to resist the shock wave. "Three... two...one!" After three counts, the muscles in the abdomen quickly burst into a series of chemical reactions that burst out an unexpected energy, like a drop of cold water dripping into a boiling oil pan. Rumble... The underwater explosion had a roaring sound, and the electric eel felt that its eardrums were breaking, making it just want to move its head into its chest. At the top of the mountain, there was a circle of white dust shock wave, which was mixed with crushed stone and scalding heat. The white shockwave, with the kinetic energy of up to hundreds of thousands of joules, broke the speed of the sound barrier, squeezing the water to one side and spreading it in a semicircle. No fish could withstand this environment. Smaller fish would be destroyed directly, and larger ones would be hit by the shockwave. Even if Hua Tuo and Bian Que arrived, they could not help treat any internal injuries sustained, as it would not be enough. The electric eel, which was hiding eight hundred meters away, was not feeling very well either, and the shockwave that went down the river was like a battering ram hitting him, his head fainting and his feet feeling much too soft. It took six or seven minutes for the electric eel to swim slowly to the mountain, and the sight of it gave him a sense of the end of the world, and his two eyes almost turned into a detonator. Covering an area of more than three hundred acres, there are several spectacular potholes, the largest of which was the size of a football field, and the smallest, the size of a swimming pool. As for the jagged rocks, they seemed to have been wiped out by transformers. Several times, the electric eel managed to find a dozen or so of the dead monsters that had been killed off the edge of the horn, and all the rest were scattered around the mountain by shockwaves. The weapons created by human beings in pursuit of maximum lethality were extraordinary. As long as the body was made up of carbohydrate composition, it couldn''t resist such killing. Fortunately, these blue water monsters were so large, that the shockwave did not cut them into pieces, because that would make him unable to take out the blue stones. Of course, the blue water animals at the center of the explosion were just there based on luck. After taking dozens of the blue stones of the blue water monster, the electric eel came to the hills below the mountain to find the remains. Seventy percent of the green water monsters were killed, and only the lucky ones in the remote areas had survived, and were currently lying on the rocks and groaning. After hesitating for a few minutes, Chen Fan decided to kill the forty - meter and above lengthed ones and keep the younger ones. Two hours later, the electric eel returned to the cave of the python, and on its front claw, it was holding a mass of plastic wrap, which was wrapping a bunch of objects. When he saw the electric eel returning, the python just opened his eyes and looked at him. Then he went back to sleep. Chen Fan then, without saying anything, with a whoosh, went into the waves of the strange land. The harvest was a big one, with a total of six hundred and thirty-three pieces of blue stone. Six hundred and thirty-three pieces, how many ghost moon incense Taisui could this produce? After returning to the cave, Chen Fan picked up the hammer and hit the blue stones, smashing them into gravel, then grinding them into powder in the mill. Out of over 600 pieces collected, Chen Fan broke two hundred pieces in a row, then picked out more than 50 pieces for the python, the rest he reserved. Waking up and cutting seven blocks from traditional Taisui large organizations with Kunwu, and throwing it to the electric eel to eat, he then used a measuring spoon to add a kilogram of blue powder to each, so that it continued to grow. ............ The next day, when Chen Fan opened his eyes in bed, it was nearly noon, and the python was very considerate not to disturb him. After taking a large number of ghost moon incense Taisui, the electric eel''s bodily functions soared again, with a maximum voltage of over 70,000 volts. Putting the spear in 30 meters, the electric eel, after the release of voltage, saw a white light flashing, and a powerful voltage instantaneous break down in the air, along with the split to the ionization of the conduction channel, straight to the spear. The resulting bright flash made the electric eel unable to open its eyes. Boom! Along with the sound that went beyond the speed of light, there was the noise that comes from breaking the air. With such a loud explosion, if one put a frog on the side, it absolutely could knock it dead! After the 30-meter experiment, the electric eel again took the blackened spear and moved it to 40 meters. The same roar of thunder, the barrel of rough electricity on the spear, and the spear, as if being kicked by an elephant, jumped three feet high. Instead of stopping the voltage release, the electric eel kept producing the same frequency. The great noise of the electric arc had caused all the small stones around it to dance. The spear on the ground was discolored, morphing at the speed of the naked eye. Thirty seconds later, it became a red hot rod, hot enough to keep up with the magma. This was because it was mixed with titanium alloy, which made its fire resistance greatly improved. So, if one were to put it with a common iron bar, it would definitely become molten iron. That was hard to imagine, much less to think of what would happen when the electric eel''s strongest voltage reached 100,000 volts! He went out and tested the strength and speed for the whole day, and the electric eel came back, then took the fifty-six blue stones that he had picked up in his claws. Ploop! He jumped off the cliff and prepared to give them to the python. Through the strange, wavy ripples, he came to the snake''s nest, seeing that it was hunched over its belly and curled up, digesting its meal. Its eyes were comparable to a radar, and when they saw the large blue things on the electric eel''s claws, both eyes shone. Roar... roar The narrow space was already not wide enough to allow room for its strong possessiveness, or for rest after a meal, as its violent wriggle could cause indigestion and so on. Suddenly a tail-like octopus wrapped around the electric eel and its head was all the way to his front claws. "Do you belong to the squid family?" The electric eel, which was uneasy, did not manage to break free from it, and then lifted its front claws and let the little blue stones fall to the ground in an arc. The electric eel then suddenly found himself suffering from what was commonly known as "presbyopia," which has a scientific explanation of being a disease where one sees an image projection, but one cannot fully focus on the retina, and the whole line of sight is then full of a white flash. In several breaths, the scattered blue stones were looted by the white python. All the functions in his body were destroyed by a virus called "happiness", and it wanted to shout in joy, but could not. "Oh, my dear, don''t go insane again!" Shaking his head, the electric eel quickly got away from this "psycho". At about twelve o ''clock, Chen Fan was sitting next to his computer, looking at his novel with a sullen face. It''s not that the content of the novel was too dull, but rather that the white python was mad, and the electric eel couldn''t get rid of it. At last, he could not stand the enthusiasm of the python, and drove it away a few times with its electricity, only then managing to force it to leave. Now, he was in no mood to continue to read the novel, and so he continued to search for information about the Nakagawa family. Yesterday, Ma Rongtao told him that the three criminals had been classified as "armed burglars", and two weeks later they were to be brought to trial, and given either life imprisonment, or more than 15 years. When he was sent to the police, he said that the mastermind was Nakagawa Emi and that the three criminals, with the help of the police, also gave the Japanese people permission to rob the goods. But she also fled as fast as Chen Fan, with information from two of the gangsters, heading back to her villa, after which, she completely disappeared from Zhongyun. She also did not expect that someone, who was a rich man in her eyes, could be able to turn over three experienced bandits! Wang Bing spent three or four days guarding at the gate of Jinding building, but he didn''t get anything. Even the police went to the airport to read the information and found no record of her entry. The police couldn''t find Nakagawa Emi, but it did not mean that Chen Fan would let her off. Chen Fan, who had racked his brain, even telephoned to Somalia yesterday, to ask if there was a website like the international assassination group, because he wanted to pay for a murder. The result was, of course, disappointing, and the translator was very tactful in telling Chen Fan that he had not heard of the site. Hence, if the enemy was on this side of the Middle East and had a detailed address, he could send someone to get rid of them. When he was watching the news time to time, and the QQ icon under the taskbar suddenly jumped, the profile was of a lovely cat head, whose owner was Wang Bing. "Boss, the matter that you let me check has news!" read the message on the screen. After this news, a row of black fonts appeared in front of Chen Fan: In Jinding tower, most of them are the offices of the Sino-Japanese joint ventures and five Japanese wholly owned enterprise offices. One of the largest is called the village ferry international trade co., LTD. It is a Japanese wholly owned company, which was established in Tianhai cities in 2000. It is located in Jinding mansion. As for his information, you can go to Baidu and know that they have Internet portals. "I see!" Chen Fan''s quickly typed his response. Since he couldn''t find Nakagawa Emi, Chen Fan wanted to take the entire Nakagawa family to relieve his anger. He had found the Nakagawa family on the Internet, as it owned the second largest business corporation in Japan. Japan, being an island nation, had almost all its large companies located close to the sea. Even those who made sophisticated electronics had to rely on giant ships to import and send raw materials. However, with the Nakagawa family, who was in control of the large business community, there was no sign of a business near the sea, which was rare! If they had a lot of business shipping in the ocean, and he could find them, Chen Fan even fantasized in his heart that he could make them hand over Nakagawa Emi! 206 The Graff Sea Of course, it was still too early to fantasize about these things, as it is only practical to understand the enemy forces. When he logged into the search bar and searched for Murano international trade co., LTD., a number of websites popped up. This is a company specializing in the import and export of technology, complete sets of equipment, high-tech goods, and bulk raw materials. It''s listed on the website that they have been involved in thirteen famous projects in the area. In Tianhai, for example, it has built Asia''s second largest, fully-enclosed eco-park on the outskirts of the city. They are responsible for importing the ultralight aluminum alloy brackets used inside it, and the outer coating of ETFE from Japan. The company was not listed, and Chen Fan could not find his annual financial statement. But for all the stuff on the site, their total assets would be over a billion RMB. "A billion?" Chen Fan shriveled his lips. He was afraid this was only the small part of the business community of Nakagawa company! This small amount of money, he was afraid, that even if he blows up the company, the Nakagawa family would not skip a beat. Continuing to click on a link called a memorandum of cooperation, he found several valuable pieces of information. In 2006, Murano trading company was invested an amount of 3.67 billion RMB by Ono business group, which is responsible for the construction investment of the Ono group in China. In 2007, the two sides reached a merger, and made an acquisition agreement, making the Murano trading company officially a member of Ono business group. Information about the Ono business group was unavailable online. But, when it landed at Google in Japan, the message suddenly grew. We know the Japanese language is an inexhaustible imitation of the whole, and that there are 1945 commonly used Chinese characters, so Chen Fan could know and understand the meaning of it, even if he simply guessed it. Finding their homepage, just as Chen Fan wanted to borrow a web translator to preview the contents of the inside, he was immediately attracted by a large image that occupied two-thirds of the page! This was a picture of the ocean in the background, and the drilling platform as the main theme. The commentary read: "Warmly celebrate the completion of the seven offshore oil RIGS that were built in Libya and the Graff sea, as well as the trial production yesterday." The production of this oil field was another great achievement in the field of oil and gas. It is also was a project, which was initiated after the lifting of UN sanctions against Libya. Thus, it was of great significance. At present, the door for investment in Libya had been fully opened, and countries around the world were now welcome to actively participate in the construction of Libya''s oil and petrochemical industry. The field produced 150,000 barrels of crude oil per day during the trial period, followed by water, oil, and gas treatment and separation. At the end of the trial, it produced 900,000 barrels a day. The ancillary facilities of the oil field include: crude-oil collection and separation stations, natural-gas treatment stations, storage stations, export stations and so on, with 32 storage tanks in total. At present, the seven known wells are all large oil fields, each with a storage capacity of more than 80 million barrels. In the next few years, this scale is expected to continue to expand, especially with the deepening of cooperation with Libya. We will hold an auction in a week''s time at the Takeda building in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo, where hundreds of millions barrels of crude oil will be sold every Wednesday... ......... "Millions of barrels of oil every Wednesday?" Chen Fan stared at the news. Although 3 million barrels of crude oil were not much, oil was almost as scarce as drugs. No matter how much was the amount, the society can absorb it. So, why would they hold an auction? Isn''t that an unnecessary move? Why the other side was selling part of its crude oil share, Chen Fan was too lazy to study the reason. He only knew that the price of a barrel of crude oil was equal to 520 RMB, and three million barrels was equivalent to fifteen point five six million. "I''m going to this oil auction!" Only thinking for five seconds, Chen Fan slapped his knee and said in a tone as indestructible as an iron hammer. Oil is an average priced good, and even if the price of a barrel of oil is a dollar higher, the buyer will still lose 50 percent. After all, three million barrels would be three million, and a buyer would be able to bid that, if he adds a few cents at random. And, if he wins the bid... Well, there''s something called an agreement penalty... The only problem now is, how to qualify for an auction? It''s not a great deal, but it''s definitely a big deal. The bidding process may be just a formality, giving companies that are scrambling for oil a level playing field. Since everyone wants it, the higher price wins. So, he could get it without offending anyone! Generally speaking, there would be a threshold for the auction, where only either a person with strong economic strength, or a company with a deep knowledge of the company, could participate. At present, he had more than 10 billion RMB in economic power and five large oil tankers totaling over 200,000 tons. It''s a bit of a hassle to know, but only with a certificate of deposit from a Swiss bank and a certificate of ownership of five tankers, could the mercenary businessmen not refuse him. Whether it turns out to be a success or not, this is a very worthy revenge to try. After patiently researching for most of the day about the group, he closed the computer. He had one week to prepare, and if he could attend the bidding meeting, he had a high confidence of winning the bid. Ho! The word "killjoy" was coined to describe the present situation. While Chen Fan shrank in bed, thinking of the manipulation process, and preparing to send the electric eel to Libya to look at the situation for subsequent program-related information, the white python was very tiresomely swimming ashore, dashing in front of the electric eel and shouting. Chen Fan moved his mind to the electric eel, and then, almost without thinking, rewarded it with a flick of the finger. If it was before, and the electric eel flicked its forehead, the python would definitely have been in a rage. But now, it was distinctly different from the old days, and after a flick from the electric eel, it laid obediently next to the electric eel, staring at him with its big eyes. "I have no time to fool around with you, I still have serious business to do!" Chen Fan muttered in his heart, as he controlled the electric eel to move toward the exit. But as the electric eel moved, so did the python. We know that animals can''t understand the human mind, and humans can''t communicate with animals. So, in general, you can only use violence to express your own will. The electric eel moved helplessly, with its claws scratching his abdomen, ready to release the current to drive it away, as the six-meter reptile unexpectedly tried understand the electric eel, roaring softly, and stopping from twisting its body. "Oh, you know how to read expressions?" Chen Fan said to himself, as he controlled the electric eel to wave its paw to signal it to return. 207 Bodyguard After getting rid of the python, Chen Fan ducked into the capsule, ready to go out and make a phone call. At present, his identity was not clear, and he had to find a way to make two identification documents. Otherwise, he would always be in the blacklist, which made it inconvenient to go anywhere. If he wanted to get identity documents, he would ask the pirates to help. Because, in Somalia, their will was equal to the will of the government. When the electric eel returns, it could take it back from there. Mr. Abadi''s translator, when he got a call from Chen Fan, estimated that he was sleeping, and that he had been speaking in gibberish for half a day, before he realized that he should change into speaking Chinese. "Help me to make contact with Somalia, and to obtain the identity of two countries nearby, with a passport, I will pay you $50,000 for one." He certainly wouldn''t turn down such a big amount of money, and Somalia doesn''t need a dime. Even if he got an ID with Obama''s picture on it, it would not be a problem. As they all looked similar, in his mind. As for the other two countries, they only needed to pay the middleman, and even then, only just a little workman money for the amount. "What about Ethiopia and Kenya? The two countries are close to us," the translator said warmly. "We have close business dealings with each other. We don''t have to worry about what''s wrong with our documents, and we could fill in the details simply." "No problem. I''ll send you the photo. Age is 23 years old, the name and place of residence, you can settle for yourself." When Chen Fan wrote down the email, he said, "Can these things be done in two days? I''ll have a boat passing by then, and I''ll take it." "The Somalia side would be done in a day. I''ll contact them when I receive the photos. It should be ok in two days." "Done!" After hanging up, Chen Fan hurried back to the cave, sent him the electronic photos of his last fake ID, and then controlled the electric eel to go to Libya. Libya is about nine thousand miles from the Zhongyun, so he would reach it in two days at the current pace. In a blink of an eye, two days of a boring sea trip passed by. The electric eel made his way through the strait of Gibraltar and reached the Mediterranean in about an hour, arriving at 11:05 a.m. local time. The Mediterranean Sea, with its rich oil and natural gas reserves, has mostly contracted to developers around the world, charging large amounts of mining fees. And just fifty-three nautical miles north of Libya, in the Graff area, is a collection of offshore drilling platforms from six countries and seventeen different companies. Among them are the famous Shell Oil and Sinopec. The annual cost of mining alone gives the Libyan government more than $10 billion in revenue. When the sun was tilted to a 45-degree angle in the sky, the electric eel finally reached the location of the seven offshore drilling platforms that were introduced by the company. This was a large drilling rig, which was painted with bright yellow paint and had a white background with a red sun flag on top. At the side was painted the "Ida Maru assignment three" logo, which was consistent to the introduction on the website. Seven oil wells stood in the 50-square-kilometer exclusive sea area, four of which were working, leaving the remaining three in a flameout state. After a few laps of uncertainty, Chen Fan made sure that he still controlled the electric eel, then turned around and left. "Let''s make you happy for a while, since there''s no place to cry!" By this time, the pirates had finished their identifications, and Chen Fan let them wrap it up with something waterproof and throw it into the sea. The money didn''t come with it, and the pirates didn''t want to transfer the money to the bank. So, after he got the money, Chen Fan sent him an email, saying that the money would be brought to him next time. "Dear Sir, there is no need to charge for this little thing." The translator thought that the other party was not going to pay, so he had to admit his bad luck and say a few words to show his magnanimity. When he saw this message, Chen Fan laughed, as this guy, in only 15 words, wrote wrong six of those words! It took another two days to return to the cave, which was four and a half days since they''d left, and two and a half days before the oil bid. There were three identification cards now, all of which were small, like ID cards. The passports were two blue books, and one brown book, and the name was not known. Luckily, the translator listed a piece of paper written in Chinese characters. It explained that the one in Mali was called Lance Camden, the one in Kenya was Kate Rozanne, and the one in Ethiopia was Nadine Aviv. The background was all fabricated, depicting Chinese descendants living in big cities. With legal documents, the only thing left was to go to Japan and attend the bidding meeting. The absence of a visa for Japan''s entry and exit administration was not a reason for him to travel to Japan, and if the police found him, he would not be admitted and repatriate. This trip to Japan would certainly not be able to take the deep-sea submersible, otherwise, he would be suffocated in about half an hour, so he only could ride the 30-meter long luxury submarine. Thinking of waiting two and a half days was torture, as Chen Fan was ready to start tomorrow. Yet to get there, he needed to find a translator to find out the details of the bid. If he wanted to look for a translation, he could contact the translation company from the domestic business English translation company, and let them contact the translators or overseas students from Japan. There was a translation company in Zhongyun, but Chen Fan, for the sake of caution, still went to the nearby coastal city to make contact. .................. The next morning, at ten o''clock, in Tokyo, Japan, at a temple street near the beach, Chen Fan, who had just been wearing a diving suit, as he had just landed from the middle of the sea, after finding a big tree to hide, rapidly changed his clothes. Tokyo is the largest city in Asia and the second largest city in the world, with most of its interior coastline being covered by artificial buildings. With that in mind, the electric eel was here for a long time, in order to find a suitable landing site. After changing, he casually threw the diving suit to the side, then took out a GPS locator from his Armani handbag that was wrapped in plastic bag. He now had to travel three kilometers, before he arrived at a place called the public shrine primary school, to meet the business translator. The translator was contacted by Chen Fan through the translation company, when he had gone to Tianhai yesterday. The professional business translation time was too tight, so the translation company helped to introduce him to a foreign student at the University of Tokyo, who held a certificate of Japanese grade eight and would have no problem in translating the language plagiarized from Chinese characters. Chen Fan had now walked for an hour or so with the GPS. Arriving where he thought it should be, he looked around for the translator. As it turns out, the translation company had given him the information of a 24-year-old female graduate student, with a pair of glasses, which looked polite. Japan is a fast-paced society. Most of the people on the road were in a hurry, so it was easy to find someone that was stationary, waiting for someone else. He was only halfway around the school gate, when he found the target, he didn''t even need to make a phone call. "Hello, are you Dai Yu?" Comparing the two materials, Chen Fan went to the girl with the ponytail, who was dressed in a white collar shirt and a silver-grey women''s woolen suit. "Yes, and you are Mr. Chen?" Dai Yu looked at him and asked in a friendly manner. She looked not bad, much better than the picture, only her breasts were a little bit smaller. Chen Fan thought these things in his mind, then nodded and handed her the agreement. "How long will Mr. Chen be staying in Japan?" Dai Yu smiled, then tilted her head, with a soft and weak look. "Two or three days, as I will go to Shinjuku to settle something." Chen Fan looked at the time. "Is there a Swiss international bank nearby? If so, can you take me there now?" "They might have one in Ginza! It''s about an hour''s ride from here, and Shinjuku is close to Ginza, which is more than 20 minutes away from the subway," Dai Yu said, as she stopped a cab. "The subway?" Chen Fan repeatedly shook his head, as in his impression, the Japanese subway was a synonym for "terror". It''s not that there were monsters in it, but that it was more crowded than a can of sardines. Along the way, the two people chatted, as she told Chen Fan that she specializes in a psychology discipline. She was from Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, and signed a contract with three translation companies in China, which were responsible for some delegation business, tours, and so on, all translation work from her hometown. A master in psychology? Chen Fan could not help but admiring, thinking how nice it was to meet such a high-level professional, and one who was working for him as a translator. He really did have a sense of achievement today! "Do you know how to hypnotize, Miss Dai?" Sitting in the back seat of the cab, Chen Fan asked curiously. "As far as I know, the general skills of a psychology master are hypnosis, and hypnosis is a kind of psychology." "Hypnosis is mostly used for a psychological doctor''s treatment in patients with a certain mental disease. It is not as magical as described in films and television literaries. With such, the patients need to open their heart to cooperate, in order to really succeed." Dai Yu smiled and didn''t answer his question directly. "If you call a person into a quiet environment, and cause them to be psychosomatically relaxed for five minutes, then hint at him to open his heart to cooperate with your words, then you whisper in his ear: ''Your arms can''t lift, your arms can''t lift'' then his arms would feel really heavy. But, if you tell him to strangle himself, his subconscious would immediately resist, and he might beat you up!" "Then can you try to hypnotize me?" Chen Fan tilted his head to the window and said casually. "Sure! You are a woman. You are a woman..." she said, shaking her finger in front of his head with a smile. "Wow, there''s an Ultraman out there!" All of a sudden, Chen Fan made a dramatic gesture and pointed to the window. Both of them were about the same age, and they didn''t lack a common language, so they kept chatting and laughing all the way. When the cab reached Ginza, Chen Fan realized that the time had passed quickly, for more than an hour! "Ha Pui!" When he came out of the cab, he spat on the clean grey tile, not because there were too many travelers, but because he wanted to find a building upon which to leave an aggressive message. So, he was getting a tough image ready to go. "Would you like me to take you to buy spray paint and give it a shot?" Dai Yu stood on the side and said in a casual manner, without any expression of disdain. "No, it''s not fun to be caught!" Chen Fan shook his head and rejected the tempting offer. They spent money like water here, so of course, buildings like Citi bank, Switzerland bank, Fuji bank, and a mess a lot of banks, had an architectural style that was more and more exaggerating, as if only to reveal their deep pockets. Walking into a gray, white-tipped building, which was a Swiss bank with three silver keys in the doorway, Chen Fan took out his black bank card. When he just wanted to go the VIP room, a sharp-eyed man in a black suit, came forward in enthusiasm, and bowed ninety degrees, saying, "Dear guests, what can I do for you?" The expression of Dai Yu was a bit surprised, to think that Chen Fan could let a manager be so attentive, just proved that the card in his hand was not simple. In less than twenty seconds, the manager bowed 90 degrees, then took Chen Fan to the second floor VIP room. Opening the scarlet hand-carved doors, and stepping on the German branded thick carpet, Chen Fan handed his card over, saying, "Help me prepare ten thousand Yen in cash, then register a Japanese bank card, and transfer ten million Yen inside." There was no need of translation from Dai Yu, as there were many present, who were all proficient in the language of professional financial translation. Even on the top floor, there were different styles of rooms for distinguished guests of different nationalities. "Oh, ya!" Chen Fan seemed to recall something, while sipping green tea, and said, "The last time I got more information from the bank on the net, it said I can change to an A card, so what is that?" "Ah!" The hand of the female staff, who was working on the computer, suddenly shook, and then her eyes looked at him with some amorous expression, where even the foundation of her makeup could not hide her blushing feeling of favor toward him. "This is a credit card that we make specifically for customers with deposits over billions of dollars in the Swiss bank. Holding this card, you can enjoy maximum convenience provided for you, and we not only can summon a professional financial personnel to help you at any time, but we also can supply a professional bodyguard from the bank to anywhere, to provide security for you." The A membership card that Chen Fan spoke of, when it was heard being discussed, it was like a bombshell released into the water. Not only did all the female employees now have their eyes flirting at him, but even the golden haired, big nosed key customer manager held his laptop and ran personally to Chen Fan like a fawning sycophant. What was worth mentioning is that Chen Fan''s B class membership card was a black color, and was printed with three silver safety deposit box keys. The big client manager from Switzerland told him that he now could choose any color and pattern he liked, to make the A-level membership card distinct. Also, the card was made of a zero-magnetic wear-resistant metal, so one would not have to worry about the metal''s magnetic impact on the chip. This card could not be bulletproof, or explosion-proof, but anyway, it was indeed very strong, and very durable. It was obviously made by professional manufacturing equipment in Switzerland, so one needed to wait three days, before the card was ready, and sent by air express mail. The pattern style Chen Fan still chose was black, then he added a few white auspicious cloud patterns, so it still looked good. "By the way, do you have a hotel? I came in a hurry, and did not even make a hotel reservation." Chen Fan, sitting on a white calf leather sofa, was playing with his new Japanese bank card, and asked this question of the key customer manager next to him. "I''m sorry, we don''t have a holding hotel, but we do have a partnership with Intercontinental, Accor, Shangri-la, Hilton, and so on. We can order ahead for you and provide a prefabricated consumption mechanism. If you are staying in a hotel that does not support the international bank card, we can pay for you first, then you can only go to UBS Swiss bank website, and then you can pay it." "What a very considerable method!" Chen Fan smiled and said, "Please help me book the Shangri-la! What about applying for private security? How do I do that?" "This is a service that was launched two years ago, and is made for guests who are constantly traveling to different countries." The blue-eyed key customer manager tapped his laptop to switch to another document, pointing to the fierce-faced, abnormal muscled uplifted black and white man and said, "All of these bodyguards participated in the six months of rigorous training at a private security firm named Blackwater in the USA. Thus, they are proficient in driving, fighting, shooting and so on. And, many of them are recruiting veterans, generally responsible for the security and escort work of the bank, so if there is a customer in need, they can be called on. In privacy and credibility, we could ensure it in the name of the Swiss Bank. You just need to pay them 500 USD each per day, and you can get the most professional private security for your exclusive use." "Then find me four black men, the strong ones." Chen Fan touched his chin, thinking about the $500 a day, which was several times more expensive than a domestic private bodyguard. But now, in a foreign country, there were four professional and safe black bodyguards for him, which could be used as a token to make him appear much more glamorous! After choosing a few photos of the bodyguards, he was satisfied, and Chen Fan turned to Dai Yu and said, "Do you know English? The black men probably couldn''t speak Mandarin." Dai Yu for a long time did not say a word, thinking that using "enigmatic" or "unpredictable" would be suitable words to describe this man. She was lost in thought, wondering about this mysterious foreigner. "Hello, hello, wake up!" Chen Fan touched her with his arm, waking her from her daydream state. "Ah, normal communication is fine, but I might not be able to translate, if it''s a technical term." In retrospect, Dai Yu looked at him with a look that seemed to say: "I have underestimated you". "Private security here can speak Japanese, English, and the language of their hometowns!" a translator standing next to the customer manager smiled and said. 208 The Little Squid "Not bad!" Chen Fan nodded, as he was very satisfied with the appearance of the several bodyguards, figuring that, if he walks with them outside, his status would be immediately higher! "Dear guest, how long are you going to hire them?" The key customer manager beside him asked, while smiling. He then came forward and handed Chen Fan the contract. "It depends, maybe three days, maybe a week." Chen Fan stuffed the paper into his backpack and looked around. "Do you have any cars for rent here?" "If you need a car, we can contact the company and provide the guaranteed service." The Swiss man said sincerely, "I suggest you choose a bulletproof lengthened Hummer car, because although it is very common, a Rolls-Royce, which is mostly rented by middle-aged customers, is not consistent with your age." "Well, send me the bill later." Chen Fan nodded and walked to the sofa beside him and sat down. "Johnny, you and Manager Zhang go to Kabushiki Co., Ltd. to rent a Hummer, and choose the bulletproof one." The key customer manager stepped outside and patted a guard on the shoulder. About 40 minutes later, the returning guard came in and handed the car keys to Chen Fan''s bodyguard. "Dear Sir, if you have any trouble here, please let us know at any time. We will do our best to help you." The key customer manager only stopped after sending Chen Fan personally to the black Hummer, which was seven and a half meters long, two meters wide and two meters high. "Tell them to drive to the Takeda building in Shinjuku district!" Sitting in a silver-white horizontal sofa, Chen Fan leisurely and carefreely said to Dai Yu. The price of the Hummer, though still far from his Maybach, was still impressive, and the car itself was big enough to sit comfortably. Enjoying this treatment easily in this foreign country already felt very good. It was three o''clock in the afternoon, just one day before the auction, as the black hummer roared and arrived there. As he entered the 37-floor building, Chen Fan let Dai Yu ask regarding the specific process to participate in the auction. After ten minutes, she ran and told Chen Fan that, in order to participate in the auction, he would need to provide at least ten billion yen of bank deposit certificates, and the enterprise''s basic data. Moreover, only a contract signed for six months or above could then obtain the cooperation qualification needed for the auction. The bank certificate was very easy to obtain, as one just had to provide a two hundred million dollar proof of funds, and since now is an era of electronic goods, just by going to the Swiss bank internet operation, a newly generated electronic certificate could be downloaded, while the other side could simultaneously log in to the website of Swiss bank to verify authenticity. The enterprise basic data also was not a problem to procure, as one just had to write to one of those offshore companies, and if later, when signing any contract, he could take the Kenya identity to register for it officially, then, Voila!, he would get an enterprise certificate! Sitting in the car, Chen Fan wrote down some enterprise information on his notebook, saying that he owned a big oil tanker company in Kenya, and that he wanted to buy oil and pass it along to sell to Singapore, Vietnam, Myanmar and other Asian countries. After he fixed the data, he let Dai Yu translate it, and then let the black guy that sat not far away from him, who was named Bishopp, find a place to print a few copies. A few staff members, who were responsible for attending to guests, when they saw several strong black male bodyguards, they hurriedly came up with enthusiasm. Following that was less than 10 minutes of registering related information, and then they gave Chen Fan a white card, and said that the auction would be held in the meeting hall on the eighth floor at 9 o''clock tomorrow morning. He could then use the card to enter, but they warned that the guards couldn''t carry any offensive weapons inside there. "Dear big boss, where are we going now?" After all the matters were done, Dai Yu smiled broadly and stepped forward to ask. "Drive back to the mansion!" Chen Fan jilted a nonexistent sleeve robe, like he was the emperor, and beckoned the four strong black men bodyguards to leave. Shangri-la Hotel, Tokyo, was the only one of the hotels with the same name in Japan as abroad. And, like the luxury hotels in the Marunouchi building, all the hall drop lights were handmade by a world-famous Czech Lasvit company, with one of the biggest drop lights being as tall as a three-story house! The carpets, wall adornments, flower arrangements, everything really, if casually taken out, just any of these pieces alone could boast that it was a creation of a master, and could cheat a large number of people, if resold or auctioned off. The Swiss man helped him to order a deluxe room on the top floor. The price of one night in which was more than 8000 RMB! This was the first time that Chen Fan had stayed in such a luxury hotel, especially one with such a large media display in the sitting room, which was two times larger than the 52 inch tablet in the submarine. He immediately thought that it would be exciting to watch a porn movie on such a big screen! "By the way, do you have anything to do tonight?" There are two rooms, and there would be no need for you to travel around tomorrow!" Back on the sofa, Chen Fan said with his face turned to Dai Yu. The corners of her mouth smiled, and she thought for about ten seconds, then nodded. The words were ambiguous, but Chen Fan spoke them in a kind intention. Tokyo is the world''s second largest city, and is also near the top of the list as being the most densely populated city. So, if Dai Yu traveled back and forth, it would definitely hold up a lot of time. When the lights were on, and the night had fallen, Chen Fan, who woke up from a nap-type sleep, asked the waiter for a few Chinese dinners to fill his stomach. The delicate and delicious Chinese cuisine almost made the four black men chew their tongues, and his throat was like a heavily clogged sewer, stuffed with food. They''d all eaten Chinese food, but they''d never tasted such tasty fare as this. Chen Fan and Dai Yu''s appetite was significantly lesser than theirs, but still, Chen Fan burped satisfiedly, and let the waiter clear the tableware. From outside the sitting room, he could ambiguously hear several black men wowing about the food. "What are you looking at?" In front of the balcony, surrounded by glass, Dai Yu walked to Chen fan and fixed her own gaze to where he was looking. Here, in the west of Tokyo bay, standing on the top of such a height, one could see the black color afar that was out of place in the lights that shone from the buildings. "Looking at the sea!" Chen Fan was looking down on the shoreline of the nearby sea, controlling the electric eel to find a hiding place. It was only his glassy stare that made Dai Yu think that he was meditating. "What does that tell you?" Dai Yu imitated how he looked on the glass wall behind him! "My feeling was that the water here is too shallow and more heinous, and that it actually doesn''t even have large coral reefs, and no fish the size of more than two meters. There were many sunken ships though..." "What you are looking at is the Tokyo bay detailed explanation book!" Dai Yu sneered a laugh. "I have a strong insight into the sea, much better than radar," Chen Fan laughed and said. "It''s just a small thing to see through a few hundred meters of water." "Wow, that''s awesome, I adore you!" Dai Yu''s eyes, made a teasing expression. "I knew that you wouldn''t believe, so how about let us make a bet?" Chen Fan, who was flicking his finger, pointed to the great dark sea road. "I predict that there will be a half meter long squid, stranded on the beach in front of us." "Haha . stranded squid... " Dai Yu laughed out loud, as she kept holding her belly and wiggling. "But, from here to the sea is at least three miles, so don''t say half a metre long squid, because, even if it is sunny noon here, you couldn''t see even if a big shark lay there." "Well, you never know, if you don''t bet on it!" "What''s the bet?" Dai Yu was confident in her own judgment, and her confidence was as strong as titanium alloy. "Kiss me, if you lose!" Chen Fan raised his eyebrows and pointed to the corner. "If I lose, then I''ll eat that pot of bamboo." "Is that squid stranded now?" "Not yet. We can wait by the sea, and when we get there, it will soon run aground." "Gentlemen would not pull back their words!" Dai Yu said. "What has been said cannot be withdrawn!" "Let''s go, I''ll watch you come back to eat bamboo!" Dai Yu smiled and walked to the door. A dozen minutes later, they walked to the beach. Not far behind the orange street lights, the beach scene was faintly visible. "Where''s the squid?" Dai Yu raised her head, showing a little smugness already. "Don''t worry, it will be there in a moment!" When the time passed, Chen Fan closed his eyes and spread his arms, like he was spreading wings. "It''s coming, not far to the left." After a few seconds, Chen Fan opened his eyes and smirked. Then he strode to the left. "Is it?" Dai Yu''s tone was still so confident, but there was now some hesitation in her steps. "Let me see, it should be here!" After walking more than twenty meters, Chen Fan stopped to pretend to look around, and then he exclaimed, "Here!" A half a meter long dark red squid was stranded to the shore by the sea waves, and from the looks of its mildly squirming tentacles, its life hadn''t fully come to an end, proving that the fragile little life was just stranded out of the seawater. Flabbergasted, Dai Yu nearly dropped the glasses on her nose bridge, as she poked the squid with her finger in disbelief. The squid would easily win a prize, if it participated in the contest called "Die immediately after stranded" in the Olympic Games. And yet, it was somehow still alive! "About this matter... " Chen Fan''s expression was treacherous. "Ghost!" Dai Yu turned her head and ran! Chen Fan''s eyes followed her helplessly, as he was shocked by her behavior. ... "I... I... I won''t charge you for the translation, okay? Back in the hotel, the confused Dai Yu stuttered. "If you had lost, I would not have let you eat bamboo anyway!" At last, she added quickly. "Hehe!" Chen Fan''s insidious smile never stopped. "I... I''m sleepy, bye!" the girl again stuttered, while attempting to back out of the room. 209 Oil Auction At 8:40am, the heavy Hummer roared its way to the Takeda Building parking lot in the Shinjuku District. Unfortunately, it was already completely filled with cars, many of which were expensive models that could otherwise only be seen in car exhibitions. Chen Fan''s black car could only be parked on the bare ground nearby. Getting out of the car, he realized that the place was totally different from the previous day. There were at least 50 policemen patrolling around the building, each holding a baton. In addition, gorgeous banners were hung all over the building''s plaza. In the distance, many reporters could be seen carrying their equipment and negotiating with the staff in black suits, hoping to enter and do an interview. Strangely enough, these staff members neither advised the reporters to leave nor stopped them from entering. They only stood there like statues. The reporters, on the other hand, only bargained and did not dare to force their way through, as though someone with high authority was blocking their way. As soon as Chen Fan and his escorts entered the hall, two staff members in black suits approached them. They bowed and then using their arms, stopped the four fierce-looking bodyguards behind him. The staff members were ready to use their metal scanners on the bodyguards. Beep! Beep! Beep! Just as the metal scanners touched their bulging clothes, an ear-piercing alarm sounded off. "Apologies sir, but we do not allow any weapons in here!" Chen Fan nodded and told Dai Yu, "Tell Mike to put his weapon away. The rest can wait for us in the car!" Following the staff''s lead, the group entered the conference hall which was painted pale yellow and could accommodate up to 200 people. The place was already quite full, with over 100 people seated, most of whom were middle-aged Asian men dressed in formal attire accompanied by either a young female secretary or a smart-looking lad. Aftering sitting down on the seat indicated on the entry card, Chen Fan pouted his lips at Dai Yu on his left, signalling her to look at the man on the right who was flirting with his secretary. Laughing, he said, "How about you just become my secretary?" "Not for free!" Dai Yu rolled her eyes. "The auction is going to start soon. You''d better take care of your own business!" As the two chatted, the screen near the podium opposite them suddenly lit up. In a flash, an image of a drilling platform filmed from a helicopter appeared. Just then, a man who was about 40 years old walked onto the podium and spoke into a microphone, "Ladies and gentlemen, a very good morning to you all. Welcome to the Graff Oil Auction. I am Goro Ota, the executive officer for this auction. Next, let us welcome on stage the two inspectors and the director to start the auction." Obviously, this was not a school awards ceremony. After he finished speaking, there was no applause at all. After all seven staff members sat down in a row, Goro Ota, who was in the middle, cleared his throat and said, "Ohno Oil Company, one of our subsidiaries, was established in 1973, with its headquarters set up in Tokyo. Although the company is much younger than many other older oil firms, under our strong financial and technical support, its size now ranks number seven in the whole of Japan. Over the past decade or so, we have established various subsidiaries, including those that handle vehicle oil, natural gas, chemical engineering, cooking, lubricating oil and many more. "Currently, we have built seven large oil fields in the Libyan Exclusive Economic Zone. This is now a platform that combines oil processing, transportation, sewage treatment and living" "So much nonsense!" Chen Fan could not help but start grumbling. Bored, he looked around and realized that most people, just like himself, were not paying attention to the speaker. Indeed, if a person could attend this auction, he would certainly have researched sufficiently about the company in advance and would not need to listen to the speech. "You can stop translating for now. Tell me again when the auction actually starts!" Chen Fan took out his phone and began playing a mobile game. "It already did!" Dai Yu said, smiling, before he could even enter the game. "Our oil company will go into production next week. The Crude Oil Transportation Agreement will come into effect on that day as well." Goro Ota used the laser pointer to point at the third animation on the screen and continued, "Below our drilling platforms, we have built large underwater oil tanks. Each platform can hold up to 2,500,000 barrels of crude oil. In this way, the drilling platforms can work continuously for a significantly longer period of time, therefore allowing more time for your tankers to travel between the platforms and your destination. "Now, we are supplying 3,000,000 barrels of low-sulfur crude oil with a viscosity of 6.28mPas at 50 on a weekly basis. The opening bid is 6,400 yen per barrel, and the bid increment is 0.5 yen. Ladies and gentlemen, the bidding now begins!" "Ahem. Look at my expression later. If I hint at you, raise the board!" Understanding that the real show was about to start, Chen Fan immediately sat up straight. The bid increment was only 0.5 yen. Even if it was in yuan, whose value was over 10 times that of yen, Chen Fan would raise the price without hesitation. Anyway, his main intention was to rock the boat in the auction. The higher the final price of the oil, the more he would get in return. "Ah, ok, ok" The responsibility of handling such a trade that involved at least 20 billion yen each week was so heavy that Dai Yu quickly became breathless. Her face turned pale and her palms were filled with sweat. The manual work of raising the board to call for a bid was of course left to the secretaries. Those charming assistants soon started to raise their hands, one after another, and in only five minutes, there were already 72 outbids, which totalled to 36 yen. Almost everyone in the hall managed to call for a bid at least once. Even though the highest bid at the moment was still tens of yen lower than the international price of crude oil, few were willing to continue outbidding. This was because the international price would fluctuate. After the agreement between the buyer and the seller was made, it would be impractical to change the price every day. The most that could be done was to set a certain limit to the price. For example, the agreement would need amendment if the stated and the international price differed by more than 5% or perhaps 10%, depending on both parties. Hence, the price on the agreement would usually be slightly lower than the international price. Otherwise, the buyer would take too much risk as the international price might possibly fluctuate. "Keep adding! Why did you stop?" Chen Fan kept signalling at Dai Yu, but she only looked back with a pitiful face, not daring to continue. "Maybe we should stop now?" Dai Yu said in an extremely sincere voice. "If we win and the item goes unsold, we will lose our earnest money deposit of 10 million yen!" It was obvious that Chen Fan wanted to raise the price as much as possible. Thinking that he was here merely to make trouble, Dai Yu anxiously reminded him of the consequences. Similar situations had happened in the past. Before the auction rules were fully developed, many rival firms would attend the bidding conference only to cause trouble. They would win the bidding and then leave without payment, so that the conference would be a complete waste of time. In fact, even with the inclusion of the earnest money deposit, there were still such cases. The famous 2009 auction of the Old Summer Palace bronze heads was a perfect example. Someone won the bid but refused to make the payment, causing Christie''s'' effort to promote the auction for months to be completely wasted. "Give me the board!" Chen Fan snatched the board from Dai Yu and directly raised it up. "Number 17!" the auctioneer on the stage shouted enthusiastically and gave Chen Fan an approving look. Just then, a man sitting behind Chen Fan on the third seat from the left also raised his board. Chen Fan turned around and looked at him. It was a man in a brown leather suit, aged about 25, with a long and handsome face just like a movie star. Noticing Chen Fan''s gaze, he grinned. "Number 17, again!" The auctioneer was almost too excited to contain himself. He wished he could go up and give this "number 17" a kiss. Half a yen was approximately equal to 0.04 yuan, which was the increment every time... Every week there would be 3,000,000 barrels, which multiplied by 0.04 would give 120,000 yuan. Since the agreement would be for at least half a year, that would be 26 weeks and thus 3,120,000 yuan... Two seconds later, however, the auctioneer was delightfully surprised one more time. "Number 29," who was seated behind "number 17," actually raised his board again. "Awesome!" Chen Fan took a deep breath and raised his board without hesitation. "Are you mad?" Dai yu exclaimed in shock. A person who could enter a prestigious overseas university was certainly smart enough to know, from simple mental calculation, that each outbid meant earning 3,000,000 yuan less in half a year. Outbid two more times and one would no longer gain any profit... "What do you know?" Chen Fan rolled his eyes. "Since I dare to do this, obviously I have my own reasons!" "Whatever. It''s not my money anyway. Why should I care?" Dai Yu replied, annoyed. "Num, number 29 going once" The auctioneer was so thrilled that he started stammering. "Oh, number 17" The act between the two totally bewildered the rest in the hall. Young people now like to use their money without using their brains The price is already 6451 yen. How the f**k would you make a profit with that? Everyone else thought. Chen Fan turned and gave the man behind a provocative look. Noticing his stare, the man returned a friendly glance and, to the absolute astonishment of everybody, he gracefully raised the board in his hand. "Err" The amount of surprise felt by the auctioneer during the event was probably more than in the rest of his life combined. His eyes were locked on the two bidders and his hands were shaking uncontrollably. All thanks to those two idiots, his commission just increased by 3,000,000 yen in the past few minutes. How could he not tremble? At Dai Yu''s desperate look, Chen Fan raised his board elegantly in response. Woom! The other man followed. After he raised the board, the man stood up, walked to the seat right behind Chen Fan, and whispered something to the middle-aged man who was occupying the seat. The two seemed to be discussing exchanging seats. The middle-aged man soon smiled and stood up, leaving the seat empty. "Hey. You are sent here by another company to make trouble as well? Stop adding. Or else the organizer is going to suspect us!" This was what the man said to Chen Fan and Dai Yu. 210 Successfully Signed the Contrac Stunned, Dai Yu had stumbled on the sentence when translating it to Chen Fan. The young translator, who had a very good look, was a confederate of other companies. Is this translator trained in the Northern Movie performance school, too? Wondered Chen Fan. "Well, I''ll add it, and then you don''t have to. Anyway, our purpose is to make trouble, so would it make any difference who adds it? Just do it!" Chen Fan whispered. The young translator smiled and said, "I don''t care if you have a company that pays you a penalty." "Haha, well, since I came to make trouble, would I still care about that little penalty?" Chen Fan lowered his voice and raised the sign on his hand. "Hiss is he insane?!" All of the others at the auction were stunned by his extravagance. Oil was a commodity that is second in importance only when compared to electrical energy, and if he bought it, even if international oil prices continued to rise, he also absolutely could earn plenty of money. Has he predicted that oil prices are likely to rise significantly over time? The people wondered... Come on, if he had that foretelling gift, he could go to the international market to copy futures and predict winnings, as one knew you can get ten times as much money with such insider leverage! Unless... Unless he''s a troublemaker! "Mr. Seventeenth, bid once!" The staff in the front yard were so nervous, that they swallowed their saliva, thinking that, if this guy were to cheat, his staff bonus would be all over! Obviously, the rest of the group focused on the twenty-ninth bid, hoping he would have a great battle here. Even some of the most isolated people wondered if the two young men would struggle in the auction. "I give up!" His voice was soft, but it spread far and wide in the silence of the auction. After waiting for a moment, the staff member announced the 17th as the buyer. "How... What to do?" Dai Yu quietly tugged at a sleeve, embarrassed. "Do you think the staff here will button me up?" "Rest assured, this is a legal society!" Chen Fan did not have a "disaster" instinct, so he crossed his legs in leisure, until the staff on the stage came to the door, when only then did he resume a serious appearance. "Dear Sir, may we come and discuss the contract now?" The executive officer in charge of the meeting, Goro Oto, walked up to the two and smiled unquestionably. His smile was standard. The two standing behind him were wary, only it was hidden by the professional smile they were, which had been trained into them for a long period, and was not easy to spot. It was not surprising that they were not surprised, for it was not a frequent happening, but neither was it unusual per se. At that moment, the bodyguard Mike, who was standing beside the wall, also came along. Although he smiled with an honest smile, a bear was still a bear, and he could still make people''s hearts palpitate with nerves. Only the boss and the secretary had seats in the auction, and so he had to stand over by the wall, and now, the action was almost at the end, so of course, he came forward. "Dear Sir, do you think we... " Goro Ota was visibly relieved. He was definitely a very rich man, since he brought a bodyguard, so he could not surely be a troublemaker. After all, why would a boss come himself to make trouble? "We can sign it now?" "Yes, yes, we have a signing party at noon!" "Forget the party, just do the signing!" Chen Fan stood up with a smile. "I have something else to do. I''m afraid I can''t go to the party at noon!" "Ah, that is very regrettable!" Goro Ota sighed with a false sigh. The signing ceremony could be very complicated, or it could be simple. For example, the United States and Russia, directly concerned with nuclear disarmament, have gone through decades of negotiations, so their signings are quite complex! Simple signings should be what classified this one now... "How long would you like to take when signing this agreement, Mr. Kate Rozanne?" On the ninth floor of the small meeting room, Goro Ota sat at the table, after waiting for Chen Fan to see the proposed contract, then said with a smile, "According to the rules, you can sign for a minimum of half a year, and the highest oil contract is for a year. After the contract expires, you have the right of priority and can renew the contract." "Six months! I have a few requests for it, and want to list them on the formal contract later," said Chen Fan, who opened his briefcase and took out the copy of the newly released blue international trade leather company. "Yes, please!" Goro paid his attention. "First: the agreement of 50 6.28 mPas low sulphur crude oil viscosity can''t change. That is to say, I must have the seven new oil well yield of crude oil. After all, different types of oil have different prices and different ways of refining them." "Second, I am a person who pays great attention to integrity, so if we show up, regarding payment, crude oil extraction and delivery time delay, all of this must be paid high liquidated damages if occuring." "Third, we do not have the right to terminate this contract alone, until a total of 78 million barrels of crude oil is completely delivered, which is half a year''s supply of crude oil, or a mutual agreement." "Sure, sure!" Goro nodded his head repeatedly, and then asked earnestly, "How much do you want the penalty to be?" The contract of sale and purchase had a penalty clause for overdue delivery, and the percentage of the total amount of overdue delivery was to be paid for each day overdue. There was no hard and fast rule on the law, as long as the general price is not more than the total value of the goods. But even more than that, in most cases, the arbitration will still be awarded. Because there are often situations in practice, in many cases, hard and fast rules cannot make up for the loss. So, it is necessary to allow the parties to make up for the deficiency of some statutory liquidated damages by stipulating high liquidated damages. For example, if the two sides were trading soybeans, but then suddenly the soybean prices of the international market increased drastically, and the penalty fee of the breach of contract is too low, even they do not deliver the product, they could pay for the liquidated damages, and they could also earn big money selling the soybeans to others! Generally speaking, the contract is valid if both agreed to it, and one doesn''t break the law. "The maximum amount of liquidated damages is 200 percent of the total amount of the deal, and 20 percent of the compensation is charged for each overdue day. If the deal is still not complete after 10 days, the next round of deals would be continued." "There is no problem in the first and third, but the second penalty is a little more... "Goro Oto said embarrassedly, while rubbing his hands. "Although our rig adopts the current, most advanced technology in Japan, the possibility of a major accident is very small, but this possibility, is still not impossible... " "As you say, there is still a possibility of a shipwreck, when my tanker goes there." Chen Fan laughed. "What is the risk in this world? Not to mention the price of this action. Everyone understood that the risk is very high, and I will take more risk than you, so in case you are late again, wouldn''t I be the one losing money?!" "Haha," Goro Oto gave out a hollow laugh and did not refute his words. "Who asked you to pull your head off and bid a high price? But then again, if you didn''t bid so high, they wouldn''t care to accommodate you! So, how about this? Let us discuss for ten minutes!" "Sure!" Chen Fan nodded. "But two hundred percent of the penalty and ten days due is my bottom line. I will not make any concessions!" The other person in charge of the opposite side pulled to the side to whisper, as Chen Fan hit Dai Yu, who had gotten emotionally carried away, and said playfully, "You look like you have just seen a ghost!" "Scared by your weird way of dealing!" Dai Yu was sulking. "I was going make the deal, so I just had fun just now! You, as a psychologist, can''t even see that?!" Chen Fan shook his head. "Who has the time to think of anything else? You didn''t pay attention, when you went upstairs. The young man saw you sign with the organizer, and his eyes popped out!" Dai Yu rolled her eyes and said in an unhappy tone. "No pressure at all!" When both of them were talking, Goro Oto, who had been discussing something secretly in the corner, came back to the negotiating table. "We agree to your request, so if no more problems are here, is it possible for you to sign the contract now?" "Sure! But I want three contracts, in English, Japanese, and Chinese." Chen Fan readily agreed. "Please wait a moment, while I get the legal department to write a formal contract!" The official language of Kenya is English, and the man was an overseas Chinese. Hence, he didn''t feel any problems with this request. After half an hour, a worker handed the contract that had just come out of a laser printer to the negotiating table, Chen Fan looked closely again at the Chinese edition, found that there was no problem, and took out a pen, then signed down the name Kate Rozanne. "Wish us a happy cooperation!" After signing, Goro Oto was unable to hide the excitement of his face. "Happy cooperation!" Chen Fan shook hands with him quietly, then pulled up his shoulders to make a confident smile. "Haha, such a high price, I will see how you make money?" "Haha, such a high price, you would be broke paying for it!" The two of them bantered back and forth, each with his own ax to grind! ...... At two o''clock in the afternoon, Mike, the black bodyguard, filed the case in the court, proved the legal documents of this contract, and returned to Chen Fan. "When are you going home?" In the luxurious guest room at the top of Shangri-la, Dai Yu asked casually. "This evening!" Chen Fan put his hands behind his head. "How about you? Are you going to develop here, or go back?" "Go back!" Dai Yu''s facial expression sank a little, and she pushed the glasses on the bridge of the nose back a bit. "Wait for a degree certificate, as I am ready to open a psychological consulting room in China." But Chen Fan''s words made her little homesick feelings disappear, as goosebumps grew all over her, and she had chills. "A psychological clinic?" Chen Fan exaggerated. "No way. The person, who goes for psychological consultation, certainly has psychology problems, and that is very serious. You, as a girl, are you not afraid to meet those in a certain aspect of such an abnormal condition?" "What do you know about psychological counseling?" Dai Yu stared, as she would not need to guess to know that the certain problem he was mentioning would not be a healthy one! Chen Fan did not understand, and simply shook his head. "Psychological counseling and psychotherapy are two separate things. It is the analysis and consultation of psychological and emotional problems. This usually involves emotional frustration, interpersonal conflict, lack of confidence, marital conflict, etc. There is no such thing as any of the underlying psychological barriers, such as fetishism, depression, persecution, paranoia, etc. involved." "I thought it was either some profound thing, or something to enlighten others? I can do this kind of work, so maybe it will work very well." Chen Fan was very disappointed. "Forget it, it seems like talking about Shakespeare to an illiterate." Dai Yu had a not-so-subtle subtle, somewhat biting response. "Hump!" Chen Fan rolled his eyes. "Want to know why I spend so much on oil?" "Why?" ''I won''t tell you!" He purposely made her keep guessing. 211 Libya Sea Zone Inciden The bustling and crowded city of Tokyo did not manage to leave any impression on Chen Fan''s memory. The only thing he could remember was Dai Yu. She had an oval face which was not stunningly beautiful but was charming enough. It was 6pm and the evening lights were just being lit in the city. Standing in the hotel parking lot, Chen Fan slapped on the car door as if nothing had happened earlier. Turning to Dai Yu who was beside him, he said, "I am going back now. How about you? When are you going back to China?" "Why should I tell you?" Learning from Chen Fan, she did not answer the question directly. "Well, since you don''t want to tell me, it''s fine!" Chen Fan was speechless for a split second, but he quickly laughed it off. "Bye, then. Ask them to send you back. I no longer need the car!" Just after he finished speaking, he grabbed his handbagthe only thing he had brought to Japanand walked towards the road. "Hey, hey, hey!" After he had already walked for over 10 meters, Dai Yu stamped her foot and shouted, but her voice was covered by the noise from the passing vehicles. Normal people travel overseas by plane but Chen Fan did by submarine. Zhongyun was a little more than 800 nautical miles from Tokyo. In just three and a half hours, Chen Fan was standing once again in the cave among the reefs. He had actually traveled faster than by plane, taking into account the time needed for waiting, taking off and landing. It was 12 days away from the first crude oil delivery. Chen Fan had to think of a way to disable a few of the oil wells within those 12 days. The seven oil wells were all self-elevated types. Three pillars were forced into the seabed by a hydraulic system. When the platform stopped working, the pillars could be withdrawn, so that the whole platform could float on the sea. A tugboat would then be used to maneuver the platform to a new drilling spot. Although where such platforms could work was restricted by the depth of the water and they could not function in deep sea, they could be shifted around freely and used repeatedly. Thus, they were a popular choice among the medium-to-small oil wells. Unlike expensive fixed oil wells, these mobile ones could be used for drilling in any place without the worry that oil reserves might be limited, as they could be shifted to a new location. In China, most offshore oil wells were of this type. The next morning, once Chen Fan woke up, he started controlling the electric eel to swim towards the Graff Sea in the Libyan Exclusive Economic Zone. By the time the electric eel reached the zone, he would still have 10 more days left. Of course, he had to put up a show in the meantime. If he arrived there without any oil tankers, the other party might also consider it a breach of the agreement. Five oil tankers, all registered with Panama, were under the name of Cruiser Offshore Company. At the moment, they had passed India and were three days away from reaching Saudi Arabia, where they would collect their crude oil. Chen Fan had already made a call the night before, asking them to send two tankers, one 60,000-ton DWT and one 50,000-ton DWT, to sail towards Egypt, past the Suez Canal and then the Mediterranean, and finally towards Libya. When the two tankers reached their destination, what could the other party do? If they could not provide enough oil, they should just get ready to pay the compensation! Even if they could provide the oil, it was no big deal. Chen Fan could sell it. It was just that he would be wasting his time without making any profit. The tankers needed six and a half days to reach their destination, while the electric eel needed two. Two days were neither too long nor too short for Chen Fan. When the electric eel finally arrived, he was not really tired from the boring journey as he was already used to traveling long distances. Maybe God was on Chen Fan''s side. After he found a place and made the electric eel wait until midnight, the calm sea was already filled with fog. The white vapor reduced the visibility to less than 50 meters and Chen Fan could only see a blurry orange flame burning on the drilling platform. To avoid choosing the wrong target, the electric eel deliberately moved closer to the platform to confirm. Then, it made a quick dive into the 120-meter-deep seafloor in order to find a way to destroy the oil well. An underwater drilling rig was made by first inserting a drill pipe into the production layer where the crude oil would be stored and then connecting the oil extraction pipe. Following that, a huge valve would be built on the seafloor to control the flow of crude oil and gases. The oil wells here were all shallow self-extraction types. Because the pressure under the seabed was higher than outside of it, the oil would spray into the platform via the pipes automatically without any human effort. Destroying the facilities here was a piece of cake. The electric eel only needed to damage the 5-meter-high valve standing on the seafloor in order to completely disable the drilling platform above. ......... At 12:25am, in the number three platform''s main control room, rows of monitoring equipment had been working day and night, loyally recording any data about the oil wells and the extraction process. Furthermore, they would send various commands based on the changes in the data collected. This was a fully automated control room, one that combined the most advanced technologies in all of Japan. In theory, even if nobody was operating the system, the oil extraction process would still be completed successfully. Of course, that was only in theory. In reality, nobody would leave such an important job, one that could affect the whole company drastically, to just machines. Usually, there would be two technicians on duty. However, on that day the technician called Hiroto Uchida was on medical leave, and only Ryota Saka, who was aged 33, was on working. "Anfina, it is only three more days to my leave. I would like to go to Tripoli to buy some winter clothes. Do you have any good places to recommend?" Ryota Saka put his legs on the flashing devices around him, closed his eyes in self-absorption and gently spoke to a Libyan lady in fluent Arabic. He met this young lady, who was the daughter of a trader, when he last went to Tripoli to purchase something. Away at sea most of the time and adept in Arabic, he was immediately attracted to this tall lady with brown skin. He quickly applied for two days of leave in an attempt to chase her. Maybe his high monthly salary of 20,000 USD was too tempting, or maybe he was very experienced. In any case, when he boarded the ship, the lady was at the pier to send him off! A soothing voice came from the satellite phone. "I will go with you. You are a foreigner and may get deceived easily!" Yes! I was waiting for this line! Ryota Saka was overjoyed in his heart, but he continued speaking in a polite voice. "Well, thank you so much. To show my appreciation, I will treat you to lunch at Ter... Oh, sh*t..." He stopped his sentence in an abrupt, shocked voice. Blare! Blare! Blare! An ear-piercing alarm sounded off throughout the platform. Clack! Ryota Saka quickly threw the phone aside and hastily jumped up from his seat. He swiftly opened the fist-sized plastic cover in the middle of the devices and smacked at the red button beneath. This was an emergency button only to be used when a major problem occurred and automated control was ineffective. After hitting the button, all devices handling the extraction process in the drilling platform would stop and the valve beneath the platform would also be closed. "Oil extraction pipe pressure suddenly dropped by seven atm. The two oil detectors beside the valve both indicate that there is crude oil, with a viscosity of 4.3mPas, in the seawater..." Ryota Saka''s desperate roar was amplified by the high pitch speaker at the top of the platform, completely covering the already loud alarm. Under normal circumstances, he would not be in such a panic. Even if there was a leakage in the extraction pipe, he just needed to close the valve. And this command would have been automatically given when the detectors found that there was oil in the seawater. His act of pressing the emergency button was actually unnecessary. Then why was he in such a state? Because the valve was malfunctioning... Needless to say, it was a severe oil leakage. If nothing was done immediately, they might need to face the huge fines set by the Libyan government. In less than 30 seconds, a series of rapid footsteps was heard on the iron-plated floor. Over 20 awkwardly-dressed men dashed into the control room. "What happened?" they shouted, before being able to even stand properly. "Forty seconds ago, the extraction pipe started leaking and the valve is malfunctioning. Now, we already have seven underwater oil detectors indicating a leakage. We only installed a total of 16..." "Quick. Work boat one and two, go and set up an isolation belt two kilometers around here. Oil retrievers, take in the oil whenever you discover any. We cannot afford to let the Libyan government find out about this," director Shota Watanabe said in a strict tone after listening to the report. "Diver Team, wear your SH2000 diving suits. Now go underwater and investigate the valve''s condition." At the moment, under the high-power searchlight, the people on the platform could already see black viscous fluid rising to the surface. In just a short while, the fluid surrounded the whole platform. Perhaps the only fortunate thing was that the platform was only a little over 100 meters from the seabed and their divers could easily go underwater, protected from the pressure by their rigid suits. It was not likely to be another Gulf of Mexico level of tragedy. The diving suit was made from a strong 6000-series aluminium alloy, weighted 500 kilograms, and had a special protection layer on the outside, allowing one to dive up to 400 meters deep. Instead of calling it a diving suit, it might be more appropriately named a mini-submarine. This was because it not only had a propulsion system, but also a hydraulic pressure robotic arm, an ultra-shortwave underwater communicator, life support and many other cutting edge technological devices. Released from a customized pod, it could allow one to work underwater for five hours continuously. Twenty minutes later, the divers reached the valve and sent images of the place back to the control room using highly sensitive cameras and connection lines. It was a bizarre accident that nobody could have expected even if they opened their skulls and heated their own brains to 180C... A great white shark, six meters in length, had half of its belly bitten away by some unknown organism. The cables connecting the valve and the drilling platform were wound around its body, with many of them already snapped. Above the valve, the steel pipe, half a meter in diameter, had a large part of it torn off by something. Oil flew out from the opening continuously... There was total silence in the control room. Apart from the occasional shrill yelling of workers in shock, nothing else could be heard. The images on the screen made them feel that they were merely dreaming or hallucinating. No matter how hard they rubbed their eyes, the reality was hard to believe. It was evident that there had been a horrifying battle. A great white shark was killed by something and by coincidence, bit the cables into pieces. That the cables were snapped was still acceptable. The bite force of the great white shark could be ranked in the top three among all the animals. Although the electronic shark repellent and anti-shark cables were installed, if a great white shark really wanted, it could have bitten the cables off. Although its teeth might fall out, they would grow back again. But the torn oil extraction pipe? Forget the shark. Even if a dinosaur were at fault, the pipe would not have been damaged this badly! The pipe was so thick and huge. Were all the fishes so blind that they could not avoid it? "Err... send, send people down to connect the cables now. We need to close the valve as quickly as we can and then send underwater robots down before repairing the damaged pipe..." "Roger!" two divers answered simultaneously. The cables could be reconnected easily. A temporary repair would only require a day, and the cables could be replaced in the future. But the oil extraction pipe repair would be much more troublesome. The robots would first need to remove the entire pipe from the valve and raise it up to the platform. Under lucky conditions the process would take about five to six days, but there might be other unforeseen incidents such as an oil well leakage. "Hey, platform two and four? Send your oil retrievers here. There has been a crude oil leakage..." ............... Let us turn our attention to platform number five. In the dense fog, only the burning sound of fire and the sound of sea waves hitting the platform''s pillars could be heard. All of a sudden, a sharp warning alert broke the silence! After a series of disorganized footsteps and worried outcries, Daisuke Maruyama was the first to dash into the control room. "What is happening?" he shouted. "Maruyama, we are done for. Our oil-control valve has a problem. According to the system''s auto detection, the integrated electronic module on the valve is experiencing a short circuit due to some reason" "What?" Daisuke Maruyama almost fell to the ground. The electronic module on the valve was installed in the interior. If it was malfunctioning, the whole cover had to be removed in order to make a replacement. On land, this would only take one to two hours. But now it was installed on the seabed, over 100 meters underwater. The valve was connected to the oil layer from below and the platform from the top. They had to seal the openings, remove the whole valve and take it onto the platform for repair. Because it was assembled from many sophisticated electronic components, even a bit of water in the interior would completely destroy it. Half an hour later, divers reported that the valve cover had gone very loose due to some loose screws or maybe other reasons. Sea water with pressure more than 10 times the atmospheric pressure gushed inside, causing a short circuit in the electronic components 212 Joy Surfeited Begets Sorrow How should we describe their miserable luck? Unbearable? It never rains but pours? Not even two days into the official deployment of these two oil wells, and an unacceptable technical error had occurred.. For Platform 3, at least they could somewhat blame it on a major force, but what about Platform 5? They invested so much on the oil control valve, but they were told that the connector was loose, just like what would happen to an inferior toy! This night was bound to be a sleepless one! All people on the seven drilling well platforms woke up from their sweet dreams. The deep sea divers and technicians rushed to the heliport via the connecting bridges between the platforms. They quickly took off on the helicopter and headed toward the two problematic wells. 6 p.m. local time, Takeda Building, Shinjuku, Tokyo. Regardless of how you looked at the whole situation, Goro Ota demonstrated a classical example of "Joy Surfeited Begets Sorrow". He had hoped and envisioned to profit bountifully through these seven oil wells. However, he did not expect two of them to malfunction after having just produced a million barrels of petroleum. Moreover, if the situation at well No. 3 was not mitigated, a considerable sum of environmental fines awaited him. When he thought of the Mexican Gulf oil leak back on May 5, 2010, Goro Ota could not help but feel a shiver down his spine. That incident had directly caused hundreds of billions of dollars in economic losses. Even British Petrol had to pay up to a few billion US dollars as compensation. "What''s the status of No. 3?" Sitting at the middle of his office, Goro Ota kept his calm, cool as a fridge. "The source of the leakage is 11 centimeters long, four centimeters wide, and the well pressure is 27 atmospheric pressure. Five divers are currently trying to secure the leak with a PVC ring. According to statistical estimation, there should be no risk in this operation. After securing the leak, it is estimated that we can cut off the electrical cable, completely shutting the oil control valve down." A young man about 25 years of age was sitting by the computer, reporting shakily. "Currently, the leakage amounts to around 1,700 barrels of crude oil. Other than the small amount that leaked from the isolation belt, most of it is successfully contained within the isolation belt. As of now, three oil spill recycling ships are working in the area. The supply of degrease agent and oil absorbent blankets is sufficient, and the spill should be completely cleared in three days." "Hmm..." Goro Ota exhaled heavily. "How about Platform 5? I want to know why the oil control valve was loose. Don''t try to fool me with saying a ''quality defect''. Oil control valves aren''t water taps they go through multiple tests during production and installation. These defects can''t be without reason or cause." "It''s most likely due to tectonic movement that is causing a misalignment between the valve and the piping, resulting in an unsecured valve cap." While he was indeed young, the employee had a strong academic foundation. Once he started in on his topics of interest, there was no stopping him. "According to the data transmitted from the oil well sensors at that time, there wasn''t any unusual situation on the seabed underneath. The seabed is a composite turbidite layer, consisting of graywacke and calclithite. These structures are unusually sturdy, capable of fully absorbing the vibrations from tectonic movements. They are unlike harder rock layers that might collapse or rupture unexpectedly. However, its weakness lies in its vulnerability against underlying air pressure. As crude oil is extracted, the pressure change will cause the rock to experience miniscule sinking. The change is slow and will halt once the internal layer stabilizes." "However, it is exactly this small and slow change that hinders the sensors from detecting it. In the long run, the oil control valve on the oil well will be slightly misaligned, resulting in an angle difference that leaves the drill platform on top. While the piping is long and flexible, so it will not be affected, the oil control valve is rigid and unable to handle it." The employee finished his explanation. "Darn it, didn''t we do the vibration test and fill it up with concrete during the initial phase of drilling?" Goro Ota slammed his fist hard at his desk. "Prepare the necessary equipment to seal the well and replace the oil control valve," he then ordered. After that, he scratched his head in frustration. The replacement of piping at oil well No. 3 and the oil control valve at oil well No. 5 would delay production for more than a week. Even if the five other operating oil wells pumped out oil at full blast, there wouldn''t be enough crude oil for his clients. He had signed more than one contract. According to the production schedule, he had to operate at full capacity every week in order to fulfill all of the demands. Oil extraction is not unlike coal mining, as both are fields of high risk and high reward. Either everything goes smoothly until every single drop is mined, or the company is forced to seal off the well indefinitely, due to serious disasters. The only thing they could do is to pray for God''s mercy. Despite man''s best efforts, disasters are sometimes unpreventable. Unfortunately, there are just times when God is cruel, even beyond our imaginations. The office was silent, only the tap of the employee''s typing could be heard. Goro Ota, who had slightly regained his composure, squinted his eyes and lit a cigarette. Pain is vain. He thought. Let it be. It''s just two wells that are temporary disabled. We could delay a few days with the company in Japan, and first fulfill the demand of the new customers. Hopefully, we can minimize the reparations. Ring! Ring! Out of nowhere, the phone rang, breaking into his thoughts. The leak in well No. 3 must have been sealed! Goro Ota threw away his half-burnt cigarette and picked up the phone. He was extremely confident in his intuition. So, when a visionary feeling hits him, he was almost never wrong about it. In fact, it was precisely his strong intuition that had gotten him a high position at his young age. "Ota-kun san, we have successfully sealed the leak in well No. 3. The ring worked exceptionally, and there wasn''t a single drop of leakage!" As expected, shouts of joy and excitement erupted from the other end of the line. "Well done!" Goro Ota couldn''t contain his excitement and waved his fists. "Reconnect the cables as soon as possible, so that we can hoist up the pipeline to initiate repairs." "Yes, sir!" After hanging up the phone, his mood brightened significantly. He then turned his eyes toward the young employee. He was about to leave him with some words of encouragement before grabbing dinner. "Huh?" Goro Ota was shocked at the ash pale expression of his employee. The young man stared straight at Goro Ota with disbelief in his eyes. "B-b-boss, there''s been a report from Platform 1. It''s the same problem as as Platform 5. There has been a water leak in the oil control v-valve cover, the electrical components within have short short-circuited." These words left Goro Ota shocked. He could almost feel his soul leaving his body. PS: Finally completed this update with more than 2k words, and it''s 3 a.m. now! This ain''t easy, dudes! Please send me your monthly votes and recommendation votes! (To be continued. If you wish to find out what happens next, please log onto www.qidian.com for more chapters. Go support the author and authorized reading!) 213 Dump You Into the Huangpu River "Why? Why are there three large incidents happening in a single day?" Goro Ota flared and shouted. "Could it be that the geological layer over there had some problems that we had not previously discovered?" In the face of such shots, the staff member was scared out of his wits. His face turned pale, then he asked, "Oil well number three could be considered as a sudden incident, but what about numbers one and five? With the same machinery accidents happening in one day, there is definitely some sort of connection between the events." "Check it. Immediately request for our national exploration vessel to explore the sea bed in that area again." "Sigh!" "Why are you sighing? Faster! Get to it!" Once the staff member hurried off, Goro Ota pulled the necktie around his neck aggressively. He was prepared to phone that sucker to see if it was possible to delay for a few days. Since this first business transaction had so many flaws, even before it had begun, it would not be considered rude to talk badly about it. However, the phone call was not connected yet, so Garo Ota could only send an email to the opposite party. At that time, that person wrote in Mandarin. So, after giving it more thought, Garo Ota yelled at a translator to come translate it for him. Dear Mr. Kate Buzan, Kate! I deeply apologize for the fact that our oil well had, at the local time of between 12 to 2, consecutively experienced a malfunction with our three drilling platforms. We are already trying our best to fix it. It is estimated that it will take one week until we are able to continue excavating. Do you think that we could postpone our date of agreement by a few days? If this is possible, only for this transaction, I will give you a price reduction of 15 Yen per barrel! After delivering this email, Garo Ota''s face turned red. He admitted to himself that, if he was in the other party''s shoes, he would have never agreed to such terms. Businessmen are naturally profit seekers. As such, who in the world would be kind enough to offer to give away any of their gains? "I hope this youngster is an exceptionally rare idiot, who agrees with my terms at first glance." At this point in time, Garo Ota could only silently pray for the best, Otherwise, full compensation would be the only alternative left. Alas, what he was afraid of had happened. Garo Ota''s concern quickly turned into a reality, seen in the email reply.. I would like to express my sympathy and condolences to the issue that has broken out in your company. We are very concerned about this incident. Did it cause any casualties? However, we do hope that your company can understand our circumstances, too. We just signed an agreement with the party in Myanmar, which clearly stated that there would be a large penalty compensated for late deliveries! ... "Kiddo, I bet you are stunned right now!" After sending out the email reply, Chen Fan laughed cunningly. The destruction of three oil wells would be enough to keep them busy for quite a long period of time. Thus, he could safely withdraw his electric eel. When the electric eel returned to Zhongyun, there were still seven days remaining until the scheduled date of goods delivery. At the same time, Garo Ota had sent a few emails to notify him of their difficulties and request for a further postponement of a few days. Even if God came, Chen Fan would never agree to such terms! In fact, he had already thought to himself that, if time were to be delayed for too long and the Ohno Group still failed to deliver their promises, he would control the electric eel to destroy one of the well''s oil control valves. This would cause them to receive an enormous fine from Libya''s government! Just the thought of the black oil gushing out from the pipes after destroying their oil well left him with a feeling of pure satisfaction. At ten in the morning, Chen Fan changed out of the black windbreaker, which he had worn for a week, into a brown Armani casual jacket. Today, he was prepared to make a trip to the Swiss International Bank in Tian Hai City. A few days earlier, Wang Bing had already sent him a message, telling him that the police that were stationed in front of his house had already left. Ma Rongtao also told him that the police had determined that it was an accidental assault on the police, meaning that it had nothing to do with the illegal possession of a gun. The bank account, which was frozen before, had been unfrozen, and it was not a matter of an armed assault towards the police, either, as he had initially thought it was. As such, it was a situation dealing two separate crimes, with a huge difference in between them. As for how many years he would end up in prison, following the court''s verdict, one would only know the answer to that question, should he be captured and sent to court for trial. However, Ma Rongtao said that his case would not be tried for yet another few more years. Plus, at the time of any sentencing, there would also be the option of bailing him out, thus further suspending date of sentencing. Theoretically, even if Chen Fan were to surrender now, he would not be locked up for too long, before he could again be released. Even with these facts, he still did not want to be locked up for even a day! Since he was not a wanted criminal, the police would not even recognize him, should he be walking on the street. Thus, the chances of his getting caught were still minimal! Moreover, even if he were to get caught, he would just have to admit that he was dogged by misfortune. He would surely then be released, after getting locked up for only a little while. Holding on to this devil-may-care attitude, Chen Fan boarded his luxurious submarine, once the morning sun was shining brightly. He then started his journey, heading south to the globalized city, which was 150 nautical miles away from Zhongyun. This distance of 150 nautical miles was just a matter of traveling for 30 to 40 minutes for the electric eel. Thus, the only hassle of this jaunt was to search for a hidden landing spot. Tian Hai City''s Swiss International Bank was located on Nanjing West Road in the Jing''an District. This place was known as the Swiss Bank Representative Office, where they only served high-profile customers. As such, unless you were not saving more than 50 million Renminbi, then do not even bother searching for it! Evidently, Chen Fan was the VIP here! He wore a small cow-leather hat, as he walked into the large building. He then proceeded to take the lift up to the reception office. When the young female staff member saw the black self-set pictured card in his hand, she was so shocked, she started stuttering! "I would like to exchange 50 million Renminbi!" said Chen Fan, as he sat in the luxuriously furnished room. "Would you like to withdraw cash or transfer it to your account?" asked the senior manager, who rushed in upon hearing the news of his arrival. He was displaying his most impeccable professional etiquettes, obviously! "Transfer it to this card of mine, please!" Chen Fan took out a normal Swiss banking card from his pocket. It was a card that he had left over from the previous transfer, which still contained a few thousand American Dollars on it. "Alright, please wait for a moment!" The senior manager, who was dressed in a suit, received the card courteously. He waved his hand to ask the female staff to leave, as he personally desired to operate the computer for this special transaction. Chen Fan was preparing the 50 million Renminbi for his parents. Although his own bank account was frozen, he decided to not do anything to it temporarily, but instead withdraw the money from the Swiss Bank. Two days ago, he had a discussion with his parents, where he had suggested that they move to a different place to live. Otherwise, as time went by, once the neighbors knew about him being a wanted person on the run, they would surely scorn them. Nowadays, if you had enough money, you could even move to outer space. After discussing this subject his parents for about half a day, they decided to buy a house in the city district. To buy a house there, five million was more than enough. Yet, Chen Fan withdrew 50 million, so that his parents could move, as well as open up a supermarket, restaurant, or something else. He was not too worried about taking out so a large sum, specifically because it would be in his parents'' names. As such, since they did not have any connection to the case, even if they had 100 million deposited to them, without knowing where it is from, the justice department would not confiscate their wealth, because they would not have evidence to prove that their wealth was illegally gained. Thus, the matter of exchanging the Renminbi was handled quickly. When the senior manager saw that Chen Fan had the intention of leaving, he quickly came over to fawn all over him. "Dear sir, here we have a personal financial consulting group that is unrivalled. If you are willing to let us manage your wealth, then we promise to generate a return of no less than five percent a year for you..." Chen Fan interrupted his endless speech, saying, "Why does the Swiss Bank love to promote their financial consulting services to customers, just like other banks?" "Hehe," This senior manager smiled brazenly, then said, "We must grab our chances to serve any high-profile customer, like you!" "Let''s talk about this in the future. Recently, my capital has been frequently moved around, so I can''t bring out any extra cash for investments at the moment." Chen Fan also laughed a little, after responding. At least this guy was pretty honest! Taking the escalator back to the entrance of the large building, Chen Fan casually walked into a restaurant nearby. Since he had not yet had his breakfast, he figured that he might as well grab an early lunch. He had only managed to take a few steps toward the restaurant, when a fiery red Ferrari recklessly rushed past. The noise blasted from the engine by the exhaust pipe roared into the ears of the people nearby. Then, this fiery red Ferrari turned in a way that went against the principle of mechanics, pulling over in front of the gate of the large building with a squeak. "Showy rich kid!" If this scene had happened a year ago, Chen Fan would have definitely stopped to stare and admire the car. However, as he had already become so wealthy that luxurious cars, which were worth millions, were nothing to him, this brat would definitely not garner his attention today! After the car stopped, a tall girl with light yellow curly hair, who wore a white windbreaker, exited the car. The people around all had a gleam in their eyes. They did not expect that the owner of this fancy car would be a girl whose beauty could rival the most exotic of flowers! This beautiful lady looked like a female idol from the movies. She even wore a cool pair of sunglasses. After getting out of the car, she elegantly adjusted her clothes, then walked into the large building, without even looking back. "Shanghai really has so many pretty ladies!" A youngster with a foreign accent stared at the back of the beautiful lady, as if his soul were being extracted from his body. "Ah!" Chen Fan opened his mouth widely, as though a long pike had pierced into his lungs. "Crazy weirdo!" The youngster beside Chen Fan looked at him in a weird manner. The lady was no doubt prettier than most of the Hollywood idols, but this guy''s expression was a little exaggerated, right? "Look who''s talking, little jerk!" Once the youngster had left, Chen Fan walked around the large building once, his eyes now bloodshot. He was furious. That lady was none other than Nakagawa Emi! She was the woman who wanted him to go to jail, and who had caused him to not be able to return to his own house! After recognizing her and allowing his temper to get the better of him, Chen Fan felt that his bloodstreams were being filled with a storm of raging emotions. He did not even want to eat anymore, nor was he feeling at all hungry. He felt oddly energized, in fact. He ran a few steps to the front of the fiery red Ferrari, then pulled the door handle, but it was locked. Since this method had not worked out, Chen Fan ran a few steps to the nearby newspaper stand, where he purchased a newspaper, a bottle of Wahaha mineral water, and a piece of bread. He acted as if he was simply a starry-eyed youngster, who had just left his hometown to look for a job. Sitting on the curb beside the Ferrari, he slowly bit into the bread, drank some mineral water, and kept shifting his gaze between his newspaper and the exit of the large building. This is such a coincidence! This dang lady is probably going to the Swiss Bank to settle some financial matters. Once she comes out, I am going to capture and interrogate her properly! When Chen Fan felt like half a century had gone by, although it had really only been about 40 minutes, the pretty lady with the nice figure appeared on the platform of the large building. Realizing that she was still on her own, Chen Fan positioned the Kun Wu Dagger behind his back, trembling as he did so. He then used the newspaper to camouflage it, looking just as if he was still reading the newspaper. "Clack!" The crisp sound of her dainty leather boots was getting closer. Chen Fan''s bloodstream was also flowing faster! When he was able to see the long fine legs of that lady beneath the tight black skirt from the bottom of the newspaper, he suppressed his emotions, then growled, "Miss, could you tell me how to get to the Maoming Building? I want to go there to interview for a sales position." "I don''t know!" Nakagawa Emi gave a very simple answer. She cautiously looked at this man, who had half of his body covered by the newspaper. She then took out her key to unlock the car door, getting ready to enter the car. "Don''t move!" Chen Fan swiftly leapt to her back, then poked her chest with his right hand. While the newspaper was still in his grip, he wrapped his left arm around her thin waist from the back. Under normal conditions, since Chen Fan had already grabbed her arms with one hand, while holding a knife in front of her with the other, she should have obeyed his orders immediately, no matter how rough Chen Fan was being. In fact, from Chen Fan''s perspective, he should not have needed to expend much effort to apprehend her, as Nakagawa Emi''s body was thin and weak. However, when he placed the knife in front of Nakagawa Emi, he understood how stupid his initial thought was. He had failed to factor in a secret weapon...This pretty lady''s stiletto heels! Thus, when Nakagawa Emi raised her legs up and stomped on Chen Fan''s coffee-coloured casual leather shoes, he felt like he had been kicked by a Transformer! It was so painful, even his face crumpled. Poor Chen Fan did not want to admit it, but he had to concede that women were not as weak as he had thought they were! Nakagawa Emi''s high heel stomp had yet to finish its execution, when she suddenly utilized her right shoulder to knock him backwards. Her light yellow curly hair swept across the air, while the knife that was on her neck did not stop her at all! She mystically twisted around, landing into a stance that allowed her to collide into Chen Fan with her chest. This self-defense move was pretty dangerous. Yet, she made it look effortless! If her head had made a slight deviation, or her waist did not have good flexibility, the sharp Kun Wu dagger would have cut across her neck for sure! By then, even if a priest were to be called to perform a healing technique on her, she would not have been able to survive such a wound! Suddenly, her defensive stance had now transformed into an offensive attack! Nakagawa Emi twisted her wrist in a flash, prepared to grab onto Chen Fan''s hand that held the knife. She choked his neck with her right hand, while she utilized the strength from her waist to execute a deadly flip. However, when both of her hands were released from Chen Fan''s control, she realized how ridiculous her initial thought was. Without a doubt, Nakagawa Emi owned the renowned title of Kendo master, and she also excelled in all sorts of self-defense techniques, which allowed her to easily take down three or five men at a time. However, Chen Fan, who had finally come back to his senses, suddenly realized that he did not need to execute any excellent martial arts to combat her successfully at all! In fact, he did not know any moves at all, as he had only learned specific tactics from Wang Bing. However, he could not execute those at that time, or else he might kill Nakagawa Emi! Thus, he simply applied strength to his left arm to restrain her waist and both of her arms. Nakagawa Emi suddenly felt a constriction at her chest, which was followed by a horrifying and continuous force on her body. Her fair face then suddenly turned red, as she coughed vigorously. How is this a human''s arm strength?! "You witch! You are in for some trouble! How dare you step on me?" Chen Fan''s torso was right on top of her back now. Due to the intense pain that was still coming from his leg, he was breathing heavily as he spoke. "You What do you want?" In that exact moment, Nakagawa Emi recognized who this barbaric man was. Thus, she answered him faintly. "I want your life!" Chen Fan smiled coldly, his expression fierce. Although he was using a knife and even threatening to take away her life, the passersby should have reported this scene to the police. However, the outcome was totally the opposite! This was because Chen Fan had been careful to cover his knife with a newspaper. So, when bystanders saw Nakagawa Emi breathing heavily, as well as her bright red face, which was actually caused by her near suffocation, they only thought of the pair as being a shameless couple, being overly amorous on the streets. There were even one or two perverts, who were secretly commenting about the man with the Ferrari, who was shamelessly using the newspaper to block his actions, not allowing them to enjoy the interesting view! "Get in the car!" After opening the Ferrari''s car door, Chen Fan crammed the girl into the driver''s seat, before slamming the door. All race cars have one thing in common. As long as the car window was not down, outsiders could never see what was going on inside the car. Blocking any gazes from strangers, Chen Fan could finally do what he wanted to do boldly. He first scanned around the car, looking for something that could be used to tie her up. Yet, he failed to find anything. As such, he could only tighten his left grip again to prevent Nakagawa Emi from causing more trouble. He then quickly undid his belt to use it to tie up her arms. After freeing both of his hands, Chen Fan used the knife to cut away the safety belt, which he then used to tie up both of her slender legs. "You will pay heavily for your actions!" Nakagawa Emi said, resisting. Although her legs looked thin, they still packed some punch! Due to the cramped space in the car, as well as the fact that she was sitting on top of his lap, his arms could not fully utilize their strength, so his few attempts were futile. "Can you just cooperate and let me tie you up?" Chen Fan took his Kun Wu knife and flicked it near her face. This made her hair stand on end. She did not have the courage to move at all anymore. The following matter would be much easier to handle now. Chen Fan wrapped the safety belt around her a few times. Looking at his work, he felt that this woman was a tough one to handle, so he had to put in more effort! For safety purposes, he cut the main driver''s seat belt, then used it to wrap her up. "Alright, now let me bring you to somewhere fun, a place that you will not forget for the rest of your life!" Chen Fan smiled and tapped her on the shoulder. After getting the keys and phone out, he struggled to move across to the main driver''s seat from the seat beside it. After inserting the key and turning on the lights, Chen Fan figured out how to use the car, familiarizing himself with the control panels. He then stepped on the accelerator and drove the Ferrari away with a blast. "Where are you taking me?" Nakagawa Emi glared at him furiously, her gaze vicious. She looked as if she could spew fire. "I am warning you. If I disappear for more than 24 hours, my men will start looking me. Then, it would not be hard to find out what happened here!" "You are as stubborn as ever, even when you are in trouble!" Chen Fan drove, while he freed one of his hands to take out his phone. "Tell me the number of your men. I will call them now." The two then went into a deep, stony silence. Nakagawa Emi bit her lips, then opened her mouth a few times, but still did not say a word. "Stay still. If you continue to spit rubbish from that mouth of yours, I am going to throw you into the Huangpu River to feed the fishes there!" After making the statement, Chen Fan put the phone back into his pocket, so that he could pay maximum attention to driving. Tian Hai City''s traffic was really horrible! After driving for about half an hour in the heavy traffic, he took a turn at Blade Road, then continued for another 40 minutes. He then arrived at his destination. It was the sea, just to the north of Yang Village. "You Why did you bring me to the beach?" Looking at the vast sea that was just outside the window, Nakagawa Emi continued to stare at him, her gaze still quite vicious. "Of course, I am going to wait until tonight, before I tie a rock to you and dump you into the sea!" Chen Fan said, as if it was nothing! 214 Locked up "Is that so?" Nakagawa Emi sneered. She did not even retort sarcastically. Currently, she was like a fresh fish lying on a cutting board her fate was in someone else''s hand. Looking at the clock, it was around 2 p.m. There was still a long time before night came, but his stomach was already growling. Aside from mountain roads, there was only barren beach and rocks in the surroundings. There was no place to purchase food, even if one wanted to. Opening the locker on his right, although there was nothing edible, there was a bottle of brandless clean water. The bottle that was still sealed, was opened by Chen Fan, who drank it in two gulps. After letting out a burp, he slowly said, "We didn''t meet for about half a month, did we? Never would I have thought you would be so daring as to hire a gunman to kidnap me. Spill it, why did you guys want to obtain Ghost Moon Incense?" "Hmph!" She refused to answer the question, adopting an arrogant noble''s demeanor. "Not saying anything, huh?" Chen Fan gave her an sideways look, and said with a cold smile, "Being stubborn will only bring you endless pain. You must know, you are a woman, and I am a man, so" "Kill me, if you dare, I would not spill the secret of Ghost Moon Incense." Nakagawa Emi turned away her face, a stance showing that she had accepted her fate. "I hope your arrogant tone can last until tonight!" Too lazy to have any further blathering with her, Chen Fan cut a piece of cloth off of her windbreaker with his Kunwu dagger and said, "Face this way, I want to cover up your eyes." Obviously, there was no one who would obediently obey this request. Chen Fan had to use his dagger to gesture on the side of her face. After covering her eyes, Chen Fan hugged himself in the pilot house, while waiting for the night to befall silently. When it was around February, the sun set quickly. When the last afterglow faded between the sea and sky, Chen Fan flexed his arms and neck. After giving the car keys a turn, he drove this red Smart Car to charge toward the beach. "Ah, what are you going to do?" Nakagawa Emi, who had been silent for a few hours, suddenly shrieked. A combination of her vision getting blocked and the bumping car made her severely lose her sense of security. "Of course, I am going to dump you into the sea!" Chen Fan did not even turn his head, but rather proceeded to floor the accelerator. Driving this Smart Car with a low body on the beach, which was filled with soft sand, caused the car to break down. When the Smart Car was approaching the seaside, it was finally trapped by the sand, and smoke started coming out of the wildly spinning wheels. Chen Fan turned off his car and got out, proceeding to take out Nakagawa Emi and put her on top of the car hood. "Wait a minute, I am going to find some rocks!" Chen Fan said creepily in her ears, giving her body a chill, like she had fallen through an ice pond. Doing as he said, Chen Fan ran to the sides to pick up some rocks. After that, he held a lot of crushed rocks in his arms, which he released onto the hood. They landed, making a loud sound. "Gudong, Gudong!" "There are not enough ropes, and I cannot tie the rocks on your body. I found some crushed rocks, though," Chen Fan held her pointy chin in his fingers, and said. "The buoyancy force of the human body is proportional to the amount of its fats, which means when that, when there are more fats, the buoyancy force is stronger. Since you are so thin, your body certainly does not have much fat. So, I just have to insert some rocks inside your clothing pockets, so I can be sure that you will sink, just like a weight dropped into water!" "Don''t you think you can get away with killing me!" Nakagawa Emi''s breast swelled and deflated vigorously. Although the weather around the seaside was cold, her forehead was dripping with a cold sweat. "Nonsense, many murderers thought of this question as well, before their homicidal act, but I do not see any decline in the number of murder cases around the world. If this one phrase was enough, wouldn''t that mean that the world has achieved peace and harmony? And, wouldn''t that mean that everyone has an opportunity to study, and there is no need to lock your doors at night anymore?" Chen Fan, picking up a rock as big as his fist, said. "This stone weighs around 3 kg, so it should be enough to counterweight 10 kg of your fat, you know!" Finishing his sentences, Chen Fan lifted up the pocket of her windbreaker, ready to insert the rocks into it. "Ah, wait a minute! Wait a minute!" Even a fish, which is pressed on a cutting board, will struggle to jump a few times, so not to mention a human. Nakagawa Emi was like a fish that just got thrown ashore, her body twisting vigorously. "Speak quickly, finish it, and you shall obediently allow me to sink you down, with rocks filling your clothes!" Chen Fan demanded. "Let...let go of me please. I can give you a large sum of money, and I promise not to give you anymore trouble," she begged. "Obviously" Chen Fan pulled a long tone leisurely, and ended with, "No!" "Then...Then what can I do, for you to spare my life?" Although Nakagawa Emi''s eyes were hidden from his sight, it was not hard to interpret the obvious fear from her trembling body. "In this case" Chen Fan was picking up another rock to insert into the left pocket of her windbreaker, while saying, "First, tell me what you guys are going to do with the Ghost Moon Incense!" "No way!" Her answer was abnormally spontaneous she did not even think about it. However, she regretted it the moment the answer left her mouth. Fearing that she might be digging her own grave, she proceed to talk with a trembling voice. "The grudge between us is not that deep, so why must you kill me?" "Because I resent you! If I weren''t prepared, our roles in this situation would be reversed!" Chen Fan scratched his eyebrows, then picked up two rocks again, putting them into her sleeves, which were tied up. Like transporting a gunny sack, he lifted her onto his shoulder and walked toward the seaside. The sea breeze was howling, and the sea waves was spraying onto the seaside. When Chen Fan was around three to four meters away from the seaside, the sound of the sea waves spraying on the shore was clearly audible to both of them. When Nakagawa Emi could no longer withstand her heart, which was beating so violently, she sobbed out, "Don''t you Chinese have such a saying, ''Be lenient, wherever it is possible''? Can you not let go of me?" "Ho ho, so you even know this uncommon ancient saying?" Chen Fan did not stop his pace, but kept walking, while speaking. "I am sure you never heard of another ancient saying, which says, ''Cherish a tiger, and you breed calamity for the future''!" "Never heard of it" she murmured, mid-sob. "You will understand, when you sink under the water!" he laughed evilly. In Chen Fan''s hands, the load of over a hundred kg, was like nothing, as he made a few simple jumps and landed on top of a rock, effortlessly. After that, he faced toward the sea breeze, as if he were a poet who was emotionally reacting to scenery in pain. He then recited, "Ah, in spring the river rises as high as the sea, and with the river''s rise, the moon uprises bright" "Have you gone crazy?!" Nakagawa Emi''s face turned pale. Her eyes were covered, but with her acute senses, she could felt that he was standing on top of a large slab of rock. Chen Fan''s action instantly made Nakagawa Emi''s blood run cold. Her pair of tied up long legs quickly rolled into an arc, a move which was only possible for a savvy gymnast, as she looped herself around Chen Fan''s waist. Death was not scary by itself, but what made it scary was its process. At this moment, Nakagawa Emi had already let go of her viciousness of that afternoon. However, this man, who had a seemingly kind face, did not have any hesitation when filling her pocket with rocks. There was not even a sign of trembling in his voice. This kind of person was either a mentally ill person or a ruthless murderer. Whether it was the first or the latter, either was extremely shocking to her. "Farewell, Miss Nakagawa Emi!" Chen Fan face showed an unpredictable smile, and jumped into the depths of the sea. "Ah!" Nakagawa Emi instantly let out a ridiculous scream, as if this jump also made her soul leave her body. When the dizziness left her, she was able to feel her surroundings again. She found out that she was not surrounded by sea water, as she had imagined, but an ice cold floor. "You...you" Nakagawa Emi''s originally energetic body turned into a lump of cotton candy in a blink of an eye. Her lips were half open, and her face was as white as rice paper. "Does this feel nice?" Chen Fan squatted down and lightly lifted her chin with his forefinger. "Say, you tried so hard to snatch the Ghost Moon Incense. What do you plan to do with it?" "Not telling!" "Are you sure?" "You...Why must you know our use of the Ghost Moon Incense?" Nakagawa Emi said while panting. "This thing is harder to obtain than Ambergris that was over hundred years old, as just obtaining one piece of this is already a big nuisance. What can you do, even if you knew the use?" "Can''t I be curious?" Chen Fan looked at her very closely, speaking softly, "You tell me its use, and I will let you go. But, if you don''t speak" "No...I won''t tell...Even if I told you, you would never let go of me." Nakagawa Emi, who had received an elite education, was not a brainless woman with big breasts, nor a dumb woman, who lacked experience in the real world. The situation right now was apparent: this opponent now facing her would never let go of her. Everyone knew this principle that says, "Cherish a tiger, and you breed calamity for the future". "Okay, not going to say anything, huh?" Chen Fan snapped his finger, then picked her up, aiming to lock her up in the submarine''s storage compartment. As Nakagawa Emi said, even if she told him what he wanted to hear, he still never intended to let her go. Asking about the use of the Ghost Moon Incense was his way of just toying with her, as Chen Fan did not really care about the use of the Ghost Moon Incense. For him, he would be glad, as long he knew that it could strengthen his electric eel. As for killing her, Chen Fan still could not commit this crime. So, he was just going to lock this little lady up, while thinking of an alternate, foolproof plan. This was a sealed submarine, and there was nothing inside the storage compartment. She could not even find a hard edge to cut her ropes upon. Just bolting the door from the outside meant that she could not escape, no matter how talented she was. Switching his thoughts to the electric eel avatar, Chen Fan scouted the surroundings, using the electric eel eyes. After confirming that it was safe, the electric eel picked up that Ferrari under the sand, preparing to bring it back to the cave at Zhongyun. A Ferrari that weighed a few tons was like a toy to the electric eel. If the electric eel squeezed the Ferrari with all its might, the Ferrari would become a broken iron plate. After the electric eel used about 40 minutes to return to the interior of the cave, Chen Fan also brought in the submarine, which he then threw into a lake that was several dozens of meters deep. After getting everything done, Chen Fan frantically ran back to the interior of submarine''s kitchen. He was starving, as he had not had a single meal that day. The electric eel caught a few large crabs on its way back, so Chen Fan cut them into pieces and stir fried them with oil, salt, sauce and vinegar. Holding a bowl of fragrant rice, he gobbled the food down in one clean sweep. After eating his fill, Chen Fan was humming and walking toward the room that Nakagawa Emi was locked inside. Kachang! A sound rang out as the metal was opened. Chen Fan let out a few burps, each filled with the smell of his recent meal of a crab delicacy, and then said, "Ah, I just ate a few crabs, and it feels so good!" PS: Someone said that they wanted this little lady to be killed... Wouldn''t that be a little too cruel? (To be continued... If you wish to know what happens next, please go www.qidian.com, as there are more chapters there, and you will be supporting both the author and a genuinely great reading experience!) 215 There are Ghosts Here! "Humph!" Nakagawa Emi curled up in the corner of the room in silence. Of course, she could tolerate not eating for two meals. It was just that she felt slightly thirsty. "I don''t wish to talk much with you. I''m too lazy to do that. Just count yourself as unlucky that I caught you." Chen Fan walked in front of her and stared at her from above. "While you still have the strength, you better think about how to pay for your mistake. I have a small personal problem. It''s called, ''being greedy as hell.'' You wouldn''t be able to satisfy me unless you think of some really huge compensation. Of course, I have many more problems than that, such as ''by hook or by crook'' and ''an eye for an eye.''" "Can you free me first or put me in a room with a heater instead? It is really freezing in here!" This lady came from a rich family and lived every day in gorgeous clothing and accessories. Making her lie motionlessly for a few hours on the cold, iron floor was almost killing her. "Freezing? Oh god, do you know where you are?" Chen Fan made a very exaggerated expression and exclaimed, "This is an abandoned cavern somewhere on Canglong Hill, Zhongyun. Five hundred years ago, the Ming Dynasty general Yuan Ling An used this place to hide his soldiers. Later, Qing Dynasty soldiers blocked the opening and burnt this place for five days and nights, and everyone inside was suffocated to death. Over the last few centuries, nobody''s dared to come here, because this place is haunted. At midnight, people often hear ghostly howls coming from here, and there are many skeletons left around. I was forced by the police and had no choice but to turn the bottom of the cave into a refuge. You still dare to choose another room?" If a local were here instead, he would surely despise Chen Fan for what he just said because there is no such cavern at Canglong Hill! But Nakagawa Emi would not know that. Chen Fan sounded so convincing in his fake story that her face instantly turned pale. She was scared not of the ghosts, but of the environment. After speaking, Chen Fan pulled back his shoulder and smiled slyly. He then closed the metal door. Bang! Returning to the stone tower, Chen Fan opened the computer and sent an email to the Ohno Group. It was not to ask for a ransom to release Nakagawa Emi but to remind them about the liquidated damages and that the next day would be the crude oil delivery day... Out of the seven oil wells, Chen Fan destroyed three. The remaining four would not be able to satisfy Chen Fan''s needs and those of their other clients no matter what. On the agreement, it was stated that during every delivery day, the group must give him exactly 3,000,000 barrels. Even if they could give 2,000,000, they would still need to pay the full liquidated damages. They then had to keep drilling and only hand over the product when they had the right amount. "D*mn. When can we finish repairing the oil wells?" In the Takeda Building in Shinjuku, Goro Ota almost broke the office table into two. His eyes were extremely red. The next day was already delivery day and yet the three oil wells just managed to bring up the damaged components from the seabed in the morning. "Answer me. I need a precise date." His face and voice were so cold that everyone almost felt like they were freezing on the spot. As he looked across the room with his unpleasant gaze, everyone started lowering their heads, as if a gust of wind had blown past a grassland. "Five, five days. Even if the valve is transported by air, it will require two days to complete. This does not even include the time needed to install it after it arrives." The employee standing in the middle took a step forward, frightened. "Okay... Okay. Five days. Five days!" Goro Ota was so furious that he almost needed some heart pills. After calming down a bit, he stared at everyone. "All of you will have no bonus this month. If you can''t get it done in five days, you can wait for your salary to be deducted as well!" "Five days. One hundred percent liquidated damages, which is 19,400,000,000 yen!" Goro Ota''s heart was shattered into pieces. Five days. One hundred percent liquidated damages. That''s almost 1,600,000,000 yuan! Chen Fan was overjoyed. Even drug trafficking would not earn him that much. "Seems like I need to find a buyer for the crude oil." Lying on the bed, Chen Fan rubbed his nose. Although he would need to pay a high price for the crude oil and would not even make much profit by selling it off, Chen Fan was unconcerned. The liquidated damages were already as high as the price of the oil. He was therefore not interested in the profit from the oil itself. After much thinking, Chen Fan felt that in order to find a buyer, he should go and contact Wei Zhixiu, the former-head of Zhongyun Refinery and Chemical Factory. Why was he called the former-head? Because two months ago, he had been promoted to the deputy manager of the East China Refinery and Sales Department. However, the two had still been doing business with each other. Every time Chen Fan obtained any crude oil from Saudi Arabia, he would sell it to Wei Zhixiu. On the other hand, Wei Zhixiu would help Chen Fan to settle issues about crude oil quota and scheduling. In this era with so many different deputy managers, Wei Zhixiu''s position in the department was actually quite prestigious. The administrative rights he could enjoy were comparable to that of a deputy magistrate. That was because he was an employee under PetroChina, a state-owned enterprise. According to research in the Financial Times on October 5th, PetroChina had a market value of 329,300,000,000 USD, which placed it as the top among all the enterprises in the world. The two had collaborated for a long time. Although their relationship was not that close, they knew each other well enough. If Chen Fan wanted to sell him more oil using the same price, he would be willing to accept it. After returning to the surface in the diving chamber, Chen Fan sat inside shaking his legs. He stared leisurely at the starry night sky and started calling Wei Zhixiu. "Hello. Ah, it''s Mr. Chen. Why haven''t you called me in so long? I thought you had already forgotten about me!" Wei Zhixiu was happy to pick up the call. Actually, he was able to get promoted so quickly partially due to the vast amount of crude oil Chen Fan had provided him. "You are my biggest investor. How could I dare forget about you?" Chen Fan smiled and went directly to the topic. "Recently, I obtained another crude oil business, which will provide me with a huge volume of oil every week. I was wondering if you would be interested in it?" "Yes. Of course yes. I will take whatever you have!" Wei Zhixiu realized that he sounded too eager and laughed in spite of himself. "In East China, there are four deputy managers in my department. The rest are all over 40. I am the youngest and have the worst results. To be honest, I have been trying so hard to get more crude oil, there are almost ulcers on my lips." "Well, I am here to help you when you need it the most," Chen Fan said with some pride. "The amount this time is greater than all previous deals. I signed a half-year agreement with a foreigner. He will provide me with about 3,000,000 barrels of crude oil each week. Of course, the delivery dates are uncertain yet. You can pay me when I get the oil to the pier." "Err..." Wei Zhixiu was at first stunned by the enormous amount, but it quickly turned into a delightful surprise. Now that he was the deputy manager in East China, the transaction amount he was entitled to was almost unlimited. As long as the price was reasonable, he could buy as much oil as he wished. "Mr. Chen, you are not fooling me, right? If not, I won''t be able to sleep these few nights!" "Why would I? We will still follow the usual rules. You help me settle the quota, and I will sell the oil to you at the private price." "Aye, Mr. Chen. Actually, the state was really tight about private oil recently. Well, how about half a yuan less for each ton?" "Come on. This is all because of your PetroChina in the first place, right? So that you can acquire refineries not already under the company or make them close down. Usual price. Do you really want it or not?" "Ha. Of course I do. Once your tankers dock, I will ask the financial department to make the transaction." Wei Zhixiu was not embarrassed at all. "By the way, do call me two days before your tankers arrive with the precise volume of oil inside. This is to allow me to help you settle the quota and scheduling." "No problem. The amount this time is really too huge and my tankers cannot carry so much at once. I plan to rent a few oil storage tanks in Saudi Arabia. If you can get any oil tankers, you can ask them to go and get the oil from Saudi Arabia. I will deduct the transportation fees from the cost." "Alright. Call me when you are ready. I will see if I can contact any tankers." "Okay!" Hanging up, Chen Fan closed the chamber and let the electric eel drag it back to the cave. Back at the stone tower, Chen Fan pondered for a while and decided to go up to the third level. Using the Kun Wu, he cut off some pieces from the seven Taisui, each about the size of a bowl, to feed the electric eel. He still had 513 blue stones, which the electric eel could use for a long time. When the electric eel was about to eat the seven ghost moon incenses, the python, which was sleeping below the cliff, quickly used its highly sensitive tongue to capture the scent. It moved near the electric eel and stared at it, drooling. "I will reward you with one!" The electric eel rolled its eyes at the greedy python and threw a piece of ghost moon incense at it. Roar! After devouring the incense, the white python instantly started to roar. Its voice was so loud that Chen Fan could feel his eardrums vibrating. Of course, Nakagawa Emi also heard the sound. She was imprisoned in the submarine tens of meters underwater. When the high decibel howl from the python reached her, it was already very soft. If not for the silent underwater environment, her ears would not have even caught the faint shout. "Ahhh! Ghost!" Obviously, Chen Fan''s story about the cave had left psychological trauma in her mind. After hearing the evil sound which seemed to be coming from all directions, she immediately cried out in horror and curled her body up, shaking. "Stop. You are shouting like a ghost. It''s so unpleasant!" The electric eel smacked the python''s head with its paw, causing it to be enraged, but the roar finally stopped. If he had known that the python''s voice really sounded like a ghost from the submarine, he would have asked it to shout all day long. Unfortunately, he did not. Suddenly, the python cunningly squinted its eyes at the electric eel and swam to the edge of the lake. It opened its mouth and a gust of white, chilly gas gushed out. It was as if the gas contained an arcane magic from an ice mage. The seawater in contact with the gas quickly made a cracking sound, after which a piece of ice 15 meters in diameter floated onto the surface. "Super frost python?" Chen Fan was totally dumbstruck by the scene in front of him. 216 The Python’s Behavior that Made Us Bristled with Rage This was unacceptable! Water is a thermally conductive medium. For it to turn into ice, it must release all the internal heat, and the length of this process depends on the room temperature. The freezing point of seawater is usually approximately below -1.5 degree celsius to -1.9 degree celsius. As such, how low should the temperature of the belched air be for the seawater to freeze up into chunks of ice cubes, within a short span of two to three seconds? This would definitely be way cooler than the "rapid-cooling semen cryopreservation method"! "It became so powerful, just by eating about 50 of those blue rocks. If it consumed 350 of those rocks" The electric eel shook his head, as it looked at the white python from the corner of its eyes. With its current ability to attack, when it encountered the green water beast, all it had to do was spurt out cold air to brutally injure it. Based on the python''s bloodthirsty nature, it would be rather out of character if it did not pick a fight with the green water beast. "Bloodthirsty.." The eel stroked his chin and pondered: He is pretty much like this as well! Putting the research on the python''s characteristics aside, after the python spurted out cold air, it emitted a resounding scream twice, and its beadlike eyes kept rotating nonstop. We are well aware that animals can express their emotions through their gazes. For example, when a cat is feeling sad, happy, or angry, it will use its gaze to communicate its feelings or mood. The simplest experimentation with this phenomenon is to gently caress the back of its head. It will then squint its eyes with pleasure, as it snuggles itself in your embrace. It is best if you step on its tail whilst petting it, to then get a firsthand experience of "fury" and "hatred"! However, the massive difference became apparent the moment it stood before the python. It was as if their minds were connected as one. Chen Fan could read his gaze immediately. Four words! "Floating on cloud nine!" It was a gaze that could only be intuited, but not verbally expressed! Chen Fan even suspected that, if the python was given a voice, it could probably communicate like an ordinary human being. "Come on, missy. Mind giving me a smile?" The electric eel raised its eyebrows at the python, but unfortunately, the latter only gave it a cold shoulder. The electric eel pouted. "How rude!" It is extremely easy to identify the gender of a snake. All you have to do is to look at its tail. Female snakes have an overall shorter tail than their male counterparts. A male snake''s body is evenly slender up to its tail, whilst a female snake''s tail shortens and tapers from the lower end of its abdomen. Both have rather evident traits. Of course, there are many ways to determine the sex of a snake, but this is one of the most convenient methods. I am afraid that, even the master of psychology, Dai Yu, would not be able to interpret the message behind the electric eel''s gaze, so what more of this white python? After staring at the electric eel, its gaze was filled with bewilderment, as it slithered toward the cliff in satisfaction. Since the python had left, the electric eel decided to just lie flat on its belly in the waters, ready to fall asleep and digest the ghost moon incense tissues in its stomach. Once the electric eel was fast asleep, Chen Fan drew out his conscience. After lingering with Xiao Xue, who had already gained over 120 kg, he got up and walked toward the computer room on the second floor. After taking a glance at his Swiss bank account, he saw that Ohno Group from Japan had yet to transfer the compensation. If he did not see the compensation money in his account in five days, Chen Fan had decided that he would rock their oil wells as payback. Since the money was still not transferred, there was temporarily nothing else to do. He closed the bank''s webpage and opened an already bookmarked website for web novels, aiming to continue reading from where he had left off. ... The very next day, at nine twenty in the morning, Chen Fan was roused from his deep sleep by a few, loud resounding howls. He opened his eyes, resentment written all over his groggy face. Then, after five seconds, he closed his eyes again. The electric eel, who just opened its eyes, gave the screeching python a death glare. He was ready to chase it away with high-voltage, but he was humored by the python''s furtive acts. The eel squinted his eyes and stared into the python''s mischievous gaze with full relish. "Howl!" The python cried out softly. It moved his head in a serpentine manner twice, motioning the eel to follow it. As he followed the python, Chen Fan could not help but surmise in his heart: Did it somehow target other gathering places of the green water beasts, and decide to holler at the eel to wipe them out? His assumption was evidently wrong! The two fellows of similar body size, one black and the other white, crossed the grotesque and variegated ripples in the bottom of the sea to enter into another environment. After swimming for a moment, with its belly stuck close to the bottom of the sea, the python raised his head up 90 degrees, then quickly swam toward shallow waters. Why was it swimming toward shallow waters? Suppressing the doubts and questions in his heart, the eel followed it closely in order to figure out what it was actually up to! The python''s aim was soon crystal clear. It wanted to go up the shore. After reaching the shallow waters, without hesitation, its head appeared from the water like a "Queen Elizabeth''s Dreadnought" which has braved the winds and the billows, then dashed toward the left side of the shore. After six seconds, this stupid battleship reversed its "engine", because it realized that its companion, the "Black Pearl Battleship" had not appeared by its side. Chen Fan hesitated. He had no knowledge about this place. Was it uninhabited or not? How developed is the level of technology here? As he was hesitating, the python swam back to his side. It kept wobbling the pink hyacinth, the message being clear: Follow me quickly! "Gosh!" The electric eel suddenly slapped its belly, as if it was giving a wake-up call. This place was obviously a world filled with monsters, including a golden eagle with a wingspan of 80 meters and a 90-meter long white python. So, the addition of a blackish electric eel was nothing peculiar. There was no reason to fear, even if there were human activities in this place. This was not the world that his original body was living in, hence, he could do whatever he pleased. Thinking about it, the electric eel stopped hesitating and observed the sky several times. After realizing that there was no trace of the lightning-fast golden eagle, he scurried off to the python, then lay down next to it. The shore on the left was not too far away from the two "reptiles". After approximately 30 seconds, the electric eel crawled up the shore silently, along with the python. Four black beady eyes stared at each other, and the look of "treachery" was reflected in each other''s gazes. What lay in front of the two creatures were gray rolling hills, which stood at an average height of approximately 600 meters. The area halfway up above the hills was covered by dwarf-like vegetation, whilst the coast was covered by a barren stratum of rocks. Perhaps this was because the vegetation had all drowned in the high tide. After vomiting out two hyacinths, the python gave him a meaningful glance, before stealthily slithering along the rocky walls, heading toward the peak of the hill. After swallowing a big mouthful of seawater, the eel used the chloride secretory cells in its cavities to filter the salt content in the water, before swallowing it into its stomach. He then swallowed another few mouthfuls of the filtered seawater, and started waddling like a penguin toward the python. The python, unlike its usual counterparts, was not an amphibian. It could not directly inhale air, but had to use electric currents to break down the water components in its body into hydrogen and oxygen. Oxygen would directly enter into its blood circulatory system, whilst hydrogen would be released into the air during exhalation. The method of breaking down water components using electric currents might sound mysterious and technologically advanced, but in fact, it is an easy task, and every electric eel knows how to do it. We are well aware that water is made up of hydrogen and oxygen, to which both elements are weak electrical conductors, and that ionization equilibrium exists internally. By using electricity to stimulate the water, the ionization equilibrium in the water molecules will be broken. As such, both the elements of hydrogen and oxygen will no longer be able to exist as a water molecule. Thus, the water content in the electric eel''s body allows it to temporarily breathe on land for almost two hours. When the body loses too much water, it must replenish itself with water, or else it will die of dehydration. After climbing about 600 meters to get to the peak, all that could be seen was still an endless stretch of rolling mountains, but the vegetation on the abyss of the mountains was much more lush than the other parts. A few towering trees could also be vaguely seen. After patiently waiting for the arrival of the electric eel, the white python continued its journey toward the mountains in front. It was as if a tank had charged the grounds that it had slithered through, just as all the vegetation along its path had been flattened. Obviously, following the "tank" close behind, was a heavy duty "excavator". "Ang!" After moving along the mountains closely for about 10 minutes, the python stopped, after arriving at a peak that was evidently taller than its surroundings, and peered at it. If the electric eel made a slight exaggerated movement, it would signal him to stop doing so with its gaze. Cold wind sighed, as it blew across the lush and verdant mountains. If the sighs of the wind could be translated into human interpretations, they were probably ducking preparing for an ambush at a hidden corner, silently waiting for something. Chen Fan was confused about this particular watch. The landmass of the peak was huge, and the view of the peak had been blocked by jagged rocks and trees. Is it truly worth it to keep watch of a peak like that? Time slipped through their fingers. After half an hour, Chen Fan was getting a little impatient. He was afraid that the electric eel''s body would dehydrate. Suddenly, a thunderous cry could be heard from the mountains. The sound was high-pitched, yet distant, and it was rather unpleasant to the human ear. It seemed to be the cries of some sort of large bird. After 10 seconds, the electric eel noticed a little yellow dot pierce through the sky. This ultimately proved Chen Fan''s assumption to be right. Shockingly, the bird was actually the golden eagle that had previously swooped down to catch the electric eel, thinking that it was actually a delicious delicacy. "Ang!" Before the golden eagle could fly any further, the python appeared from its hiding spot in a swishing motion, then headed toward the peak to kill the great bird. Chen Fan did not want to be left behind, so he controlled the electric eel, ensuring that it followed the python''s trails closely. After knocking down a few shrubs that were in the way and flipping across two enormous boulders, the electric eel''s line of sight began to widen. It sort of gave him a taste of what it felt like to be the king of the world. The mountain stood at 900 meters. Looking ahead, he could see that the picturesque view was filled with artistic beauty and grandiosity that could easily surpass the masterpieces made by calligraphy masters. Evidently, the python had no interest in admiring the breathtaking view of the majestic rivers and mountains. It definitely did not have the free time to bring the electric eel along to admire the scenery. Instead, it had its eyes set on the concave ground in the middle of the peak, eyes that shone with greed. Four greenish brown, oval-shaped eggs, which stood at about half a meter tall, laid in the middle of the dried vegetations. No doubt, the python had intentions to devour the children of the golden eagle, whose gender was unknown, while it was away. "Clouds rose, and my eyes strained to see the birds flight, as it tried to ascend the mountain crest. It dwarfed all the peaks under our feet, and isn''t this a rather vile act" His voice trailing off, the electric eel stood to the side, shivering from head to toe. Such acts were much more thrilling than even the previous kidnapping of Nakagawa Emi! Several parts in these chapters have explained the skills of the electric eel and the python, so the readers could experience something more realistic and logical. Such explanations will not be repeated in the future. PS: Sleepy, terribly sleepy, the kind of sleepiness that cannot be curbed by merely drinking coffee...make me want to study assiduously and tirelessly too bad I couldn''t find an awl and a beam! I might as well go to sleep!!!!!! (To be continued... If you wish to know what happens next, please log onto www.qidian.com for more chapters. Go support the author and authorized reading!) 217 Egg Incubator Chen Fan did not know whether male eagles would participate in hatching. What he did know was that if baby eagles really hatched from these four tire-sized eggs, it would be incredibly cool. Its parent had a wingspan of 80 meters! After the baby eagle was hatched, its wingspan would be at least two to three meters long. After it grew to three months old and learned how to fly, sitting on its back and soaring in the sky would be... Cool! Absolutely cool. A wingspan of 80 meters and a body length of 10 meters. Even if F-22 Raptor fighter jet pilots see it, they will also be drooling! Gulp! Gulp! While Chen Fan was absorbed in his own fantasy, the white python actually took two of the eggs and swallowed them down without even biting. There were two more left. The python howled a few times, reminding the electric eel to quickly eat the eggs and run, before the golden eagle could return and assault them. The electric eel opened its mouth and held the larger of the two eggs in it, planning to leave the last one for the golden eagle. Roar! The white python shouted repeatedly but seeing no response from the electric eel, it opened its mouth and swallowed the last egg. Chen Fan was stunned, not knowing what to do. Cold-blooded animals were indeed cold blooded! After devouring three eagle eggs, the python cheered delightedly and immediately started to turn and run. "Let''s run!" the electric eel exclaimed in a fuzzy voice and hurriedly used its four paws to escape. The scene of the two huge monsters moving on the land was too devastating to describe in words. A huge wild boar nearly three meters in length was hit by the python''s tail and smashed into a nearby tree before it could even escape from its nest. They took 13 minutes to reach the eagle''s nest, but only seven minutes to go back. The sea finally showed itself in front of them. Rooaaarrr! When the python and the electric eel were only 1,000 meters from the sea, an exasperated howl came from the distant sky. Turning its head, the electric eel saw the golden eagle, which had been circling the peak, dive towards them like a bolt of lightning. It is common knowledge that eagles have the best vision in the animal kingdom. They can easily detect voles moving in grass patches from 10 kilometers away, or prey over half a meter in size within 36 kilometers. It is a common saying that the higher one stands, the further one sees. Even short-sighted people can see two monsters almost 100 meters in length, nevermind the eagle. The electric eel, which already knew the eagle''s diving speed, did not dare to hesitate. It immediately turned around and, with its paws facing the sky, the voltage on its body began to rapidly increase. Obviously, the python also detected the golden eagle. It abruptly stopped from its swift movement and, with its upper body standing up vertically, it opened its mouth to the widest, showing the sharp, white teeth inside. From the python''s posture, it was clear that it had fought with the golden eagle previously as well. It chose to battle instead of running towards the sea just ahead because it knew that the eagle would only need a few seconds to reach them, but they would need at least 20 seconds to run to the sea and hide 20 meters underwater. The eagle had not arrived, but its momentum already did! The eagle, which had gone berserk, first dove towards the electric eel. Its two wings covered the sky and the sun, leaving a large patch of shadow on the ground. Its sharp claws flew towards the electric eel''s head like the arrows of Hou Yi. Unfortunately... No matter how fast it was, it could not be faster than lightning! Lightning does not move at the speed of light but when it travels through air, its speed can reach 50 to 100 kilometers per second, which is hundreds of times that of sound. While the golden eagle was indeed fast, it had not exceeded the speed of sound. One was quick like the wind, strong like the thunder and completely unstoppable, while the other was aggressive and invincible! When the eagle''s claws reached within 50 meters of the electric eel, the eel, whose body was already as bright as the sun and had already grilled all the plants below it to ashes, instantly burst out two bolts of lightning, each as thick as a lamppost. Within a hundredth of a second, the lightning bolts exploded on the eagle''s claws. The intense electric arc scorched the scales on the eagle''s claws. Its muscles started contracting uncontrollably under the electric current and it could no longer fully extend its claws. Roar! The golden eagle cried out in misery and quickly flapped its wings trying to fly into the sky again. However, the python, with its upper body standing, did not plan to let the eagle go. Noticing that the eagle''s two most powerful "weapons" had been disarmed, it curved its body and shot itself towards the eagle at an extreme velocity. The python knew that the electricity from the electric eel was rather intense, so it did not dare to go too close. When its head was still several meters away from the golden eagle, its belly bulged and a dense icy mist gushed out from its mouth, surrounding the eagle which was attempting to fly upwards. It sounds complicated but the series of attacks was actually carried out by the three within a second. One was extremely hot and the other extremely cold. How would the eagle feel when it was hit? True, it had hard and warm feathers. But this was still insufficient to handle the low temperature. Its wings, which had still been flapping, suddenly turned stiff, as if Medusa had cast her petrifying magic on them. The golden eagle flew out a long distance under its own inertia and eventually crashed onto the ground, stirring up a large amount of dust and causing nearby animals to anxiously escape. That was the power of cooperation. The electric eel first disabled the python''s most powerful claws and the python followed up by using its frosty breath, causing the eagle to freeze and lose the ability to fly. The fallen eagle was just like a sea dragon thrown ashore. The python speedily moved in front of it and opened its mouth again, sending out another wave of cold mist. Tweet! The golden eagle opened its beak and made a sharp cry. It then flapped its numb wings and dodged aside, away from most of the cold mist. Missing its first hit, the python''s head made a sharp curve in the air, planning to bite the eagle''s wings from the side. This time, the eagle was not that lucky and its left wing was bitten firmly by the python. Failing its attempt to shake the python off, it closed its metallic-looking beak and pecked towards the python''s head. How powerful is an eagle''s peck? If the peck did hit, it would leave a water tank-sized hole in the python''s head. Loosening its bite, the python retracted its head to dodge the fatal blow. Meanwhile, it used its train-like tail to whip the eagle, landing the strike on its right wing like a siege engine. Bang! It was as if a bomb exploded and the eagle was shoved back over 10 meters. On the other hand, the python got rid of the feathers in its mouth and, with its belly bulging, it was ready to spray another wave of cold mist. However, before it could spit the mist, it swallowed back again. That was because the golden eagle was rolling from the hills towards the sea. The previous strike from the python shoved the eagle near the hillside. However, the python was not planning to let the eagle off. After a second of doubt, it whizzed towards the hillside. It is widely known that snakes and eagles are natural enemies. If they fight, they will definitely attempt to kill each other. Chen Fan had finally experienced the hatred of the python towards the golden eagle. It not only ate the eagle''s children, but also wanted to kill the eagle. He decided not to go forth and help. Because the electric arcs were indiscriminate, if the electric eel was to attack the eagle, it might also injure the python. Howl! The golden eagle, which was already at the foot of the mountain, continued to make miserable and sharp bellows. Its eyes were locked onto the aggressive python with immense hatred, and it then started flapping its wings, trying to fly off. It already could not open its claws due to the electric arcs. Furthermore, its only other attack, pecking, could be easily dodged. Apart from escaping, it did not have a second choice. The python, which had already dashed down the hill, spit a few more mouthfuls of cold mist at the golden eagle, now already tens of meters above the ground. Next, its upper body stood up and it began roaring at the eagle continuously. After reaching a few hundred meters above ground, the golden eagle also started circling above the python, making a series of howls that spread throughout the sky. "Stop that. He''s not going to come down!" The electric eel moved in front of the python in a swaying fashion and used its claw to pat the head of the stubborn python. In the beginning, it refused to leave. After a while, maybe it was too tired to continue howling. It glanced at the eagle reluctantly and dove into the vast sea. The gain this time was truly huge: one golden eagle egg. If it could be successfully hatched, riding on the eagle and soaring above the sea would be Unfortunately, the golden eagle had too few means of attack. If if failed to grab the enemy on its way down, it could be easily taken down. With the trophy in its mouth, the electric eel passed the bizarre ripples and returned to the cave. After using some electric arcs to chase the clingy python away, it climbed up the cliff. As the eel gently and lightly spit out the tire-sized egg, Chen Fan quickly ran out from the stone tower and brought it to the second floor. He then used a towel to dry the surface of the egg and placed it on the bed. Of course, his intelligence was not so degenerated that he thought wrapping the egg with a blanket would hatch it. Actually, he had done something similar in the past when he had picked up a nest of wild eggs, successfully turning the wild eggs into rotten eggs. With the advanced technology available, he only needed to purchase a fully automated egg incubator which would allow him to adjust the temperature and level of moisture anytime. Under normal circumstances, in a well-ventilated place at room temperature, these kind of eggs can be stored for a week. Thus, Chen Fan had plenty of time to prepare for artificial hatching. Putting on his calfskin wide-brim hat from the clothes stand and taking 100,000 yuan from the drawer to put into his wallet, Chen Fan sat in the diving chamber and allowed the electric eel to drag him to Wuhua County about 50 kilometers away. On the way, he opened the chamber door twice to allow ventilation. After going ashore, he went into a restaurant to have his meal. When he was full and burping, he started asking the restaurant owner for a place which would sell egg incubators. "Maybe you can try the Red Star Agricultural Machinery Market? The stores there sell equipment relating to farming and planting, and should have egg incubators!" After calling a cab and reaching the market, Chen Fan only strolled for half a block before he managed to find a store which sold farming equipment. In the large store, there was only a middle-aged man lying on a recliner. He had a cigarette in his mouth and his eyes were partially closed, as if he just woke up. Noticing that there was a customer, he only smiled and nodded, signaling Chen Fan to enter and have a look. There were small plastic egg incubators which cost a few hundred yuan each, and also larger ones with imported detection and control systems. The latter could hatch 10,000 to 20,000 eggs each time and cost tens of thousands of yuan. Approaching the largest incubator, Chen Fan opened it to take a look. The space inside was very huge, and could allow two people to enter. In addition, the egg racks inside were independent structures just like supermarket shelves and could thus be taken out. "Hello. Can this be used to hatch eagle eggs?" Chen Fan asked the middle-aged man near the doorway as he knocked on the metallic cover of the incubator. "Eagle eggs?" The owner extended his pinky finger and scratched his oily, swept back hair. "For bird eggs, I only know about peacock, pheasant, turtledove and pigeon eggs. I don''t think anyone has artificially hatched any eagle eggs yet. But for poultry and bird eggs, the temperatures needed are quite similar. A difference of about one degree should not matter. There are control buttons there. You can choose the one for turtledove eggs since they are quite similar to eagles." "Alright!" Chen Fan nodded. He planned to do some online research later. The machine could control its own temperature anyway. "How much is it? I will take this one!" The middle-aged man took a drag from his cigarette. His eyes were focused outside the shop. On the road, there was a good-looking girl in a ponytail passing gracefully by. His head turned as the girl passed just like a turning tank turret. "Hi, how much is this?" Chen Fan said impatiently. "Ah, ah. Which one?" He quickly turned his head, planning to say the price and then looked at the girl again. But when he saw Chen Fan tapping on the machine that was taller than he was, he climbed up immediately. "Thirty two thousand! Thirty two thousand. If you are buying, I will give you a discount of 500 yuan!" "Help me wrap the machine with plastic and send it to the shore. I will take it on my ship!" "Alright alright!" The owner deliberately avoided asking him if he had 20,000 eagle eggs to hatch. He also did not say that the smaller plastic incubator, which only cost 200, was sufficient to hatch over 10 eggs at once. Instead, he ardently explained to Chen Fan about some hatching knowledge and precautions, and eventually gave him a medium-sized fledgling box worth 600 yuan for free. The breeding of birds is season-dependent. The fledgling box was used to maintain a constant temperature so that the fledgling, which would be artificially fed, would not be affected by seasonal changes. By the time Chen Fan returned to the cave in Zhongyun, it was already 3pm. He used a powerful flashlight to shine on the eagle egg, and realized that there was already a blurry figure within the egg. The egg was not dead. Next, he used a marker on the egg shell to indicate the front and back so that he would be able to roll the egg every day more conveniently. Removing the egg racks, he placed a layer of cotton at the bottom of the machines, after which he filled the water chamber and connected the machine to electricity to preheat the interior. He would be able to place the eagle egg inside after two hours. Two hours later, the monitor showed that the temperature had reached 38.5 degrees Celsius. After closing a few websites on animal hobbyists, he carefully put the eagle egg into the incubator. The incubation temperature for eagle eggs was very similar to that of poultry and turtledove eggs. The required temperature was about 38 to 39 degrees, and the moisture level about 50 to 55. According to the shape of the embryo, the eagle egg had already been developing for 20 to 30 days. The incubation period for eagles was 45 days, which meant that Chen Fan only needed over 10 days more to hatch the eagle egg. Of course, all of these were based on assumptions. After all, nobody had seen eagles with a wingspan of 80 meters and a body covered in golden feathers and therefore, no such incubation experiences could be found. Chen Fan could only base everything on the information of a similar rare species, Aquila chrysaetos, more commonly known just as, "golden eagle." The golden eagle referred to here was nothing like that huge eagle with golden feathers all over its body. Instead, it had black feathers but under sunlight they looked shiny, and hence the name golden eagle. Nevertheless, the two did look similar in their appearance. 218 An Ammunition Ship Apart from the difference between their feathers and body size, the rest were pretty much similar. Presumably, if they followed this kind of incubation method, the success rate ought to be very high. After dealing with the egg incubator, Chen Fan once again logged into UBS Switzerland''s website, to check on his account and to see whether the company had remitted the money to him. The moment he logged into his personal internet banking system, the system notified him that someone had remitted a total of JP19.4 billion into his account at 2 p.m. that day. Chen Fan immediately converted this money into American dollars. After deducting 0.1% of a service charge, there was still 2.38 hundred million US dollars remaining. This money, along with the previous balance in his account, would come to a total of US $1.85 billion. Furthermore, he had more than five hundred million yuan available on his domestic credit card. If he converted the sum of everything into yuan, then it would be a total of 12.8 billion. This number, added together with value of the giant ship, could easily squeeze Chen Fan into the top 100 of the 2010 Hurun Rich List. Thus, he could be considered as being a completely invisible billionaire. The next day, the first thing that Chen Fan did after crawling out of bed was to run over to the egg incubator and gently flip over the eagle egg, so that it could be evenly heated. After seeing that there were no problems with the the parameters shown on the electronic controller, only then did he go off to brush his teeth, wash his face, and start his work. Usually for breakfast, he would pour himself a glass of milk and fry two eggs, or cook a packet of Master Kong instant noodles. After having his stomach filled, Chen Fan conveniently pulled out a packet of instant noodles from its carton, then went into the submarine that Nakagawa Emi was imprisoned within. When Chen Fan opened the metal door, she was curled up motionlessly in a corner. It was only after Chen Fan walked forward and nudged her with the tip of his foot, that she weakly moved. "Water...water...I want to drink water!" Nakagawa Emi raised her head and said with a hoarse voice. "Are you hungry, then?" Chen Fan squatted down and said with a smile, "You can have all these, but only if you cooperate with me. I presume that, since so much time has passed, you must have figured out how to compensate me for the effect which that occurence had on me. You can tell me now, and if I''m satisfied with it, then you can have this food and water!" "I''ll give you all my savings, alright?" Nakagawa Emi hesitated for three to five seconds, before revealing a number that surprised Chen Fan. "I have more than 30 million worth of savings, stock securities worth the market value of 600 million and two 430 square feet houses in Tomson Riviera. I also own 50% of shares in a listed company that is worth 1.1 billion yuan. As long as you release me, I''ll transfer all these assets to you." Although Chen Fan was extremely rich, he was still shocked at this young girl''s worth. After all, Japan was the model of a patriarchal society, whereby, unlike the relationships between men and women domestically, it was slanted to the point of deformity. Over there, women were isolated from almost everything having to do with management, and their occupations were solely to take care of their husbands and children. Considering how Nakagawa Emi had so many assets within her grasp, she must have some extraordinary skills. Otherwise, it wouldn''t make sense for her clan to allow a woman to run a company overseas, especially since their numbers had yet to wither. "No, no, no. Other than the savings of more than 30 million, there''s no point in owning the house and shares. Furthermore, money is not all that attractive to me. To be honest, if it wasn''t because of the fact that it''s troublesome, I could gather over a trillion worth of assets within one month. So, I will have to ask you to use other things to impress me," Chen Fan replied. Nakagawa Emi chuckled unconvincingly. Over a trillion worth of assets? Do you think you''re Obama? Can you order the US Federal Reserve to print an additional one trillion dollars? Although this was what she thought, she of course would not say it out loud. Instead, she tried to be as gentle as she could with her tone, replying, "Then...then what exactly do you want?" Chen Fan did not answer her. First, he walked to the kitchen and returned, carrying a glass of water. Then, he yanked off the cloth on her forehead. He swayed the cup of clear water and instant noodles in front of her, then said with a tempting tone, "Since you have the ability to be sent over to China to take charge of something, then you must be rather smart. So, think for yourself now." "Okay!" Nakagawa Emi''s tone was hard, like she had just eaten a rolling pin. Once she finished speaking, she closed her eyes and lifted her chest slightly. When there was still no movement after half a minute, she hesitantly opened her eyes, just in time to see Chen Fan looking like a pufferfish, his eyes wide in disbelief. "Are you out of your mind?" Chen Fan rewarded her with a moronic expression. "I''m not that overwhelmed by lust. Looks like you''re not as smart as I thought you were." "Then what do you want to do?" Nakagawa Emi''s chapped lips were already bitten to the point of bleeding. Although she hid it very well, Chen Fan could still detect ''the desire to hack him into small pieces'' emitting from her eyes. "It''s very simple. You could use your brain to think of how to get your clan in real trouble. It''ll be best if it is related to the sea, since your elder brother here is acquainted with a lot of pirates." "Hmph!" Nakagawa Emi sneered, before responding to Chen Fan with the same look that he had given her. "Oh, I didn''t know that you had such a strong sense of honor toward your clan." Chen Fan sneered, as he downed the water in the cup in one go. He refused to believe that a woman, who had been spoiled and pampered since her childhood, could liberate an iron will of the People''s Liberation Army. "Then, don''t blame me for being too cruel!" Once he finished speaking, he disappeared from the room with a few steps. "What does he want to do?" Nakagawa Emi felt uncomfortable and uneasy, as she looked at the open door. She did not feel safe, as she was unable to move around freely. Five minutes went by. There was the sound of footsteps outside. Subsequently, Chen Fan left and returned. The evil smile on his lips, as well as the unnamed bottles and jars in his arms, made Nakagawa Emi slowly fall into a speechless and enormous abyss of tension. "Ha ha ha ha..." Chen Fan walked toward her with a sinister smile, placing the bottles and jars on the floor, before introducing them one by one. "Can you see this? These are salt, pepper, chilli powder, 13 spices, wasabi, vinegar, soy sauce, fermented bean curd, etc." Everytime he mentioned a name, he would open its corresponding capsule. Then, he would pour them onto a piece of cloth. The first few were still fine, but when he mixed the wasabi and fermented bean curd together, the smell produced almost made Chen Fan gag out his breakfast. The dense and strange smell produced by the subsequent addition of the 13 spices, vinegar, and soy sauce seemed to be stronger than the ''stink bomb'' used by the Marine Animal Protection Association to attack Japan''s whale catching ships! Chen Fan made a retching sound twice, then immediately held his breath, before using a chopstick to mix the colorful melange evenly. As for Nakagawa Emi, who was just opposite him, she tried her best to control her feelings of anxiousness and to calm herself down. But her efforts were futile, as the cold sweat oozing from her pale forehead and her attempts to swallow the lump in her throat had already visibly revealed the fear in her heart. After exhaling a long breath, Chen Fan pinched his nose and pointed at the cloth on the floor, before saying with a queer tone, "Do you see this? I don''t think I have to explain how lethal this thing can be. If you still refuse to realize your error, then I will cover your face with this, and then use a plastic bag to bind it together." "Don''t...don''t...you dare!" Her complexion went as white as a piece of paper, and the veins on the surface of her skin began pulsating. If he really covered her face with this thing... She simply could not figure out the outcome, but it would definitely be crueler than any other torture in this world... "I''ll give you one minute to think it over! Also, I want to remind you that you should think it through carefully before answering. Don''t let an act of impulse lead to an irreversible outcome." After feeling that the terrifying atmosphere built by himself was enough, Chen Fan moved away from that piece of densely strange and stinky smelling cloth, before continuing his threats. "I want to give you a small reminder that I will bind this cloth to your face tightly. So, if you can''t stand that sort of strange smell and end up vomiting" Before Chen Fan could finish, he made a retching sound twice again. Merely imagining this sort of thing was heinous enough. Nakagawa Emi was trembling from head to toe. The feeling of disgust and fear almost made her black out. When she heard the words ''vomit'', her body started to tremble harder. "Ah, say...I''ll say it" She screeched, before burying her head close to the corner. It was as if that piece of cloth on the floor had been superimposed with a ''magic spiritual attack'' by a mage! "Then, hurry up and say it." Chen Fan was feeling extremely pompous, as he stood at the side. "Three days later, a 50,000 ton car carrier under my clan''s banner will be transporting 64 Arzamas Machine-Building Plant''s newly developed wheeled armored personnel carrier, as well as some conventional weapons and ammunition from America," Nakagawa Emi jeered. "If you can hijack this cargo ship, then our clan will be severely punished by the ruling party." "Truly, 64 armored personnel carriers?" Chen Fan''s eyes were emitting greenish glows. "What''s their route? And what''s their hull number?" "Are you crazy?" Nakagawa Emi was shocked by his wolf-like gaze. The only reason why she told Chen Fan that this transport ship was her clan''s, was because she wanted to satirize his arrogance and tell him not to let it go to his head, just because he was acquainted with a few pirates. She didn''t think that he would have such a strong interest in it, much less that interest be accompanied by an expression of ''I''m going to hijack it''. "Stop talking rubbish. Hurry up and tell me all that you know!" Chen Fan waved his hands impatiently. The moment she took a glimpse at the cloth on the floor, Nakagawa Emi''s complexion went ghastly pale. This could not be considered as a complicated matter. As a defeated nation in the Second World War, Japan''s advancement in its military force had been greatly restricted, especially in terms of the construction of special forces. As for Japan''s Ground Self-Defense Force''s 1st Airborne Division''s 101th Airborne Brigade, it was announced to the world as an ordinary airborne troop. But, in reality, it was a special commando unit. When they were carrying out their anti-terrorist operations, they would be dressed in coats belonging to the police. This time, the armored personnel carriers were bought from America in order to be utilized in carrying out rapid infiltration missions. Due to the fact that armored personnel carriers did not belong to any category of weapons which had an export ban, the large countries with an output of ammunition could buy them, as long as they paid the right amount of money. That is why Japan did not attach any great importance to it, and gave this transportation task to the Nakagawa clan, who had a lot of collaborative projects with the military. The Nakagawa clan was ordered to assign a cargo ship that could transport vehicles from their collection of large ships under their banner, in order to go to America and bring the armored cars back. This time, there was only one ship going to America. Apart from a team of more than 20 military security personnel, there were no other escort ships. After all, they were in peacetime, so there was absolutely no need to waste this sort of money on such things. Furthermore, the team of more than 20 military security personnel was only sent to supervise the workers on the ship. There was no history of pirates on the route from Japan to America. Additionally, the act of using a civilian cargo ship to transport ammunition was a method that 90% of countries would use when transporting conventional weapons. This was because a civilian cargo ship could carry a large amount of cargo. When it was sailing, it could save shipping costs versus its using the military vessel, which placed more importance on its performance than its consumption. In fact, more importantly, the usage of a civilian cargo ship would not cause any diplomatic disputes, as sending a warship to another country was a behavior which would make both the buyer and seller uneasy. PS: There are 3,000 words in this chapter. I''ve spent a lot of time on doing research, as well as planning out the plot, before staying up all night to add on another 2,000 words. There shouldn''t be any outrageous parts in the plot this time, because every time a country wants to transport conventional weapons, they would use only one civilian ship. To all my readers, please do not assume that an ammunition ship should have a large amount of escort fleets with more than 10 helicopters circling around it. There is absolutely no need for this in peacetime. Only after travelling to the open sea, would they need armed personnel in order to keep the pirates away. 219 Waiting Near the Trench The cargo ship was called "Onimaru." It would depart from San Francisco and enter the Pacific Ocean. Following the route with a latitude of 40.17.26 N and a longitude of 127.05.00 W, it would sail towards the southwest and was expected to reach Miyako, Japan, in three days'' time. The ship was mostly red in color, except its deck and living quarters, which were white. Its could be easily recognized by its oval-shaped front and squarish back. "How many people are there on the ship?" Chen Fan asked in a deep tone. "You, you are not really planning to hijack the ship, are you?" Nakagawa Emi was not stupid. From Chen Fan''s reaction, she knew that she might have just asked a redundant question. He really planned to hijack an ammunition ship? She started suspecting that Chen Fan was either insane or a member of some terrorist organization. In any case, he could not be a normal person. "Bingo. Completely correct. Your reward: a packet of Master Kong instant noodles!" Chen Fan extended his arm and snapped his fingers. It was only a civilian cargo ship. Hijacking it would be as easy as pie. "About 50 people. There are over 20 people from the Navy. I... I advise you not to take that risk, because they will use rocket launchers to bomb all of you into pieces." Nakagawa Emi swallowed anxiously. It was not that she was kind and wanted to remind a young man who was about to commit a crime of the consequences. Instead, she was afraid that Chen Fan would kill her in anger after his team got wiped out. "You don''t have to worry about that. Inferior human weapons such as rocket launchers can''t injure my body." Chen Fan gave out a series of wicked laughs which made Nakagawa Emi even more frightened. Let us not talk about which group of people Nakagawa Emi classified Chen Fan into in her heart. After he closed the door with a bang, he immediately returned to the stone tower and turned the computer on, searching the sea zones that the cargo ship would pass by and thinking about the most convenient place to hijack the ship. The fact that it was a civilian cargo ship meant that the electric eel could do whatever it wanted without being detected. Chen Fan was not concerned about whether the Japanese military would really investigate the reasons for the shipwreck. Anyway, even if the most imaginative 10,000 people in Japan were gathered and pondered until their brains started boiling, they would never guess that Chen Fan was behind everything. After some research, Chen Fan decided on the location: the Japan trench, located in the sea lanes east of Japan. The trench was 890 kilometers long, 100 kilometers wide and had an average depth of 6000 meters. The deepest part was at the southeast, past the Izu Islands, with a depth of 10,300 meters. Furthermore, cargo ships would definitely need to pass the place. If Chen Fan carried out his plan at that location, the ship would sink into the trench and the Japanese military would be unable to even find a way to lift the wreckage. After choosing the location, all that was left was to send the electric eel there and wait for the ship to arrive. As for the tools, Chen Fan chose a spear made from titanium alloy. He only had to pierce a few holes in the bottom of the ship. At 9am the next day, Chen Fan woke up and rolled the eagle egg in the incubator one turn. After that, he started to control the electric eel, which took the spear and swam towards the Japanese sea lanes. The electric eel''s speed had already reached 270 nautical miles per hour. After swimming continuously for three hours, it reached the trench 150 nautical miles away from Miyako. It was still a day and a half from the time Nakagawa Emi told Chen Fan. He decided to follow the ship''s route to find the red cargo ship first, and then calculate the exact position above the trench where it would arrive. Otherwise, since the sea was so huge, after the cargo ship reached the Japanese sea lanes, the electric eel might not even be able to find it. The ship''s speed was 25 nautical miles per hour, so in a day and a half it would travel 800 to 1,000 nautical miles. If the electric eel swam around this distance, it should be able to find the ship. Japan was a long and narrow country surrounded by sea. Just by looking at its resources, it was even worse than North Korea, which was already extremely poor. This meant that its maritime industry was very developed. By the time the electric eel swam for 800 nautical miles, it had already encountered 43 ships of over 10,000 tons. Among them, seven were painted red but they were all oil tankers and bulk carriers, and none were a car carrier. Estimating that it was about time, the electric eel simply swam back and forth along a line 50 nautical miles long. This time, the electric eel was very lucky. By the time it swam for just two rounds, a huge red ship with no lifting devices on its deck sailed towards it. The result, of course, was surprisingly delightful. The word "Onimaru" was painted on the front of the ship. When the electric eel moved closer, it noticed three men standing near the bow, each holding a Howa Type 89 Assault Rifle. The three burly men were wearing black jackets and each had a stone-like expression. One was standing on the bow and the other two were at the sides of the ship, all standing still. Although the sea was totally calm and there were no other ships around, their index fingers were still held near the rifles'' triggers. They had probably been soldiers for so long that such habits remained. After confirming the target, Chen Fan pulled back his consciousness from the electric eel and quickly calculated the time the ship would reach the trench. Opening the satellite map, he drew out the ship''s course. When all that had been settled, Chen Fan controlled the electric eel again and swam towards the trench. He wanted to find the deepest possible place where he would attack the ship and make it sink. The Japan trench was about 100 kilometers wide, and the closer one moved to the center, the deeper it was. After the electric eel reached the underwater cliff, it took a few deep breaths and dove abruptly into the center. The trench was between the Pacific Plate and the Eurasian Plate. Probably due to frequent earthquakes, Chen Fan realized that there were huge fissures of varying depths everywhere. The largest one he saw was two kilometers wide, with many coral reefs and fish inside. Scanning its surroundings briefly, the electric eel swam away for some distance only to return again and enter the fissure. Just now he looked around in haste and did not bother about a long protrusion beside the fissure. When he thought about it again, it was obvious that the protrusion was the outline of a shipa ship completely covered by sea sediment from at least a hundred years ago. It was very likely there would be some treasure inside! Using its paws to remove the silt, the electric eel saw a double-decked wooden boat 40 meters long and eight meters wide. The boat''s mast was broken and nowhere to be found, and its bow was also destroyed in the crash, exposing at least a dozen wooden boxes inside. These wooden boxes were one meter in length and 50 centimeters in width and height. It was obvious from the coarse patterns carved on the outside of the boxes that their contents were special. From its style, it was not clear which country the boat was from. The electric eel used its paws and broke the already damaged wooden boat into pieces, only to realize that more such wooden boxes with patterns were in the boat''s tail. After counting, Chen Fan discovered there were 43 such boxes. Without hesitation, the electric eel took a box and was prepared to open it. What was actually inside? 220 Let’s Rob A Vehicle to Play with A wooden box that was about a meter long, was within the electric eel''s grasp. Its tininess could not be expressed in words. With just a light pinch of its claw, the box broke into pieces. What made Chen Fan startled, was seeing that there were another 10 smaller square boxes within the large box that had just shattered. These small boxes were stored better than their predecessor. Before the electric eel could open them, it already could smell a faint scent of musk coming from the small boxes. This fragrant scent was so very enchanting, it might make one soften themselves and even develop an obsession over it. Chen Fan eagerly opened one wooden box, and a bundle that was wrapped with thick silk cloth dropped out of it. It was a white resin-like object with an irregular surface, about the size of a bowl''s size. It had an ever-changing, seductive fragrance to it. "It''s ambergris!" Chen Fan was quick in identifying this item. Other than it, what else could be more aromatic than the smell of musk? Chen Fan continued to open a few more boxes, discovering that they all contained ambergris. This condensate, which was occasionally produced by sperm whales, had remained a dreamlike and priceless treasure in the perfume industry, ever since ancient times. Especially white colored ambergris, which were the most expensive kinds. During ancient times, ambergris was always a product used exclusively by the royal family. In fact, European noble ladies were even willing to spend all of their husbands'' wealth in exchange for it. Today, any perfume that contains natural ambergris could charge a price of a few hundred American dollars per ounce. With this large amount of white ambergris, it did not only symbolize a huge sum of wealth, but also embodied a class, the type of class that could not be bought with any amount of money. Without a doubt, Chen Fan intended to possess this priceless commodity. After arranging the remaining 42 boxes in order, Chen Fan was determined to destroy that armed carrier. He would then return to retrieve the ambergris. ... As time passed slowly, the electric eel kept swimming back and forth on the surface of the oceanic trench, which was about 7000 meters deep. After it waited until the wee hours of the morning, the eel finally caught sight of the red colored carrier ship with its keen vision. It was a time before dawn, which was the darkest, and also when a person''s body feels its most tired and relaxed. Thus, it was the best time to commit any crime. "Ooh" The eel relentlessly took a gulp of seawater, then slowly clenched the long spears on its claw. Regardless of the size of a commercial carrier ship, its body is usually not too thick. What supports the ship is the ship''s main beam, therefore, as long as the eel''s spears did not pierce the beam, it would be safe. "Weng, weng, weng!" This ship was a 200 meters long, 30 meters wide, and 17 meters tall freighter that weighed 10 thousand tons, making it seem like an ancient monster moving in the water. The combination of noise coming from the huge propellers of the ship and strong waves that were created as the ship thrust forward, had made the marine creatures within its vicinity flee in fear. "Three, two, one!" When the giant ship finally steered to its reserved slot, the electric eel swung its tail and swam with its fastest speed, which was equivalent to a nautical speed of nearly 300 knots. At this fast rate, it headed straight toward the base of the ship. What exactly is the magnitude of an approximate 300 knots? Well, converting it into the metric unit would mean that the eel travelled 150 meters per second, which was faster than a F1 racing car! As the eel''s spears were extended to an angle of 10 degrees, they clashed with the ship''s body. Bright sparks blasted out immediately, as the two collided with each other. The base deck of this ship was made with a Japanese produced 8mm metal plate, yet a big hole with a diameter of 15 meters was immediately made from the impact. Seawater abruptly gushed into the hole. This impact had made a loud noise, which awoke everyone aboard. Everyone was terrified, as they had no clue of what to do next. However, they were only in the beginning of their nightmare. Just as all of them crawled out from bed and were rushing to the deck, there was a piercing, metallic screeching and a metal rubbing noise coming from the bottom of the ship. It could not be described in words just how loud that noise was, but over twenty men, all of whom were militarily trained, actually thought that it was louder than when a 150mm howitzer was detonated. "The ship is sinking!" someone shrieked loudly. What happened next, was that the sailors, who had discovered the tilting of the ship, instantly ran for the lifeboat. "Stop, please stop, now!" A few soldiers, who were patrolling at the deck, pulled their bolts, preparing to fire a warning. A total of 64 freshly armed cable cars, plus several cartons of firearms and bombs were readied, so if anything happened to them, the soldiers'' asses would be kicked. In the midst of any turmoil, nobody obeyed orders. A sailor, who was passing by, was nice enough to give them a reminder. "Run for your lives! Otherwise, when the ship sinks and creates a turbulent flow, it could easily engulf any ship weighing less than a hundred tons!" "Hong Rong Rong" Most likely due to the engine, the cabin had been immersed into the water and the engines of the 12 cylinder boats shuddered violently, unable to start up. "Let''s all run, too!" A soldier screamed, as he discovered that the tilting angle of the ship was still increasing. He immediately ran to the ship deck to get into a lifeboat nearest to him. It is common knowledge that, when a ship has sunk, it would create a turbulent flow. Not knowing that things were so bad that it could not be saved, the soldiers weren''t bright enough to realize the reality of the situation that they were in. This was probably due to the regime that they were under, which stressed getting their cargo delivered, or else they would face severe punishment. Three minutes had been counting since the eel''s attack. Thus, it only took three minutes for it to sink into the seawater with a sound of "gulu, gulu". The turbulent flow it caused forcibly, made those two rubber lifeboats that struggling to flee be affixed into a "V" shape. The electric eel did not immediately abscond after launching its attack against the ship. Instead, it quickly swam to the ship''s back, where the entrance that was designed for cargo disembarkment was located. Arriving, it then swayed open its door. This ship, which was 17 meters high and 30 meters wide, was way bigger than the eel. When it entered the warehouse, it spotted dozens of armored personnel carriers (APC), as well as different types of grey polyethylene plastic boxes. Chen Fan''s objective was simple: to rob an APC and some munitions to play with. Now that the ship cabin had been filled with seawater, the eel no longer decided to be picky. It used its front claw to grip on an APC, which was affixed to the deck with a rope, then opened its mouth widely and swallowed the vehicle, which was 7.6 meters long, 3 meters wide, and 2.5 meters tall. Harboring the armed vehicle in its mouth, the eel flashed its two claws and went on to grab over ten grey munition boxes. Thereafter, it transferred those goods from its front claw to its back claws, then continued to go deeper in to grab another ten munition boxes. It then paused for a while, waiting for the ship to sink completely into darkness, and only then did it turn its head toward Zhongyun City. At that time, the giant ship had sunken only a few meters into the water. Thus, the goods had not yet been soaked completely. So, the functionality of the APC should not have been affected. After all, it was waterproof, which was a basic requirement for any armed vehicle. There were also a number of military armored cars that could travel in water, just like a boat. Those weapons and munitions were not even an issue, as they were packaged in huge polyethylene boxes, which were inherently waterproof. Bullets, grenades, rocket missiles none of them were aquaphobic. So long as the eel didn''t dive into deep waters, and as long as it brought those boxes under great pressure, there shouldn''t be a problem. On their journey back to Zhongyun City, Chen Fan increased the eel''s speed to its maximum, so that he could propel forward in the ocean. Upon arriving at Zhongyun City, the electric eel first went around to find a place in the shallow waters to store the munition boxes. After that, it dived into the hole, then spit the armed personnel carrier from its mouth into it. Next, it returned to the munition boxes and held them in its mouth, then hoisted them into the hole as well. As the hole was dug into a depth of over a thousand meters deep underwater, exposure to the exterior might cause them to burst, due to enormous water pressure. When the eel finished its job, it went to search for a few sharks to fill its stomach. It then took a rest for two hours. Thereafter, it prepared to venture back into the Japanese oceanic trench in order to bring home those ambergris that were in the ancient sunken ships. To carry those ambergris, the eel took a cable that was anchored a few hundred meters deep, in order to fasten it around those wooden boxes. One could be very impressed with the Japanese military''s efficiency, as just as the eel arrived on the side of the trench, there were already three military helicopters flying above the giant ship that had sunk. One of those helicopters even discarded some cylindrical objects into the sea, the exact use of which remained unknown. ...... At dawn, the sky was bathed in a faint fog. There were sounds of birds chirping, insects squeaking, and also some noises of dogs barking from a distance. Located at the foot of Gomoku Hill in Shinjuku, Tokyo, there lied a land which was 1.5 square meters large. A pseudo-vintage courtyard was erected there, fully constructed with green roof tiles and white walls. The surroundings of this courtyard were encircled with shallow waters, alongside tall and verdant pine trees, as well as different kinds of Mao bamboos that stood upright in the air. Amid the faint white fog, a magnificent smell proliferated, resulting from the combination of the landscapes. If one had not been aware of the fact that they were living in the 21st century, most people would concur that this place was a paradise. At the same time, people who came here would unanimously regard the owner of this extremely vast land as someone who was no less wealthy than the world''s richest man, as property prices in Shinjuku could cost up to 10,000 American dollars per square meter. Now, let''s shift our attentions back to the center of this courtyard. All four sides of the building were surrounded with pond water, and occasionally, you could see some flying birds pass by the second story of this little building. Currently, a 58-year-old Nakagawa Ohno tossed and turned, while lying on his bed. As one ages, they will grow more attached to their possessions. They no longer have the drive that they had when they were still young. He sighed, as he rose up to take a stroll on the veranda outside the house. This veranda, which stretched across the pond, had been built with thick cedarwood, displaying a style that was naturally ancient. Wearing a white robe, Nagasawa Ohno shivered and found a fishing rod at the corner of the wall. He intended to do something to occupy his thoughts, which were heavily clouded with gloomy emotions. Five days ago, his youngest granddaughter, who resided at Tianhai City in China, had lost contact with her family. Up until then, there had not been a single piece of information on her whereabouts. Nagasawa sent over ten of his japanese employees, who were based in China, to look for her, but the only information they discovered was that she had gotten into a car with a man in front of the Union Bank of Switzerland. It took these experienced men so much effort, only to steal footage from a few buildings adjacent to the bank. Unfortunately, there wasn''t anyone that could capture a clear reflection of the actual chain of events. Things were not as simple to deal with in foreign countries, as opposed to one''s home country. In addition, she was wanted by local police authorities, and as such, he would not be able to report her to the police, and was never prepared to do so anyway. In his ming, lodging a police report when things happened, was a privilege only for the weak! As an elderly person, who had experienced numerous hardships, he could only count on his own power and abilities. Hence, he never relied on those police, who were not much stronger than any ordinary person. "Five days, five days have passed. Yet, I still haven''t received any phone calls related to Miko''s whereabouts" Nagasawa Ohno stared at the pond for quite a long while, only then he throwing his fish hook into the water. The merciless truth had been placed before him, was such that he could only mercilessly stifle the hopes that existed in his heart. All these years, he had experienced countless killings, and it had not caused him to cry tears of sorrow. It had only cultivated within him a deep yearning for revenge. His fishing skills appeared to be very skillful. The hook did not even stay in the water for 10 seconds, and the next thing seen was the bamboo rod taking a slump. Underneath the water, an indistinct image of a struggling huge carp could be seen. "Deng, deng, deng..." A light footstep sound came from outside, breaking the silence at the corridor. It was a middle-aged man in his forties. He wore a well-trimmed black suit and had a stern face, which made him look smart. "Uncle, the giant ship of ours that helped the military transport armed personnel carriers has sunk. The Minister of Defence just called to request that you contact him after you wake up." This well-behaved middle-aged man bowed to Nagasawa Ohno''s side and whispered. "When was that?" Nagasawa Ohno''s face quickly turned cold. "At around 4 this morning, the accident happened on top of the oceanic trench that was about 8000 meters deep. I did not dare to disturb your sleep once I got the news. Now that I see you are fishing here, only then did I decide to inform you." "Did you know the cause?" Nagasawa Ohno looked up to the sky, and sighed desolately. "Tentatively, it remains unknown, but the military has already stepped in to investigate the matter. Unfortunately, they could not find out what caused it at this moment. Now that the ship has already sunken 8000 meters underwater, they are considering whether to deploy the Kaiko unmanned submarine vessel for investigation." "Investigate what exactly?" Nagasawa Ohno laughed absent-mindedly. "At 8000 meters under the sea, there''s no way you can find out anything. Even if the ship hadn''t been crushed into a steel plate under that great amount of water pressure, what findings could they get regarding what caused the accident, just based on those scratches on the debris?" "How about the sailors on the ship?" "Currently under the military''s interrogation." "Please send some people to enquire about the matter again, once they arrive back in Tokyo." Nagasawa Ohno threw the fishing rod away, leaving it to the unlucky carp to carry it away in the water. "Dial the Minister of Defence, please!" "Yes sir!" the man responded, as he took out a golden Vertu cell phone from his pocket and dialed a few numbers. After that, he passed the phone to Nagasawa Ohno respectfully. The call was speedily received, and the old man, who sat on a divan, blurted out, "I am Nagasawa Ohno. " Immediately after, the defence minister spoke in a coarse tone and said angrily, "Ohno-kun, I hope you could give us a proper explanation. Otherwise, I would suggest that we terminate our project collaborations immediately." "What kind of explanation do you want?" Nagasawa Ohno spoke unaffectedly with his usual self-contained poise. But his grasp on the handle of the rattan bamboo lounge chair grew tight, thus making a creaking sound. "The armored personnel carriers, all 64 of them, belonged to the highest range of weaponry configuration. Just one set of laser suppressed sighting system would already cost us 800,000 American dollars. Including the other supplemental components, every vehicle itself would have a purchase price of 8 million dollars. Add to that 521 tons of various munition equipment, and the grand total would be 700 million dollars. This is to say that, we''ve altogether lost a sum of 1,212,000,000 dollars." "So, you''re trying to say that I should bear the cost of your Ministry of Defence''s losses?" "Ohno-kun, we didn''t want to see this happen, but initially, when you took this job to ship these firearms, we''d already agreed that, in the event that any problems should arise, you were to bear the consequences." "So, what if I''m not willing to make this payment?" Nagasawa Ohno said casually. PS: 4,000 words, hehe! (To be continued. If you wish to know what happens next, please log onto www.qidian.com for more chapters. Go support the author and authorized reading!) 221 Once and For All "Ohno sir, the prime minister already knows about this now, and is placing heavy emphasis on it. I think you should know what to do." The defense minister''s tone started to turn cold. "According to meteorological data, there is no evidence yet to show that the cargo ship sank due to unforeseeable factors. Clearly, this incident is due to the quality of your ship. Thus, you should bear the responsibility." "Defense minister sir, before you have any evidence, please do not doubt me and my family''s qualities." Nakagawa Ohno''s voice was extremely stiff, as if it contained gunpowder. "Alright. I believe in your character. However, do you know how much loss we have suffered because of this trade? It cannot even be measured using money. Just take the 64 war vehicles for example. These vehicles, which we ordered from the USA, are customized to cater to Japan''s geography and urban features. "In the vehicles, 35% of the structures have been modified. Even the fire-control systems are all in Japanese. After we placed the orders, it took us a year and a half before the trade was completed. Also, much of the ammunition consists of customized and non-standard products. This time, they all sank and if we want to order them again, we need to wait for at least another year. The shipwreck this time is really too bizarre. I think those people in the Cabinet will definitely use this chance to kick up a big fuss." After hanging up, the man standing next to Nakagawa Ohno asked softly, "Uncle, what should be do?" "Ask the people in the family to lay low during this period. The ship accident is really weird. Together with Emi''s disappearance, I suspect that someone is behind all this." "Could it be the Mitsui family?" "We cannot confirm for now, but they are the most likely ones." Nakagawa Ohno stared at the sky with an evil look. "If they do make a big fuss about the ship''s accident, then don''t blame me for not considering the feelings of the previous generation." ... "What should I do?" Lying on the bed, Chen Fan controlled the electric eel to swim towards the Graff sea lanes, while he himself could not close his eyes. It was clear to him that he could not let Nakagawa Emi off. Otherwise, she would definitely inform her family that he was the one who caused the ammunition ship to sink. Initially he wanted to send Nakagawa Emi to the police station, so that the police could send her to the Qingpu prison in Tianhai. That place was specially made to lock up foreign criminals. However, now the situation had changed, and even if she were sent to prison, she might still be able to inform her family about the truth. This was a difficult situation that Chen Fan could not avoid. The only way was to kill her once and for all. Speaking of killing, Chen Fan had killed people before. When he was chased by a car full of bandits with guns in Myanmar, he shot two of them without hesitation. Afterwards, he did not feel much guilt about the killing. However, that was a deadly encounter and he could have died if he had not killed the other people. This time, however, he had to kill a lady who could not even fight back... Although Chen Fan was hesitant, this still would not change her destiny. "When the electric eel returns from Libya, I will kill her!" Gritting his teeth, Chen Fan closed his eyes and started to concentrate on controlling the electric eel. Just the day before, the Ohno group had given Chen Fan 3,000,000 barrels of crude oil as stated in the agreement. Chen Fan was planning to let the electric eel destroy a few more oil wells, so that they would not have enough oil by the next delivery. If he had to destroy a few oil wells each time, even an idiot could eventually figure out that it was not simply an unlucky accident but someone causing the damage. Hence, he decided to do some serious damage this time so that they would spend a long time fixing the problems. Now the electric eel only needed a day and a half to reach Libya via the Arctic Ocean beside Russia. The electric eel swam towards its destination continuously and by the time it arrived, it was exactly 7pm locally. The electric eel came urgently from 800 kilometers away and without resting first, went to the bottom of the number two drilling platform while it was still dusk. After one round of inspection, no monitoring devices were discovered. The particular drilling platform was built above a sea zone that was 170 meters deep. The oil control valve was a few meters high and was lying below the oil extraction pipe, which was as thick as a water tank. Chen Fan wanted to cause some damage below the valve, where the pipe connecting the drilling platform and the oil beneath the seabed was located. If the pipe below the valve was damaged, repairing it would be as difficult as drilling a completely new well. That was because after the oil reservoir was drilled open, the original mechanical equilibrium was broken. When the pipe was inserted below the seabed, many substances were needed to be attached to its surroundings to protect the walls of the pipe and to prevent any geological deformation caused by the pressure change during drilling. This was the same reason a culvert was used in a well. The substances used could be those that were resistant to collapse, such as water-based mud, oil-based mud or emulsified mud. Otherwise, a rigid armored layer could also be used to cover the exterior, its interior filled with elastic protection materials. Of course, in order to destroy it to the extent where repair would be difficult, the electric eel had to become a temporary mining worker. It had to dig over 10 meters deep below the valve. In that case, no matter how many divers they sent undersea, it would be pointless, as they would not be able to dig for over 10 meters with their bare hands! Over 10 meters was not a big problem for the electric eel, which had already grown to almost 100 meters long. Every time it inserted the spear into the mud with force, it was able to dig up a huge piece of the mud. The control room in the drilling platform above was silent. There were only two bored technicians staring at the data from the machines. Now that everything was already automated, they only needed to supervise. "Huh? Ota, why is the valve''s crude oil detector indicating a huge drop in the oil flow rate all of a sudden?" "Ha, you must be mistaken!" Kubo Ota laughed for a while, and then his expression petrified. Rubbing his eyes quickly, he confirmed that he was definitely not mistaken. "Why did the oil output decrease by 87%, but there is no change in the pipe''s pressure?" "That is because the pipe itself is bent or deformed, causing some oil to be blocked, but it is not damaged, so the pressure remains the same." The two technicians started at each other, their faces turning pale. They could tell from the other person''s look that something bad was happening. In one day, the same unfortunate incident happened to platforms two, four and seven. All of them experienced a bending in the pipe below the valve. The damage was the worst in platform seven. Oil production almost stopped completely, as its oil output was fewer than 100 barrels per hour. Actually, Chen Fan also damaged platform number five. However, the valve in that oil well was still under repair, so the damage was undetected. Chen Fan did not use the electric eel to cause another oil leakage. Such killer methods could only be used when they refused to make payment. If the valves of all seven oil wells were destroyed, it would probably cause an oil leakage worse than the one in the Gulf of Mexico. The electric eel then spent another day and a half to return to the cave. Even though Chen Fan was indecisive, he needed to continue with what had to be done. He had to kill Nakagawa Emi! There were many ways to kill her, but Chen Fan chose the quickest, most painless method. He planned to use a gun! Did he have a gun? Yes he did, and actually not just any gun. He had the M4A1 fully automatic rifle, the M82A3 anti-materiel rifle, light machine guns, the MK190 cannon, man-portable anti-tank rocket launchers, Predator missiles, night vision goggles, grenades, plastic explosives, land mines and more, all of which were weapons from the United States Marine Corps. All of the weapons were obtained from the ammunition ship by the electric eel. When Chen Fan was looking at the boxes of weapons from the electric eel''s perspective, he did not feel anything special, but now that he was looking at them with his own body, he was shocked. The boxes were like mini versions of cargo trucks from Dongfeng Cummins! There were 20 huge boxes and the amount of ammunition inside was sufficient to arm a few hundred farmers to the level of special forces. "Nakagawa Emi, when you reach hell, don''t blame me for being so cruel!" Shaking his head, Chen Fan took out a silenced Beretta M9 from the pile of weapons. Hiding the gun, he took a deep breath and entered the submarine. After entering the interior, he went to the kitchen first and made a simple meal with milk and eggs. Holding the hot food, he pushed the metal door open. Noticing some movement, Nakagawa Emi, who was curled up at the corner of the room, turned her head around with difficulty. "You are hungry, right?" Chen Fan approached her and put the hot food on the ground. "Don''t hurry. First, I will free you from the ropes." "What do you want to do?" Nakagawa Emi''s expression turned stiff. It is a common saying that if someone does something unusual, there is definitely a motivation behind it. Chen Fan''s behavior at the moment was very "unusual." "Nothing. Because of your good performance recently, I have decided to send you off." Chen Fan twirled his finger and took the knife from the plate, using it to cut the ropes around Nakagawa Emi''s body. He then stood up and backed off a few steps. Even though Nakagawa Emi was very doubtful, she was too hungry to think about anything else. She had to eat something first. Chen Fan had to admit that Nakagawa Emi''s self-control was quite amazing. Although she was so starved that she could almost eat her own fingers, she still drank the milk elegantly and ate the eggs slowly. She spent eight minutes finishing the large glass of milk and four eggs. "Did you say that you will let me off?" She wiped her lips and in the meantime hid a pair of chopsticks in her sleeve without trace. Even chopsticks could be used to kill a person, by sticking them into his eyes and into his brain! "Huh... Oh!" Chen Fan, who had been staring around blankly, came back to reality. Then, his expression changed in a split second, even faster than the opera face-changing master, Peng Denghuai. Ten seconds later, his expression returned to normal but Nakagawa Emi took over the "facing-changing job." Her face turned from pale to gray within 0.5 seconds! That was because a silenced Beretta M9 appeared in front her eyes! "You... you... didn''t you say that you would let me off?" Nakagawa Emi was trembling like a sheep left alone in the snow, looking extremely pitiful. "I said I will send you off! Not let you off!" Clack! Chen Fan pulled the gun''s bolt. "The word ''send'' has many meanings, such as send someone, send away and send to hell. I will send you to the last one." "You will pay for your actions!" Nakagawa Emi stared straight at Chen Fan using her emotionless eyes with a frightening look. "Aye, do you think it is meaningful for us to continue speaking here? Instead, you should start praying that humans do have souls, because you can still survive when you reach hell!" Chen Fan shook his head and lifted the corners of his lips. "I can tell you a piece of good news. Humans do have souls, because my own is moving around every day." Finished, he closed his eyes and his index finger quickly pulled the trigger. Pht! As his index finger moved, a loud gunshot was heard. 222 More Expensive than Abalone as Big as Face "Whoosh!" As the sound dropped, Chen Fan knew that his bullet had hit the target. When he opened his eyes, Nagasawa was already lying in a pool of his own blood. The sensation of annihilating a person is truly overwhelming. This resulted in Chen Fan''s loss of appetite, as he was not even in the mood for lunch and dinner. His stomach only started feeling better on the following day. He routinely opened the incubator and gently rolled the egg aside, after getting up from bed. It had been thirteen days since Chen Fan found this egg. When a bright light from a powerful torch was shone on it, there would be a visible outline of the chick. The eaglet was expected to hatch in about a week. After flipping the egg over, Chen Fan dusted his palms and channeled his consciousness upon the electric eel. He controlled the eel to swim around and hunt for some fresh seafood. This hunt for seafood was not meant for his own appetite, but rather was meant to be supplied to the restaurant. When Chen Fan handed the five hundred thousand dollars to his parents, they had initially planned to invest a small portion of it into a hotel. However, Chen Fan thought that if they were to invest in a hotel business, they might as well make it big. Coincidentally, there was a pretty large scale hotel at Ping Hu Street that was looking for a new owner. Chen Fan had seen this hotel long ago. It was an idle, luxurious four-story building that stretched up to eight thousand square meters. Chen Fan did not have to think much before setting his sights on this hotel. The hotel was called Ping Hu Tower, and the previous owner had made a fortune by doing property sales, but now he wanted to get rid of this ''low profit burden'' in order to focus his capitals on bigger property investments. The price was agreed upon over the phone. The price for the whole building being 35 million, with a yearly rental of five million. The owner of the hotel mentioned on the phone that, if he was able pay eighty million upfront, he would sell Chen Fan the entire building outright. ''I will get my people to sort out the procedure with you tomorrow.'' Chen Fan signed another eight hundred thousands off his bank account. In essence, there were no losses incurred by purchasing the hotel at such a price. Notwithstanding its strategic location within the high class eatery area in Zhong Yun City, its interior decorations qualified it to be one of the the top ten restaurants in town. Solely based upon the value of the pure wool carpet that covered the floor of all three floors within the building alone, it could already fetch up to five million. Most of the renovation work was brand new, and the business even came with servants and chefs. Chen Fan got his parents to contract renovation companies to install fine aquariums of all kinds around the lobby. This would make a person feel as if he had entered an underwater world, right upon stepping into the lobby. He would then stuff all the top class sea creatures, like abalones, lobsters, crabs, snappers and sea cucumber into those aquariums. When the time comes, he planned to capture two sharks and put them by the glass wall next to the entrance, to make the whole place feel even more classy. Most seafood in the fresh markets nowadays was artificially bred. One fresh abalone would cost only five yuan, while the wild ones would be a few hundred, and the dried ones would be even more expensive! (This is speaking of coastal small abalones, not first class abalones or south african abalones!) Putting all sorts of wildlife creatures in the hotel would definitely attract foodies from all over the place. Catching exotic seafood would be like searching for a needle in a haystack for the fishermen! However, for an electric eel, it would be a piece of cake! The ocean covers over 70% of the planet, so it is virtually impossible for people to eat everything in it. Yet the fact remained that fishermen had drained the supply of expensive seafood in certain fishable areas. However, there still would be all kinds of seafood in the vast Pacific Ocean. He might even be able to find sea creatures that would scare the guests, when served on the dining table! After working hard from noon to night, the eel found over three hundred wild abalones, each weighing about two kilograms on average, two sharks, and numerous other sea creatures. The sharks were for observatory purposes only. Customers who know the ropes would only consume the fins of a shark, as its flesh was not any more delightful than bamboo leaves. Just as he docked his submarine, he took out his phone and made a call to Wang Bing, asking him to bring the transportation truck over to send the harvest to the hotel. "Oh..oh damn, Boss. Did you just steal someone else''s breeding net box?" Wang Bing muttered, after staring blankly at the boxes of fresh sea harvest for 30 seconds. "That''s what the southeast asian merchants use to deliver the stocks!" Wang Bing gave Chen Fan a sideway glance, his expression clearly saying "Don''t you dare pull my leg." Chen Fan looked around, without responding, then said, "Did you hire the security team, per my instructions?" "Yes, 22 in total, six of them being veterans, and the rest are local youths." Wang Bing complained, as he loaded the seafood onto the truck, "Hey Boss, aren''t you already one of the richest men in Zhong Yun? Why are you still fiddling around with all these? Oh Lord, the smell is dreadful!" "Do you think I want to do all this nonsense? My parents wanted to run a restaurant business and needed me to get them some high-end stuff in order to get the place rolling. Otherwise, all they can think about is to get grandchildren, as they have nothing to do all day long!" Chen Fan''s expression showed great annoyance. "I allowed them to run a restaurant business, so it could keep them busy enough to forget about this whole issue about getting grandchildren!" "That sounds about right!" Wang Bing could totally relate to this problem, as his mother was also giving him the same problem. She was always trying to set him up with someone! "Oh, Boss, the new house is ready. When do you plan to move in?" Wang Bing picked up a cigarette, lighting it as he squatted on the floor after loading all sea harvest into the truck. "Let''s see about that. It feels weird and difficult to feel secure, now that I have attracted the police''s attention." Chen Fan squatted next to him and asked for a cigarette. Wow, this kid''s got some great stuff right here!" "It''s not much!" he chuckled and said. "What is there to fear? If the police come, I could smell them from three miles away. Plus, it has been three months since the incident, so they have probably forgotten about you!" "It doesn''t matter where I stay. It only takes me about ten to twenty minutes to get back to Zhong Yun anyways." He had to get the egg hatched during these next few days. It was way too tiring to travel back and forth so frequently! "Alright, get the truck back first, then come back for another round. Remember to get more on the security team the next round. I''ve got two sharks, 40 meters each, along with other big fish. The sharks are fine, but the others are really precious. These damn fish, abalones the size of a basin are only crumbs in comparison to them. I didn''t even dare put them in the net. Instead, I got them to be transported individually." Chen Fan stood up, then flicked the cigarette butt and walked toward the beach. "A 40 meters long shark? Basin-sized abalones are crumbs, compared to these fish? Wang Bing almost tripped and fell on the floor. Do fish like these really exist in the world? ...... Back in his cave, Chen Fan turned on his computer and started searching for the latest sports car, itching to get a new one. After a long search, he realized that most sports cars were either two-seaters, or squarish, like a Rolls Royce. He also saw that the Maybach 62S that he used to own had launched a new model. "Whatever, I''ll get a Maybach, then a Lamborghini. It''s not like I''m short of money!" Chen Fan shook his head, as he turned off the webpages. The next day, Chen Fan routinely came to the incubator and flipped the egg over, after waking up from bed. He then changed into some clean clothes. His parents'' restaurant would be launching today, so he had to go check it out. Ping Hu Street was on the east of Zhong Yun city, about 600 meters away from the shore line. The new restaurant was located on the golden spot of Ping Hu Road, where there was a huge stretch of beach at the back of the restaurant. He could even take off his shirt to cool himself himself off in the waters on a hot sunny day. After a 20 minute car ride in the black BMW, Wang Bing parked the car in front of a silver four-story building. Natural House! This was a name that Chen Fan had come up with. He even got his parents to hire a famous calligraphy artist to design their plaque. They kept the launch low-key, having only some buntings on both sides and eight beautiful servants, who stood in two lines as they welcomed the guests. However, there are some things that are like fireflies in the dark night, no matter how humbly you fly, you will still attract everyone''s attentions. For example, the two massive sharks on both sides of the entrance would not be ignored easily! Occasionally, some passersby would be curious about the authenticity of the shark and end up totally shocked upon learning it was indeed true. Frantically, they would then always pull out their cell phones to take pictures. Normally, the fishermen, when dealing with sharks, would cut off the fin of a shark after capturing it, then sell its flesh off at dirt cheap prices. Hence, they would definitely not be shocked or excited over two mere sharks. However, these restaurant patrons were, and even screamed loudly. All of their faces flushed red, and they started summoning all of their friends over. "Oh my goodness, a great white shark, it''s a great white shark" A few young girls screamed as they ran toward the glass wall. One of them took out a digital camera, "snap, snap, snap", and kept taking pictures of the two great white sharks. As if unsatisfied, one of them turned on her flash, resulting in a bright white light flashing as she continued to click with the camera. This greatly angered the great white shark. Showing its displeasure, it started swimming back and forth, while banging itself on the glass wall and making loud noises. "Arrgh!" The young girls backed off in fear, like frightened does. "Idiots!" Wang Bing sat in the control room, lustfully checking them out, while shamelessly labelling the girls with "nicknames"! "Why do I feel that you are mocking yourself?" Chen Fan mumbled with his mouth full, as he was eating his breakfast. After getting out of the car, he walked the red carpet. Chen Fan felt as if there were "millions of little spikes" on his back. He turned back and found those beautiful waitresses eyeing him. Why did they emit such passionate gazes? Some of their gazes even seemed to be stretching towards a burning passion. He was young, single, rich, and most importantly, the only son of their boss. Hence, what an ideal bachelor he made! It''s normal that the girls'' gazes were filled with such burning desire, when Chen Fan came to the restaurant to discuss business strategies with his parents. That was also why he was not a stranger to the staff members. Plus, his parents were really friendly with the staff, as they were always chatting away with several senior kitchen crews. As the word spread, eventually, everyone from the old cleaning maids to the young fresh grad waitresses had learned that Chen Fan was single. All of them then started fantasizing all day about introducing their relatives to Chen Fan, or even about throwing themselves at him! "Hello, Boss!" The sweet voices of these eight beautiful waitresses got Wang Bing weak in his knees, so that he almost fell on the pavement! Chen Fan was not experienced in this type of attention, so he chose to put on a straight face. His expression may have seemed calm, but the windows to his soul leaked his secrets. Knowing this, he kept his eyes on the floor, not daring to return the fiery gazes of these waitresses. P.S.: 2,000 more words coming up, so stay tuned for an update on this. All of you should rest early, then come back tomorrow. (If you wish to know what happens next, please log onto www.qidian.com for more chapters. Go support the author and authorized reading!) 223 No Price Query Please Fortunately, Chen Fan was not participating in the Long March. He soon walked past the red carpet, which was about ten meters long. Entering the restaurant lobby, Chen Fan really felt as if he were in an aquarium. He could see lobsters longer than his arms, giant black groupers over 300 kilograms in weight, pot-sized abalones, and a few hundred sea cucumbers over 20 centimeters in length... A huge fish tank was placed in the center of the lobby, surrounded with red cloth and by four security guards. Beside the tank, there was a sandalwood board which stated, "Not for Sale. No Price Query Please." The fish tank was about four meters high, four meters wide, and eight meters long. It was filled with rockery, coral, and white sand, giving people the impression they were actually in the sea. In the expensive fish tank there were six huge fish weighing over 50 kilograms, the largest of which weighed 75 kilograms. Their bodies were covered in slightly golden scales, and their fins and tails were dark yellow. The huge fish looked ordinary. If a person who was unknowledgeable about fish saw them, he would definitely exclaim, "Wow! Those carp are huge!" If a person who was knowledgeable saw them, he would surely fall to the ground in shock. Sh*t... Chinese bahaba... would be his only thought. The Chinese bahaba was the brightest star in the place. In comparison, a pot-sized abalone would cost less than the bahaba''s tail! Actually, the fish was not that expensive. Such a fish could possibly be used to barter for a Ferrari F430! This exchange could only happen if a fisherman possessing the fish was willing to sell it. If the fish fell into the hands of a rich person, he would only be willing to give it up maybe as ransom for his kidnapped child. In 1957, a Chinese bahaba weighing 65 kilograms was caught in a village. The fisherman took out its maw, the most expensive part in its body, and dried it. He then happily sent it to Peking to give to Chairman Mao. Later, Chairman Mao asked the General Office to return the maw, which was still in its original state, and thanked the fisherman. Among the nine most expensive foods in the world, the Chinese bahaba is ranked fifth. It can only be found in China, and its size directly determines its price. In fact, its flesh is not that delicious, and is just about the same as an ordinary striped bass or osmanthus fish. However, its maw is more costly than gold, as it contains an enormous amount of nutrition. It''s like a superfood. It will provide whatever one needs! The fish''s maw can immediately cure reproductive problems in men, make ladies look a few years younger, and is especially useful for women who experience bleeding after giving birth! Chen Fan planned to treat the six Chinese bahaba at the center of the lobby like Buddha. No matter how much others were willing to pay, he would not sell them. It would be a key highlight in the restaurant. Of course, just one highlight would not be sufficient. In the coming days, Chen Fan planned to hunt dozens of whale sharks, cut their fins, dry them, and make a shark''s fin rockery at the center of the lobby. In addition, when the electric eel ate the sharks, he would make it a habit to bring back the fins and maws. These leftovers from the electric eel would then be provided to the customers for consumption. It is a common saying that abalone and shark''s fin must always go together. Just like shark''s fin, abalone is most delicious as a dried food. When Chen Fan had the free time, he would make the electric eel go to Africa''s coastal areas and catch thousands of African abalones. After drying them, he would pile them up at the center of the lobby for customers to order. Furthermore, Japanese sea cucumbers and fish maws were all more expensive when dried. Chen Fan planned to dry them and stack them up like rockeries Even the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse could not have done such a thing! "Boss, don''t tell me that you are turned on by those waitresses. You''re starting to drool!" Wang Bing was walking beside Chen Fan and poked him. There were quite a number of employees looking at them in the lobby, and Chen Fan''s expression was really too awkward. "Humph, what do you know? I am drooling over the Chinese bahaba!" "It''s just a few fish. Is it worth it for you to place them like they are the skulls of the Peking Man?" Rubbing his face hard, Wang Bing did not know whether he should find it funny or annoying. Obviously, he thought that Chen Fan had gotten the idea from those irresponsible businessmen to use the fish as a gimmick. It was just like those greedy businessmen to remove the shell from chitonswhich are more abundant in the sea than ants are on landdry them, and sell them to people who lived inland and did not know about the sea. They would pack the chitons together and claim that they were actually nine-tailed abalones. Chen Fan lifted his head to look at the huge crystal chandelier above him and said to Wang Bing, grinning, "I won''t even bother to explain to you. It would lower my IQ. Anyway, just find someone to make sure that the seafood here is secured. If anything goes wrong, I will kill you!" Reaching the fourth floor by the elevator, Chen Fan could hear his parents'' voices from afar. They were using walkie-talkies to remotely command the rest of the restaurant. "Son, you came at the right time. The fish that you got here. Are they Chinese bahaba?" Chen Fan''s father approached him and asked in a questioning tone. Chen Fan tilted his head and made up a story. "Of course they are. I saw a fisherman catch them with his net at sea. He thought they were just ordinary yellow croakers, so I bought them at 8000 yuan!" "Stop lying to me. In my whole life, I have never seen a yellow croaker weighing over ten kilograms!" Chen Fan''s father widened his eyes in anger and wanted to slap him to let him know the consequences of lying to his dad. However, he reconsidered, feeling that Chen Fan was already a grown man, and it would be inappropriate to educate him by physical punishment. "Forget it. I don''t really care what fish they are. In any case, they are only there for show. If other people ask what they are, I will tell the waiters to say that they don''t know, and we don''t sell them. You did not write on the signboard that they are Chinese bahaba, so we are not lying to the consumers anyway!" Chen Fan''s father extended his neck. He had never worn a suit before, and the tight tie was making him uncomfortable. "For these few days, don''t you run around and disappear. The restaurant has just opened, and I am worried that your mom and I will not be able to handle everything." "What''s there to handle?" Chen Fan leaned against the wall which had flying eagles painted all over it. "We are on the high-class, high-profit path. How many people have seen lobsters longer than their arms? Who will not be stunned by pot-sized abalones? We can set the price as high as we wish. If they don''t want to eat, they can leave." "Even so, we need to have customers in the first place, right? I have done some calculations. Just the aquarium below will cost us five to six hundred thousand yuan each month. If we don''t have customers, wouldn''t we have a huge loss?" "There are more rich people in Zhongyun than Spanish mackerels in the sea. They are only concerned about whether you have expensive things to sell, not whether your things are expensive!" Chen Fan smiled and entered the General Manager''s Office. After chatting with his mom, who had been promoted to deputy manager, he left the restaurant while his father was talking to the lobby manager. "Why did you let him leave" Chen Fan''s father dashed angrily into the office and smacked the table. "Didn''t we agree that Chen Fan should manage the restaurant instead of the sea and ship stuff?" Chen Fan''s mother, who was using one finger to type on the computer keyboard, asked in a blaming tone, "Why are you blaming me? It''s you who have been suspecting all day that our son has been involved in smuggling and crimes. I didn''t." "Then tell me, where did he get all the money from?" Chen Fan''s father raised his eyebrows in anger. "If he just had a few ships, no matter what he did, he couldn''t have gotten so much money in just over half a year! Your son was also not involved in real estate. What do you think he could have been doing?" "Didn''t he say that he already sold the ships and used the money to buy some shares in Zhongyun''s richest man, Ma Rongtao''s company? Ma Rongtao himself also said that our son started by doing business with his nephew and earned quite a sum of money. If he is really involved in smuggling, why didn''t the police say anything?" "What can the police tell you? Even if you give them time, they can''t tell you sh*t!" "Even so, our son cannot possibly be involved in smuggling and crimes. What kind of person is Zhongyun''s richest man? He is a proper businessman, and even appears on television frequently! Every Chinese New Year, when the city government holds the entrepreneur tea reception, he is always the representative!" "Nonsense. In the past he made his fortune by smuggling digital watches and radios from Hong Kong using a ship!" "Then what do you think our son could have been doing?" Chen Fan''s mother opened her eyes wide and made a face. Seeing that Chen Fan''s mother was going to be furious, Chen Fan''s father quickly relaxed his tone. "It''s not that I don''t trust Ma Rongtao''s character. Instead, I just feel that the source of all the money is unclear. Money will not drop down from the sky. It is better for our son to do something more stable than having to be worried all the time, right?" "Yes, I think he should find something stable. Last time when the police called, I was so frightened." Chen Fan''s mother nodded, haunted by her previous experience. "However, our son is a grown man, and we cannot decide on his behalf. It''s even better that he sold his ship. With so much money, we can just sit at home and work on spending the interest!" ...... "Boss, where do we go now?" Sitting in the black BMW, Wang Bing stared at the female greeters at the restaurant doors with interest. 224 Your Fears Will Come Upon You! "Damn that company!" Chen Fan looked up, tapped the back of Wang Bing''s head and said, "Start driving." "Alright." Wang Bing collected his gaze and started the car. Ping Hu Street was a 20 minutes car ride away from the company. The black BMW slid in between traffic smoothly and quickly, so it took them only 13 minutes to reach the destination. Upon arrival, Chen Fan did not exit the vehicle. Instead, he remained in his seat, leisurely enjoying the view through the window. It was 11 o''clock sharp, 10 minutes before the appointment. Shortly, about 5 minutes later, a beautiful girl with a voluptuous figure and an exquisite visage walked out of the entrance of the big building. The hot girl had long blond hair that stretched down till her bust line, and in between her fingers was a small milky-white colored notebook. She was standing in front of the stairs, occasionally looking down both ends of the road. "Hello, gorgeous!" she heard a frivolous voice in a mish-mash of English and Mandarin. Then, the reckless man came right in front of her, face to face. "Hooligan!" The girl poked the man''s forehead with her green-colored nails. She would''ve scratched a deep abyss on his face, if her strength had been at a hundred thousand fold! "Did you miss me?" Chen Fan did not seem to be bothered by her innocuous anger. "Why would I miss you? There''s no point in that!" Wu Ruoyu had her hands on her hips, her pretty cheeks puffed in anger. "I haven''t seen you for days. You were so ambiguous on the phone and online. Even the Kuomintang Spies aren''t as evasive as you!" "Well, I''m here now!" Chen Fan stretched his arms open, hoping to embrace her thin waist, but she pushed him away with no sympathy. "Hey, we''re at the entrance of the office!" Wu Ruoyu pushed him away hard, under the gazes of the passersby. "Hehe." Chen Fan laughed drily. He wanted to say something, but was suddenly interrupted by a breathless man who came out of nowhere. "Brother Chen, Brother Chen. What a coincidence!" the high-spirited man exclaimed in excitement. He was wearing an all-white branded casual outfit, with a Vacheron Constantin watch on his wrist. He was the epitome of a ''golden bachelor''. "You are?" Chen Fan had a bad memory when it came to men. After thinking long and hard, he raised his eyebrows and laughed. "Ah! Ah! You are Wei Jie!" It took him a long time to recall who this man was. Wu Ruoyu once used Chen Fan as a human shield to evade this man. Later, they met again in a restaurant, where the man was tricked into gifting Chen Fan a bottle of Lafite. "He he" Wei Jie laughed awkwardly, not really knowing how to react. His humble approach was greeted with a "Do I know you?", so how could he feel good after that? Of course, he had at least a small amount of magnanimity. Maintaining his dignity, he faked a carefree laugh. "I don''t suppose that the both of you have eaten, so why don''t I treat you to a meal? I saw a new restaurant on the way here. They had two 40-meters long great white sharks on display. How irresistible!" As soon as he finished his sentence, Chen Fan had a strange expression on his face, as if he had seen Obama in a local barbeque stall, holding a lamb skewer in one hand and a big draft beer in another. What a confusing thought. "There''s no need for that." Wu Ruoyu could not help but roll her beautiful eyeballs. Then, she looked at Chen Fan, and was all smiles. "Cousin dear, you said you wanted to take me to eat Can Can Noodles, didn''t you? Shall we go now?" (Can can noodles: a hot and sour noodle, served in a clay pot, similar to Cross Bridge Rice Noodles.) "Can Can Noodles?" Wei Jie''s expression was about to make Chen Fan and Wu Ruoyu truly understand the meaning of one''s being thick-skinned. He was stunned for awhile, then started to ramble on about his interest in Can Can Noodles, as if he was talking about pretty girls. "That''s a fantastic idea. The last time I had Can Can Noodles, it was incredibly tasty. Shall we all go together? I know a place where they make excellent Can Can Noodles." "Well" Wu Ruoyu was speechless, so she only could pass this onto Chen Fan. Chen Fan caught Wu Ruoyu''s anxious gaze, and he stuttered, not knowing what to say for some time. In the end, he managed to stutter, "The weather, it''s too hot to eat those noodles" "Why don''t we eat something light, then?" Wei Jie was still smiling, as if they''d all agreed beforehand to dine together. Wei Jie was no fool either. How could he not see that Wu Ruoyu was trying to ignore him? In fact, she probably hated him for being there making conversation. If it had been any other woman, he would have turned and walked away, as cool as a cucumber. Alas, Wu Ruoyu was not any other woman! The more she pushed him away, the more he itched for her. On top of some other reasons, he just could not leave! Their story had began last month. He had proceeded with his usual game plan: know yourself, know your enemy. He had employed a classic strategy hooking up with a female colleague of Wu Ruoyu''s. From there, he made discreet inquiries about her personal details. The poor girl was a typical love-struck fool, who did not realize that the man in front of her was playing this game of substitution. Before she knew it, she was too immersed in her dream of "the ugly duckling becoming the swan". When asked about Wu Ruoyu, whom she was very jealous of, she spilled everything from a to z. She started with how worthless Wu Ruoyu was, and how she had big breasts but no brains, and how she used her family relations to get further in her career. She also complained that Wu Ruoyu was a bourgeois, who always had Starbucks or dined in western restaurants. She even revealed about Wu Ruoyu''s personal life, mentioning that Wu Ruoyu was so vain, that she would always find herself a very rich boyfriend. Well, all this he considered as not being particularly strange. After all, Wu Ruoyu was not some otherworldly ethereal fairy, and she liked to talk about things that men would find interesting, too. And, most people considered that her having a boyfriend was not as if she had a child, so he decided that it should not be that big of a deal! But, he had to admit that when he found out that his crush had a boyfriend, he transformed into an alpha lion, who was ready to fight over his mate. Since then, he had been investigating the boyfriend in question, without rest! It was clear that his target could not be locked down immediately. However, having such progress today meant that he was no fool either! On the contrary, his skills of reading body language were rather excellent! The main point was, the both of them were making eyes at each other, now that was suspicious! Wu Ruoyu had no cousin, or at least she didn''t have a cousin that was of Chinese Nationality! She called Ma Rongtao her uncle. That probably meant that her father was the brother of Ma Rongtao''s wife. She seemed to call Chen Fan her maternal cousin, which meant that he was a cousin from her mother''s side. However, he had asked around and found out that her mother was French. So, how could she possibly have a Chinese maternal cousin? "Something light... Why don''t we make it on another day, my treat!" Chen Fan scratched his head. As the saying goes, never slap the smiling person. He did not want to sound too harsh, "We had some plans" Before he could say "today", Wei Jie interrupted him and expressed earnestly, "Brother Chen, I meant it when I wanted to buy you lunch, I wasn''t just trying to be courteous. Come on, just one meal. If worse comes to worst, then you can always treat me to another meal. I assure you, I won''t hesitate in accepting your invitation!" "Wei Jie?" Wu Ruoyu was frowning, but Chen Fan stopped her. "Then, let''s go. We shall go to the restaurant with two great white sharks!" he said with a poker face. He could not avoid this forever. Wei Jie was such a persistent fellow. He had to take the bullet for Wu Ruoyu. "Great." Wei Jie looked very happy, "Shall we also invite the missus?" "Well". Chen Fan knew that he meant Yun Meng, and wanted to kick him, but he could not do it right then. "Well, Wei Jie, why don''t you go ahead? We''ll catch up soon!" Chen Fan said, as he pulled Wu Ruoyu toward the BMW, whose expression grew dark and solemn. "BMW 7 series? Aren''t you a new-rich?!" Wei Jie sneered, as just from that sentence, he was positive that the both of them were not related in any way. "Tell me, your missus. Oh no, who had he meant by missus?" she started firing questions the moment she stepped in the car. "He meant Yun Meng. We met in the restaurant the other day, and he thought she was my girlfriend. He even gifted a bottle of Lafite to me. I didn''t have the energy to explain to him!" Wang Bing grimaced in the front, as he was trying his best to hold in his laughter. "Hmm, I''ll get even with you on this matter later!" said Wu Ruoyu, as she pinched hard on his arm. She was not sure if he was telling the truth or lying. If it was true, then she would be making trouble out of nothing. The amount of wealth Wei Jie possessed was comparable to how senseless he was. More than a few girls stop to stare, as he drove his Porsche GT2 down the street. As both cars arrived at Tian Ran Ju simultaneously, which was also the restaurant that Chen Fan invested in, the whole parking lot was filled with more than 20 luxury cars, and they just kept piling up. Needless to say, all of them were attracted by the two great white sharks. No aquariums would dare breed these vicious creatures, as they could brutally tear other sharks into pieces. As for fishermen, whenever they caught great whites, there were only two options. They would either have to kill them immediately with a harpoon, or let the shark destroy the fishing net. It was obvious that even Wu Ruoyu was amazed at how large their scale of wealth was. Her beautiful eyes were sparkling with disbelief. "This restaurant belongs to me, isn''t that great?!" said Chen Fan, as he enjoyed her sense of amazement. He could not hide the satisfaction on his face. "Tsk!" Wu Ruoyu rolled her eyes at him, then got out of the car. "Shh". "Ah". "Bang". As the three of them walked into the lobby, they could hear sounds of people trying to take advantage of the situation. There were even a few, who knew the business, that ran toward the center of the aquarium and made threatening gestures. They were so close, as if they wished that their eyeballs were in the tank. "It''s wild, they''re all from the wild!" A few middle-aged men with shiny bald heads and big beer bellies gazed greedily at the sea cucumber. They even snatched the net from the waiters, ready to catch the fish themselves. "Bro...Brother Chen, please order whatever you like!".Wei Jie was obviously less enthusiastic. He was scanning all of the rich people in Zhong Yun in his mind, but he could not think of anyone who was this wealthy. But this didn''t stop him from feeling inferior in front of the six Chinese bahaba. What you fear really comes for you. Chen Fan pretended to looked around, then said casually, "Let''s have one of those bahaba, as they look pretty good!" (To be continued. If you wish to know what happens next, please log onto www.qidian.com for more chapters. Go support the author and authorized reading!) 225 If We Can’t Finish, We Can Take Away "Ah, Mr. Chen, isn''t that fish too big? Maybe we just should have some shark''s fin or fish maw instead?" How could Wei Jie care about his demeanor now? His forehead was filled with sweat, and it was obvious to anyone that he was just pretending to be cool. Because of the girl next to him, he could not just shove through the crowd in excitement and go to the aquarium to observe the huge fish, even though he very much wanted to. If he had done so, he would have seen the "Not For Sale" sign on the aquarium, and he could have continued boasting about his wealth without fear of having to pay for the bahabas! "Alright then. We''ll eat something else!" Chen Fan nodded, pretending to be indifferent. Seeing that Chen Fan kept staring at the extra large abalones, Wei Jie quickly walked up to disturb him. If Chen Fan ordered those things, it would surely cost him at least a million yuan. It was not that he did not have the money, but he did not want to spend so much for them without any reason! "Hello, there. We would like to have a plate of cheese lobster!" Wei Jie waved his arm and a cute waitress approached them. He pointed to the lobster counter, and then to the sea cucumber counter. "And also three servings of sea cucumber soup!" Next, he made up his mind, feeling that if he did not order any expensive food, it would be insufficient to show off his wealth. Thus, he waved his arm and said quite loudly, "Three servings of braised abalone in sauce," and then added in a barely audible tone, "the smallest kind." "Okay boss!" The waitress stared at him with obvious and intense temptation. Her voice was so sweet, it could almost melt rocks! Meanwhile, the Chen Fan deliberately avoided making eye contact with her so that he would not be recognized. The seafood needed to be ordered on the spot, but other dishes could be ordered from the menu in the private dining rooms. On their way, quite a number of waitresses managed to recognize Chen Fan, but they called him "boss" as well, just like the other customers. "Mr. Chen, how about we order a bottle of ten-year Cascavel red wine?" After ordering five light vegetable dishes, Wei Jie smiled and pointed at the elegant-looking menu in his hands. Although this red wine was not as well-known as the 1982 Chateau Lafite Rothschild, its cost was just slightly lower at about 30,000 yuan. He was certain that upstarts like Chen Fan would not have seen this brand before, because wines from this brand did not have a proper label. Merchants would purchase the wine in oak barrels from the winery and pour it into small oak barrels. Those who did not know much about wines would not even recognize the brand. Indeed, Chen Fan lifted his head innocently. "Whatever. I don''t know much about these things. I feel that red wines all taste the same." "Ha, Mr. Chen is really a candid man!" Wei Jie closed the menu and then urged the waitresses to quickly serve the dishes. "Oh yeah. Mr. Chen, after knowing you for so long, I don''t even know what your occupation is?" "Small business. Maritime trade." "Ah, maritime trade!" Wei Jie first praised Chen Fan about his occupation, saying things like how it was good, and that one could enjoy sightseeing while on the sea. However, his tone abruptly changed. "Mr. Chen, these days international shipping has been experiencing many ups and downs, and the trade route along the Gulf of Aden has many pirates. Nowadays, most of the entrepreneurs like buying shares in real estate businesses. The returns are very high, and usually you can get back your investment within a year. Currently, I am developing some properties in Zhongyun Bluewater Bay that have a market value of 600,000,000 yuan. Mr. Chen, if you are interested, how about we buy some shares together? I have sole proprietorship over these properties, and there is no fraud, so you can buy your shares without worry." Wei Jie''s goal was simple: to make Chen Fan feel inferior. Six hundred million yuan was not like 600,000,000 dong. Even Ma Rongtao could not take this amount out all of a sudden. A person''s total assets and liquidity are two completely different things. There are many people whose assets can reach a few billion, but they owe other people a few hundred million in terms of liquidity. Therefore, Wei Jie was certain that upstarts like Chen Fan would feel inferior after hearing his words. That was especially true since he was next to a pretty girl where his self-esteem would have been greatly magnified. "Six hundred million yuan! Wei Jie, you are actually so rich. I thought that it was your parents who are rich?" Chen Fan made a very exaggerated expression, causing Wu Ruoyu, who was just beside him, to keep signaling him under the table. She was not a young high school girl and could clearly tell that the two men were competing against each other behind their smiles. Never Mind. He is doing this for me. I cannot put the cart before the horse and start blaming him. Wu Ruoyu uncontrollably extended her arm and grabbed Chen Fan''s hand below the table. "Ha, just small business. Small business!" Wei Jie sounded extremely hypocritical. After speaking, he deliberately raised his arm and looked at his Vacheron Constantin watch. "Huh? It has already been 15 minutes. Even if the seafood is not ready, the vegetable dishes should already be here, right?" Yes, Wei Jie was trying to show off to that upstart. Although his watch was not that expensive, it still cost over 800,000 yuan. The 12 hour marks on the watch were all top-grade blue and white diamonds embedded onto the dial plate, which was hollowed out into irregular patterns so delicate that a magnifying glass would be needed to see them clearly. Even if one wanted to make a counterfeit, the photochemical machining techniques available would not be sufficient. However, he was actually howling at the moon. To be more direct, he was totally wasting his time. That was because Chen Fan not only did not recognize his watch, but kept flirting with the girl that he liked. Chen Fan''s hand even crossed the boundary and reached over to Wu Ruoyu, who blushed and looked down. Wei Jie, who was a womanizer, obviously knew what was happening. It was as if cold water had been poured onto a piece of red hot iron, producing sizzling sounds and smoke. Wei Jie''s face turned from red to white, and in just an instant, to a very pale white. He felt like a bull had run over his organs. It was so painful, he wanted to kill someone. He was like a clown trying his best to perform on stage, and yet the audience was uninterested. However, since Wei Jie could become such a rich man with assets of over a few hundred million yuan, he definitely had some remarkable qualities. He knew that sometimes he had to be patient, and at least not lose his temper in front of a pretty girl. Just then, the door was pushed open. Two waitresses in satin clothing successively placed numerous exquisite dishes around the table, and at the center was a lobster whose upper body looked red but lively, and whose lower body was cut into many pieces that looked very creamy. Lastly, a delicate bluestone bowl was placed in front of the three, as well as a red porcelain plate from Jingdezhen. In the stone bowl, which was as colorful as an ink painting, a black fat sea cucumber with tentacles all over it body was curled up at the center with a few bean sprouts smartly embellished beside it. Even the appearance of the dish was artistic. The dense aroma drifting from the soup alone could make people drool. As for that fat abalone covered in red sauce, ordinary words could not sufficiently describe it. Indeed, if the food was not the best in the world, who would spend so much money to eat at the place? The two were still fresh. If they could be processed into dried food and stewed over a gentle fire for a few days, they would have been so tasty that one would be in heaven just smelling them! Wei Jie, whose face was filled with anger, took a deep breath. Putting on a polite smile, he lifted his glass and said, "Come. Cheers!" He even stopped calling Chen Fan, "Mr. Chen." "Cheers!" Chen Fan lifted his glass and finished the wine, after which he took the palm-sized abalone and, without even cutting it with his knife, bit it briefly and swallowed it. Then, Wei Jie''s eyes widened and started filling with blood. The upstart ate the sea cucumber like noodles. He lifted the whole sea cucumber and swallowed it after chewing briefly. With his whole body trembling, Wei Jie almost stopped breathing and his lungs almost exploded. "The seafood tastes great! But the red wine is not mixed with Sprite. Not nice, not nice!" Chen Fan grabbed a piece of tissue paper and lightly wiped off the oil around his mouth. Then, at Wei Jie''s furious look, he gently called the waitress over and bent to speak into her ear for a while. "Wei Jie, I ordered a few more dishes. I think you wouldn''t mind?" "I don''t... don''t... mind!" Wei Jie clenched his teeth so hard, they were almost crushed! The atmosphere suddenly turned silent. Wei Jie''s face was extremely cold. He knew that Chen Fan had been sneaky, and yet he had to tolerate the loss temporarily. "Is it too much?" Wu Ruoyu spoke to Chen Fan softly while turning around and pretending to look for something. Although she hated Wei Jie because he was a playboy, she did not feel that the two men needed to be so hostile towards each other over some small matters. "I know what I am doing!" Chen Fan looked at Wei Jie, smiling. The fun part is still to come! he thought. Very soon, the dishes that he ordered were served. They were so powerful that Wei Jie almost choked and Wu Ruoyu kept pinching his arms to signal that he was way too much. Actually it was nothing much! Two large plates of red-braised sea cucumbers... The braise was something like red-braised eel. It was not like a bowl of soup made from a single sea cucumber, but rather dozens of sea cucumbers cut to pieces and braised without even having any other ingredients in it. There were also three plates of abalones, each having a gross weight of a few kilograms, the type that could be used to make top grade dried abalone. Next was a full plate of mixed shark fins and fish maw and the plate was extremely full, just like a plate of beef with vermicelli during a banquet. Wei Jie was vomiting blood in his heart. If it were not for his conscience telling him not to be impetuous, he would definitely pick up his chair and beat Chen Fan to death with it. Who would eat shark''s fin like that? Shark''s fin had to be dried and stewed in soup under a gentle fire for a long time. Otherwise, it would not even be as tasty as vermicelli... Even though he was very rich, he could not afford so much expensive food. All these were real wild products, and even a small part of them could be served as a main highlight in a banquet consisting of many successful entrepreneurs. But now? It was all was piled up like pig food! "Phhhhu..." How could Wei Jie care about his disposition now? His face was colder than the poker cards on Macao gambling tables, and he said in an emotionless tone, "Mr. Chen, you have ordered so many things. Can you finish them?" "If we can''t finish, we can take away!" It was as if Chen Fan had become blind and could not see Wei Jie''s murderous look. "Mr. Chen, you think I am an idiot?" That was when he stopped being hypocritical and showed his true self! "Idiot?" Chen Fan pointed at Wei Jie with his index finger, looking surprised. "You said that yourself. I never meant that!" "Then I want to see if you have the guts to finish all the high-class food here!" Wei Jie was ready to call his people to come over. "You can take away the rest later. Doesn''t that solve the problem?" Chen Fan smiled leisurely. "I thought you were a generous friend and worth knowing. However, I didn''t expect you to be this stingy. It''s so disappointing!" "Don''t... don''t do this!" Wu Ruoyu''s face turned pale as she could foresee an intense conflict approaching. "Ha, I have no other ways. I am not like you, so rich and stylish, driving a BMW 740 outside and drinking red wine with Sprite!" Wei Jie was so angry that he started laughing. He could not even think when the last time was he got this furious. In any case, it must have been very long ago. "Why are you being so modest? I am not even planning to borrow money from you." Suddenly, Chen Fan signed and spoke in a disappointing tone, "I originally treated you like a friend, and yet you behaved like this. In the first place, I did not even plan to let you treat me for the meal because I have a personal problem: unless you are a close friend of mine, I will not let you treat me. But you still kept asking me to come and eat. Actually, I wanted to pay the bill quietly when I went to the washroom later. "This meal is really uninteresting!" Chen Fan shook his head and stood up in an elegant and stylish way. Taking out the black UBS card, which was embedded with beautiful cloud designs, he threw it on the table. "Check please." "A membership card?" Wei Jie''s eyes suddenly narrowed and his eyes were locked onto the exquisitely-made card. "Wei Jie, we will leave first!" Chen Fan tapped on Wu Ruoyu who was still in a daze. When the two reached the door, he turned his head and lifted his eyebrows. "The leftovers on the table. If you can''t finish, just take away and bring them home!" Of course, Wei Jie was not in a state to listen to his taunt. It was as if someone inserted a concrete mixer into his brain, and an invisible hand was holding his soul and throwing it into the sky. His mouth was open so widely that all the food on the table could fit inside. Why am I like a clown? he asked himself. After a long while, the pretty waitress finally had to courage to go up and ask, "Boss, do you need to take away?" Speechless! He was like a confused apostle walking between the boundary of the light and dark. He could have left the place elegantly, but there was a voice in his mind that shouted, Take away, take away. These are all precious. Just take away, no one will know! 226 The Eaglet has Hatched "Sir, take away?" The seductive waitress gazed at him eagerly, desperately hoping that he would say that he was not taking it away! "Good job, Chen Fan. I''ve made a mistake!" Wei Jie slowly calmed down, and his sight became malicious. Apparently, he was thoroughly humiliated, but he dared not do a thing. The UBS grade A customer card was the best evidence for his identity. He had only seen this type of card twice, and on both occasions, they were owned by foreign tycoons. Domestically, he had only heard about such, but had never seen them. He thought this man, who drove a BMW 740 and was wearing Armani, was no different from the contractors who worked for him upstarts, who think they are nobles, just because they drive luxury cars! He never thought he was the "presumptuous" one, and so now, he felt extremely embarrassed. It is just like when Shen Wansan had visited a farmhouse, and the raggedly-dressed farmer had actually summoned the royal chef by using a fleet horse. The chef then came hastily, kneeled down, and said, "Your Majesty!" "Taketake away!" Wei Jie said hesitantly, as he stood up from the chair. Having a realization is one thing, taking away is another. Looking at the luxurious foods before his eyes, Wei Jie admitted that he was unable to throw away these foods like Chen Fan, as if they were mere Chinese cabbages. Worrying that he would meet Chen Fan after leaving, Wei Jie went to the washroom. He then chit-chatted with a beauty on the phone, asking her out for an extravagant dinner. Only then did he take an exquisite food container and head downstairs. When he arrived at the dining hall, he looked around and, seeing no acquaintance, he quickly went near the fish tank that contained the Chinese bahabas. He looked at the lazy big creatures and breathed deeply, nonstop. In 2001, he was lucky to have eaten a Chinese bahaba once, thanks to some tycoon from Tianhai. At that time, all the attendants had locked their attentions on the Chinese bahaba on the dining table, which weighed about 10 kilograms. A few wealthy men cleared all the side dishes and even drank five bottles of liquor, but nobody tried to touch the Chinese bahaba. Why? Guilty! It felt like cutting Xi Shi''s face with a knife the mere thought of it would make one sleepless and lose their appetite. The businessmen were always biased toward the wealthy men that were as rich as them. This was an occupational habit, and Wei Jie could not avoid it either. He had never met the owner of this hotel, but this did not hinder Wei Jie from admiring him. Six Chinese bahabas could not be simply bought, as they are rarer than not only three-legged toads, but also three-legged toads that are as big as a fish tank! "Hey, aren''t you Boss Wei? Are you having your meal here as well?" When Wei Jie was staring at the fish, a tall and scrawny middle-aged man patted him from behind. He was shocked and almost threw the food container away. "Ah Director Ma!" Wei Jie wiped his cold sweat, as he hid the food container away sneakily. "Haha, why are you so focused on these fish?" Director Ma apparently was not acquainted with these high class goods. He then laughed aloud and said, "Okay, I am not going to waste Boss Wei''s time anymore. My friends upstairs told me the abalones here are delicious, and I''m going to have a try now!" ... "Boss, that customer took away his meal and left!" Chen Fan stayed in the large and luxury room on the fourth floor, and after hearing the waitress'' report, he burst out in laughter, so much so that he almost broke the coffee table. After a bit, he finally stopped with a reddened face. "Sir if there''s nothing else you need my help with, allow me to go, as I have many other tables to serve" The seductive waitress was disappointed and scared. She was disappointed, because he had a girlfriend, and the girlfriend was a pretty mixed race lady. She was scared, due to his terrifying laughter, which sounded as if he was going to eat a human alive. "Go ahead" Chen Fan waved his hand, signalling her to leave. Showing off was fun. Otherwise, why would so many people like to show off? "What the f*ck!" Wu Ruoyu rolled her eyes at Chen Fan, while she was arranging the electronic form, just like an infatuated lady sizing up a wasteful bastard. "Even if these abalones and sea cucumbers were artificially bred, they would have cost a lot, and still you decide to throw them away, just like that? Even Bill Gates'' son would not be such a prodigal!" "These things are not worth a penny to me!" Chen Fan did not want to talk much about this small issue. He laid down and rested his head on Wu Ruoyu''s slender legs. "What are you doing?" Chen Fan looked at her, as she was typing fast on the keyboard. The confusing data and forms on the screen made him feel dizzy. "Year end is near, and I''m responsible to do some statistics on custom duty and submit it to the financial department! " Wu Ruoyu moved his head away softly, responding while doing the forms. "How about you? How is your company doing?" "Me?" Chen Fan asked, while smelling the scent of her hair, intoxicated. "I have absolutely no talent in managing a company. I have bought a bunch of imported machines and equipment for the shipyard, but we''ve yet to acquire our first big order. Our orders are mostly those asking us to make some small fishing boats weighing around a hundred tons. I''d be lucky if I''m not losing money. Another company of mine has gotten two huge ships for shipping purposes, and I can earn millions of gross profit a month. The few tankers make the most money, and one shipment is able to get me more than what I earned for smuggling machine tools dozens of times back then. " "Look at you. The only thing you know is how to rest on your laurels!" Wu Ruoyu tapped his forehead gently, using her slender finger. When she noticed that there was a strand of hair on his shoulder, she carefully removed it. "It''s not that I''m sitting on my laurels, but that society is too complicated!" Chen Fan put his arm around her slender waist. It was so comfortable, that Chen Fan felt the urge to have her in his arms. No wonder there has been a common saying since ancient times: "A woman''s tenderness is a hero''s grave." This woman was so attractive, that men could easily fall for her without realizing it. "Stop it! I am arranging the documents, and I must submit them to the financial department by tonight!" Wu Ruo Yu''s cheeks turned red, as she glared at him. "Alright!" Chen Fan agreed, his hands slightly more in place now. However, just slightly, as one of his hands was still not leaving the intimate part of her body. ...... At 5 p.m., Chen Fan arrived at a dock at the beach with a lot of bags, big and small. After putting the stuff into the diving cabin, he rode on the eel to the cave. He had left the old dock aside, and bought the new and bigger steel-structured sealed dock, using his father''s name. He went to the supermarket in the afternoon to buy a meat mincer, calcium tablets, vitamin, glucose, milk powder and some other miscellaneous stuff. He bought these not because he lacked nutrients, but because the eaglet was going to hatch. It was easy to predict when an eaglet was going to hatch, as there will be some movements in the egg. Since Chen Fan had noticed such movements last night, he stopped turning the egg over, and patiently waited for the eaglet to hatch. Chen Fan left all the stuff aside and ran toward the second floor of the spire hastily. He could hear the rustle, even before opening the incubator. He opened the incubator, and saw that the egg had been pecked at, revealing a hole about the size of a bowl. The reddish and transparent beak was still pecking the egg nonstop. "You are going to hatch! You little fellow!" He was touched to tears, since his weeks of effort had not been in vain. Who has ever seen an eaglet egg bigger than a dinosaur egg? Who has ever seen an eagle with an 80-meter wingspan? This was a great historical moment! Chen Fan thought it was more meaningful than Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landing on the moon in 1969. This made him a man even greater than the greatest scientist Albert Einstein! Noting that he got carried away by his wild thoughts, Chen Fan took a seat on a small bench, and quietly stayed beside the eaglet egg. Generally, it is best not to artificially help a bird hatch, if it is not absolutely necessary. Otherwise, its initial growth would be affected. The unhatched eaglet was just like a rock drill, which is never tired it slowly made an irregular crack on the egg''s rough surface, using its young beak. "Zokzok" After a long two hours, it was finally able to flip the egg shell over. It then showed its bald head,hich was so transparent that the blood, muscles, and skull were almost visible from the outside. "It is so darn ugly!" This was the eaglet''s first impression to Chen Fan: bald head and two big jelly-shaped eyes, which occupied almost two-third of its size. It couldn''t be uglier. In fact, it was even uglier than Wu Dalang! Be it a pheasant or a peacock, a bird is the ugliest when it has just hatched from the egg shell. It will begin to look better once its feathers had fully grown in. Chen Fan had learned the knowledge, so he understood the condition. Hence, he knew that he could only wait on it to grow with patience. "ChuChu" The eaglet, which was even uglier than Wu Dalang, kept chirping intermittently. Its eyes could not open yet, and its claws were moving restlessly, trying to escape from the depressing "cage" it had stayed in for almost a month. This pink meatball struggled for 20 minutes in the halved egg shell, and finally got out of it. It laid on the cotton and cried, making an "Ang Ang" sound. "Haiz, it seems I have to make a cameo appearance as an eaglet''s mom!" Chen Fan carried the "little monster", which was half the height of a human, into the nursery box, after waiting for the fluid on its body to dry. Fortunately, an eaglet is not like a platypus, which is an oviparous that weirdly has to be breastfed, just like mammals. Normally, an eaglet needs to be fed after 20 hours, upon hatching. Yet, within this period, drinking was still allowed. Chen Fan adjusted the brightness of the lamp to medium level, and after two hours, he opened the glucose and took out about 10 grams by a scoop, dissolving it in the newly bought plastic basin. The water was warm, and Chen Fan took a basin of glucose water in front to the eagle, pressing its bald head, directing it toward the basin. "Chuchu" It seemed as if it was blood-related to the stubborn donkeys no matter how Chen Fan pressed its head, it was not willing to lay its arrogant head down. But, Chen Fan dared not press too hard, lest it be injured. Chen Fan had no choice but to bring the basin near its beak! "Chuchu" After two tentative attempts, this big baby bird drank half of the glucose water, all without moving its head up! "Hrgg, you are more cunning than Ximen Qing!" Chen Fan almost slapped it dead, out of anger! PS: There is more for tomorrow! (To be continued. If you wish to know what happens next, please log onto www.qidian.com for more chapters. Go support the author and authorized reading!) 227 The Electric Eel Cannot, But It Can After feeding the eagle with water, Chen Fan sat on the chair and gazed intently at the bare bird. After an eagle was just born, it had to be fed five to six times everyday, and its diet had to be balanced in nutrition. So, it was definitely a troublesome job. The eagle already weighed over 35 kilograms when it was born, meaning that it had to eat at least 2.5 kilograms of lean meat each meal, and its food intake would double every few days. "Seems like I need to find a beef supplier for it!" Grinning, Chen Fan ran to the computer and sent a post on the local forum, stating that he would like to purchase a large amount of raw beef. Beef contains a high amount of protein and a low amount of fats, and normal eagle trainers like to feed their eagles with beef, so that they will obtain enough nutrition, without growing too fat. The post was soon replied by some people who had relatives or friends that sold beef. Copying down two numbers, Chen Fan went up to the sea surface and called the numbers, saying that he would like to purchase a large amount of beef. At the time, there were already very few butchers in the cities and suburbs, who would buy cows back, kill them, and sell their meat. Instead, many were merchants who would buy fresh frozen beef from the slaughterhouse wholesale, then cook and color the beef, before then selling it wholesale to food markets. Beef, just like old pork, would become too soft if cooked for too long. Thus, civilians liked to buy processed beef, so that they would not have to spend time cooking it themselves. Hearing that Chen Fan intended to buy large amounts of fresh beef for a long period of time, the other party immediately agreed. "No matter how much you want, we can provide it!" In addition, they could provide delivery services. Just by asking for more products from the slaughterhouse, they could earn a lot of money. Of course they would be eager to agree. The delivery location was set at the dock. Chen Fan had requested them to send only waist meat, meaning filet mignon or loin, which were the most tender parts of the beef! The next morning, the merchant sent a Mazda eagerly out, with a hundred kilograms of waist meat, to the dock. The merchant, who was over thirty years old, thought that Chen Fan was the owner of some western restaurant, and was delighted that he had found such a big customer. Taking over the money, he patted his chest and promised that he would deliver more beef whenever Chen Fan requested. He even cheekily promised that, if the beef was not fresh, he would take out his eyeballs and step on them! Taking the beef into the cave, Chen Fan took out a few pieces and put them into the meat grinder, just like calcium tablets. After grinding, he used a spoon to open the eagle''s mouth, then fed it with the beef, like he was taking care of a patient with a severe illness. At the start, the eagle kept resisting, but after having a taste of the beef, it instinctively continued eating. After two days, Chen Fan asked the merchant to send 200 more kilograms of beef. Meanwhile, the eagle''s body, which was originally bare, now had many tiny fluffs on it. They were thickest on its wings and tail, and were a bit prickly. At 8 in the morning that day, the eagle officially opened its jelly-like eyes and looked curiously at the world, as well as at Chen Fan, who had been busy feeding it! It could be said that the opening of its eyes had far-reaching influences on both Chen Fan and the eagle, because after an animal is born, the first moving thing that it sees will leave a deep impression in its mind. As such, the animal will treat the moving thing like its parent, especially if the moving thing can feed it. In science, the phenomenon is known as imprinting! This imprint can easily replace the animal''s parents in its mind. From a human perspective, it basically means that, the one who raises you up is more important than the one who gave birth to you. Ducks, and fierce animals, such as Tibetan mastiffs and hawks, behave in this way as well. For a purebred Tibetan mastiff, the master must feed and stroke it everyday, before it opens its eyes. so that the dog can recognize his owner''s smell, until the day when it opens its eyes and sees the master. Otherwise, nobody will be able to take the baby dog away from its mother! This same applies when people train hawks. If they happen to catch an adult hawk, they must torture it during training. However, if they are able to catch an infant hawk, which has yet to open its eyes, the process will be much easier. The only thing they have to take note of, is to prevent the infant bird from coming into contact with another person before imprinting. "Take precautions before it is too late!" This was the best phrase to describe the current state of Chen Fan''s thoughts. Although he already took a firm first step, the path ahead was still long. The eagle was only 2 days old. When one more month passed and the eagle could learn to fly, the space in the cave would certainly be insufficient for the eagle to maneuver. Furthermore, judging from the growth rate of the eagle, by then, the electric eel would not even be able to bring it outside. Thus, the best solution was to bring it outside and raise it up there. Then, it would at least be able to get some sunlight in the meantime. Before Chen Fan could take it outside to raise it, he had to build a safe place on that strange land. It would even be better if he could kill the adult golden eagle. It was actually easy to kill the golden eagle. Chen could just hide in an armored transporter and, after locating the target, use the FGM-172 Predator SRAW missile to hit the eagle. In any case, it had an automatic thermal tracking device, and would not even miss on helicopters and tanks, much less on a huge eagle. If that did not work, Chen Fan could use the rapid-fire machine gun on the vehicle to shoot the eagle. Chen Fan decided to carry out his plans immediately. He controlled the electric eel, which passed the bizarre ripples and swam to the surface, looking for traces of the giant eagle. The electric eel waited for the whole morning, but did not find the huge eagle. Instead, it drew the white python up as well, which kept circling and harassing the electric eel. The electric eel was to lazy to respond to the python''s harassment. So, it quickly swam to the shore, trying to look for a safe place where Chen Fan could train the baby golden eagle. The place must be, of course, close to the sea, and should preferably be a cave or the like, which would provide sufficient protection. Swimming along the coastline within ten kilometers for two rounds, the electric eel, unfortunately, did not discover any suitable targets. Without any places available, Chen Fan decided to dig one himself, and the electric eel only had to make an opening on the hills using the spear. Lifting its head and scanning at the mountains in front, the electric eel''s eyes were locked onto a huge mountain about three hundred meters tall and eight hundred meters across. The mountain was mostly bare on its surface, with only some low-growing plants on it. On its peak, there was a protruding rock that extended for over ten meters, below which was a cliff over a hundred meters deep, making for an excellent place to train the eagle on its flying skills. In addition, the mountain was less than a hundred meters away from the sea, so it would be convenient to move between the two places. Judging from the hardness of the spear and the strength of the electric eel, Chen Fan estimated that one day would be sufficient for the eel to dig a suitable place on the mountainside. After that, Chen Fan would install a large metallic door, a few tons in weight, at the opening of the cave. Then, the place would be extremely safe and secure! Holding the spear, the electric eel slowly moved to the foot of the mountain. While finding a suitable place to dig the cave, the electric eel suddenly realized that, on a slope eighty meters above, there was a circular cave three meters in diameter. "Nice!" Chen Fan exclaimed in joy. He would not even have to spend any effort digging the cave. The electric eel hurriedly ran to the cave and, just as it was about to move his head closer to look at the depth of the cave, it smelled a faint fishy odor. Although the smell was not strong, it definitely existed, and was coming from the inside of the cave. "There is some organism living in the cave!" After noticing a few obvious signs of activity around the cave, Chen Fan came to this conclusion! However, he would not care about the organism inside. It would be fine, as long as he killed it! Bang! Bang! Bang! The electric eel lifted the spear and smashed hard onto the rocks a few times. In less than ten seconds, a monster with two small, black eyes extended its cone-shaped head out. At first, Chen Fan thought that it was a snake, because its body was covered in a countless number of very dark green scales. However, after careful observation, he denied his own original suggestion, because it had a pair of huge yellow ears. The monster''s head was long and skinny, but its body, which was hidden inside the cave, was quite fat, and closely clung to the walls of the cave. Bang! The electric eel stabbed the spear in an attempt to smash the organism''s head, but the strike was agilely dodged by it. Furthermore, it was extremely timid. Pulling back its head, it immediately backed far into the cave, which was curved and so deep that the electric eel could not see its end. The eel clearly could not enter the cave, which had a diameter of only three meters. It could only keep hitting the rocks around, to see if it could lure the organism out. Obviously, the electric eel underestimated the organism''s timidity. After four rocks had been smashed into pieces by the spear, it still hid inside the cave, staring at the electric eel and not exiting. The electric eel gently inserted the spear in, wanting to electrocute it. However, when the spear was only one meter into the cave opening, the organism instantly ran out of the electric eel''s sight. Indeed, after seeing a four-legged monster that was nearly one hundred meters in length carrying a spear that was thirty meters long, only an idiot would go outside the cave and get killed. The electric eel did not have too much time to play with it. Otherwise, the water in its body would evaporate. After waiting for another hour, the organism still did not exit, and the electric eel could only go back to the sea to replenish the moisture in its body. In this way, the electric eel moved back and forth for two times. Seeing that the organism was still not lured out of the cave, Chen Fan made up his mind to simply use a human-invented war weapon to eliminate the target. He chose to use the AT4 portable rocket launcher from the United States Marine Corps, which could be loaded and used repeatedly, just like guns. One could only aim properly and shoot, as the missile could neither track nor curve. However, after being loaded with anti-tank armor-piercing missiles, it was an ultimate weapon that could penetrate a piece of rolled homogeneous armor that was over 40 centimeters thick! What does 40 centimeters of tank armor mean? Well, to give perspective, even if 50 people stand in a row, the missile could still penetrate all of them! Among the weapons that Chen Fan robbed, there were two such launchers, together with eight high-explosive and eight armor-piercing missiles. Rocket launchers were easy to use. For instructions in such use, Chen Fan went to tiexue.net and sent a post asking for the steps to shoot a rocket launcher. Soon, a lot of people gave proper replies, including two retired soldiers, who had been rocket launcher grenadiers. Taking one rocket launcher, two armor-piercing missiles, and one light machine gun onto the armored transporter, Chen Fan closed the door and let the electric eel hold all the things in its mouth, after which, it swam towards the other space. The wheeled armored transporter, made from the Arzamas Machine-Building Plant itself, had two multi-purpose missile launchers. Unfortunately, all the operating systems were in Japanese, and the fire-control systems were fully electronic. Chen Fan had yet to understand how they worked, and therefore, could only carry out the simple task of driving it around. After the electric eel hastily carried the armored transporter to the mountainside, Chen Fan used tools to remove the safety on the rocket launcher''s front, as well as the engine cover on its back. Next, he pushed the missile gently into the launch chamber. To be honest, the launch chamber was just like a large rifle, as it did not even have an optical sight, so Chen Fan could only use manual aiming. Opening the door at the top of the armored transporter, Chen Fan lay at the top of the vehicle and aimed the iron sight at the center of the cave. Then, he controlled the electric eel, which was waiting not far away, causing it to hit the rocks. 228 Something Is Behind When playing with a rocket launcher, all you need to be aware of is the airflow behind it. Even if there are any obstacles, it''ll be fine, because they will be deflected. "Boom! Boom! Boom!" The knocking was still ringing continuously. Perhaps it was due to the disproportionate brain volume of the creature as compared to the size of its limbs, and thus, it ran into the cave again and again, and even stared at the electrical eel with its small black eyes. Over 150 meters away, the camouflaged armored personnel carrier was ignored directly. In a three-point line! Chen Fan aimed at the creature''s head with his focusing caliper. Then, after taking in few heavy breaths, he pressed the red trigger button with his right index finger. "Pa!" The moment he pressed the trigger, he felt like his whole body was shocked by electricity, which was then immediately followed up with a thunderous voice resounding in his left ear. Then about 150 meters away, as soon as that green rocket was launched by the explosives and flew for several dozen meters, the rocket thrusters at the rear and the wings started to kick in, spinning and accelerating the rocket toward its target. "Boom!" The rocket rumbled, as it ripped through the sky and hit the creature hard, like Thor''s hammer. Dazzling sparks surrounded the creature within 0.02 seconds, accompanied by a boom as loud as an earthquake. The deadliest part of the artillery tractor was the U-shape detonation hood, which could launch the frontal metal shell with a powerful impulsive force. Though the effective range of the metal stream was less than 50 cm, the concentrated impact would be devastating, destroying armor like how a chopstick would crumble tofu. How could the unknown creature made of carbohydrates withstand it? When the dust cleared away and the flames dissipated, the sight before the eel made it growl without rest. "Ah! Ah!" The sight of a fluffy, furry creature that was covered in thick scales and had sharp ears and was laying on the floor, combined with the rocks that had been blackened by the explosion, created a stark contrast to the bright-red pieces of meat. All of this made the scene seem even messier than a masterpiece from Paul Klee, the master of abstractionism. Meanwhile, behind the brain of the creature, a bucket-sized hole poked through the spine, horrifyingly. Enduring the bloody stench, the eel finally got to see the true face of that creature, after poking the spear right into that hole and hooking its dead body out from there. "A pangolin?" The electrical eel stared at the slender creature in a surprise. Even though the armor-penetrating metal shell to break the armor had spread after going through the creature, turning its entire back into a slurry of flesh and blood, Chen Fan could still make out the species of the creature from its 6m long tail and sharp, deformed claws. Pangolins on the earth are a meter long, at most, and are expert drillers. They could dig a two-meter-long tunnel within an hour. But of course, despite being known as "Mountain Piercing Armors" in Chinese, they could not pierce through rocks, unless they coated their claws with magical Indian ointment. So, with that in mind, could this 13-meter-long, 2.5-meter-high pangolin actually dig through such a hard and sturdy rock? Shaking its head in disbelief, the electrical eel gripped its claws and started scratching a rock by the side. Out of its expectation, the rock did not gave way, splitting like a soft tofu, but instead, a deep mark was left behind. What''s left, after having cleared the cave, would be to investigate the surrounding environment. He would handle this investigation, equipped with a flashlight tied on his head, two large-scaled Beretta guns on his waist, and a M249 class machine gun in his hand, of course. Worried, Chen Fan came out of the vehicle, only after attaching another 5 grenades to his back. He then stepped into the cave with caution. The entrance of cave was about three meters high, and the wall was as smooth as if it had been polished with care. After walking about thirty meters, the lighting in the cave dimmed. When Chen Fan made a forty-five degree turn, the pathway suddenly widened, like a grand hall. It''s 35 meters wide, 10 meters high, and 37 meters long girth had some stink within its dry air, along with many hay branches that were lying on the ground. According to Chen Fan''s estimation, this should be a naturally formed cave, but it had since became a territory of pangolins, and only the bumpy parts were decorated. Since it was made of hard grey granite, if the pangolins really did dig a hole this big, they probably had to start digging from their ancestors'' generations. The torchlight on his head continued turning. When he was about to complete his scanning, he noticed that there was a 6m wide oval huge round rock at the left side of the cave wall. At first, Chen Fan didn''t pay much attention to it, as he thought that it was only an ordinary rock. Yet, it had moved slightly when his torchlight shone on it for a few seconds. "Hell!" Chen Fan''s eyes squinted instantly. What kind of rock was that? It was clearly a huge pangolin, which had rolled into a ball, due to the abnormally bright light. Accompanying the muscle twitches all over his body, the M249 machine gun growled as it spat out flames of death. Such a large weapon, which could be fed with an ammunition belt, only needs to match with a 300-round hard plastic cartridge for the trigger to be locked and fired nonstop. Then, it could even scatter a long-distance bus into pieces within 25 seconds! Ratatatatatat. The continued roar of bullets striked through the sky, completely proving to Chen Fan the power of weapons that were created by humans for carnage. The pangolin immediately bounced, when he tasted the first bullet. Unfortunately, the second bullet that followed tore its scales, and the third, and the fourth ... When the seventh bullet hit it, it was already wailing on the ground, defenseless against the remaining bullets that raged upon him. Take the Smith and Wesson M500 revolver, which was much vaunted on the Internet, as an example: It was known to be capable of killing an 8-ton African elephant, with just one shot. The M500 could eject bullets with 3500 joules of force, while the gun Chen Fan was using could produce 2400 joule. Could you imagine a 10-meters-long pangolin resisting the impact? By the time Chen Fan emptied the magazine, half of the limbs of the pangolin were gone, leaving it mutilated beyond recognition! Looking at the fleshly slurry of the pangolin, his heart couldn''t endure his own mercilessness. But, he could not live a day without meat, and when he remembered slicing fish into thin slices, he thought he had done worse than this. People are indeed funny sometimes. They had no feelings when they pinched ants like clay, or even when they were dissecting poultry and eating their organs. Yet, people would come out to accuse, if they saw others killing animals. Such touching speeches, such righteousness.. Chen Fan thought it was more cruel to eat an animal than to merely kill it. Imagine if we bringing animals up to the perceptions of human. Then, we might accept murdering, but what about eating human meat? After checking the cave for another round, to ensure that he did not miss anything or fail to discover any secret paths, Chen Fan held the empty gun and ran to the outside to take some fresh air. He did this because the air inside the cave was really terrible, especially when mixed with the bloody smell. Throwing away the machine gun, Chen Fan sat next to the electrical eel and started considering to send it back to retrieve the steel cable, which was hooked by a titanium hook. Otherwise, the corpse would be left inside unattended! Of course, he dared not stay at one place, especially since it was a place filled with monsters. He quickly jumped into his armored vehicle and shut the doors tightly. His fears were not superfluous. The electric eel had just left for less than two minutes. Chen Fan, who was lying in the back seat, heard a scream from the outside of the armored vehicle, as well as the sound of chewing bones, which would give people goosebumps. With a bounce, he flicked up from his seat and looked toward the front window. His pupils were enlarged and his mouth dried up. Next to the dead pangolin, two hyena-like animals with short and round heads, sharp teeth, and irregular black-brown dots were there, having been attracted unknowingly. Chen Fan, who had watched Lion King Simba and the World of Animals from his youth, was certainly not unfamiliar with such animals. He could finally see with his own eyes the grace of such antagonists of those said cartoons, of whom he had hated for their harassing of Simba nonstop in the movies! The creatures before him now were gigantic creatures, 5m long, with hair standing on its back, and a stare that would make babies burst out in tears with fear. Chen Fan could not find the words to describe the ferocity of those two hyena-alike animals, as that pangolin could''ve been enough for them to eat for a few days, and yet, they fought over a piece of organ and were bleeding as a result. "I...I remember that hyenas were communal animals...so, did they have a grudge over women?" Chen Fan looked at the two hyenas, which were screaming and spurting blood. It was like a scene from another world, one that was truly full of amazement. The two had shown their cruelty, going to the extreme of biting each other for half a minute. At the end, they were both defeated, one with his stomach being torn off, and another, with its ears bitten off and claws fractured. "Awool! Wool!" Their howls were so depressing, even the howling from ghosts and wolves were a hundred times better than theirs. There were still ten minutes remaining for the eel''s return, who could then finish them off. Thus, Chen Fan had no choice but to endure the howling. "Get rid of them!" Chen Fan''s cerebral cortex was dancing madly. "Ceng Ceng!" He ran towards the car boot and replaced the magazine of his M249. Then, he opened the roof cap on top. He aimed at the two wounded hyenas and pressed the trigger. In the mountains, it''s impossible for wolves and dogs to live as a group. Thus, he wasn''t afraid of getting into any territorial troubles at all! It would also be fine, even if he had triggered them, since it would be a huge joke, like if an elephant got tripped by ants and fell. "Ratatatatat!" The "fire dragon", which now adjoined in a line, had only howled for ten seconds, when the two hyenas were shot by the bullet with an ultrasonic speed, stopping all their movements. "The world now is finally quiet..." After taking in few relieving breathes, Chen Fan could now understand why the monkey king in the "Journey to the West" wished to kill "Tang Seng". It was because his body would get refreshed and his mind would clear right after that! He kept his guns and was preparing to close the door of the vehicle, when his figure stopped suddenly, his heart pulsing rapidly. "Hey!" The low-pitched scream came to its back, accompanied by a bloody wind that would blow people away! PS: Oh, no, I''ve got to add another 2,000 words tomorrow!!! (To be continued, for more please log onto www.qidian.com, and support the writer and the original reading!) 229 It’s Name is sCloudracer” Stinky wind! A cold sweat appeared on Chen Fan''s forehead. How did a monster manage to go behind him, without him realizing it? Could it have happened when he was shooting the hyenas? Hoo... Hoo... Hoo... Hoo... A strange sound came from Chen Fan''s jacket as the monster breathed. Not daring to move his upper body, Chen Fan''s right hand gripped onto the trigger of the machine gun. He planned to turn around abruptly, then tear the monster behind into pieces with the bullets. Of course, there was a precondition here! That was, the monster behind him did not assault him within one second! Animals, even those as slow as turtles, would burst out an incredible speed the instant when they want to prey on another organism. This speed greatly exceeds that of humans, whose hunting skills have been buried for over two thousand years. Hunt with the fastest speed is the basic survival rule of carnivores! Run with the fastest speed is the basic survival rule of herbivores! After hundreds of thousands to millions of years of practicing the concept of survival of the fittest, the physical strength of animals has developed so much, that humans are much weaker, and the difference cannot even be measured in a sensible way. For example, silverback gorillas that are living in the African rainforest each weigh about 150 kilograms, and can shove a car for four to five meters in just one blow. When a person''s life is in danger, he will always be able to maximize his potential, and this was true for Chen Fan as well! Hold the gun, turn and aim, he reminded himself. These three actions were carried out perfectly by him, and the only thing left to do was to pull the trigger... But, alas, he did not manage to pull the trigger! It was not that he was eaten by the monster. Instead, when he turned around, like a bolt of lightning, and saw the monster''s appearance, he was stunned. It had a white head, shaped like a triangular diamond, and was as huge as a buffalo, that gave out a dazzling glow under sunlight, and its widened mouth was full of sharp teeth. It was that white python. Chen Fan could recognize it from the first look. Roar! The python''s black eyes were filled with curiosity, as it stared at him, blinking. Even when Chen Fan suddenly turned around, it did not have any reaction. I can''t shoot it! In his heart, Chen Fan was glad that his reaction was fast. The python was extremely quick, and if it wanted to kill him, it would take less than 0.1 seconds. On the other hand, it would take at least 5 seconds to kill the python with bullets. If Chen Fan had fired at it and made it angry, he would be creating trouble for himself. In the past, Chen Fan had met the python with his own body, but once the python was injured, and then on the following remaining occasions, Chen Fan stood behind the windows in the stone tower, so the electric eel was partially blocking him from the python. To be honest, since the python was so smart, it should know that Chen Fan was the electric eel''s master. That way, if Chen Fan did not attack it first, it would not assault him. The truth proved Chen Fan right. The python was only attracted to the place by gunshots. After noticing Chen Fan, it approached him curiously, with its pink forked tongue flicking out at times. "Python bro, please don''t go mad!" After looking into its eyes, realizing that it had no intentions to attack, Chen Fan heaved a huge sigh of relief, then slowly lowered the machine gun, which he had been holding high. Vroom! Before Chen Fan could react, the python licked half of his body with its long tongue. "What. Why do you always like to lick others with your tongue, just like a dog?" A few invisible black lines appeared on Chen Fan''s forehead. Dogs lick people to show their affection, he knew. But, what about snakes? Did they lick those whom they admired or respected as well? Seeing that the python was docile, Chen Fan slowly extended his right hand and stroked the center of its jaws a few times. It felt smooth and cold. Meanwhile, the python did not have much of a reaction, only lowering its head slightly. "I am like a King!" Chen Fan really wanted to lift his head and shout towards the sky, but he was afraid that the python would bite him. Hence, he simply continued stroking the python for a while, before backing into the armored transporter and closing the door at the top. Being in this unknown world, Chen Fan would not feel safe, at least as long as the electric eel was not with him. Hence, he had to quickly call the electric eel over. When the electric eel hastily reached, the white python was coiled up beside the armored vehicle, basking in the sun. Its train-sized tail had turned a low bush nearby into a flat land in its boredom. After an intimate contact with his own body, Chen Fan''s fear towards the python was very much reduced. Without controlling the electric eel to chase the python away, Chen Fan opened the vehicle door directly and jumped out, pulling the steel cable into the cave. Looping the steel cable around the pangolin''s paws, Chen Fan turned his attention to the electric eel and controlled it to reel the cable in like a wheel. Roar! The strange scene attracted the python, which stared with interest for a few seconds, then wrapped its tail around the steel cable, pulling it just like the electric eel.In the end, with its help, the pangolin''s carcass first hit hard onto the rocks during a turn, after which, the steel cable went tight and the pangolin''s paws broke off from its body. "Bad at helping, but good at spoiling!" Chen Fan found this scene both frustrating and funny. Using an electric arc to chase the python aside, the electric eel pulled out the paws and threw them away. Chen Fan then ran out of the cave to drag the steel cable back in again. The python also probably realized that it had done a disservice. Since, without any apologies, it ran away into the mountain forests. After cleaning up the messy carcasses near the entrance of the cave, Chen Fan clapped his hands and returned to the driving chamber of the armored vehicle. He had already cleaned up the cave, so the only thing left to do now was to purchase some electrical storage, illumination devices, and a gate in order to turn the place into a fortress that was suitable for humans to live within. The first few items could be bought from hardware stores, while the gate was more troublesome, as it had to be tailor-made. The protective gates usually had two types. One is made from pure steel, while the other has a steel frame, with an interior filled with special cement. Using the principle that he had to use the best quality always, Chen Fan went online and found a steel manufacturer near Zhongyun, asking them to build a steel gate that was twenty tons in weight. Since the gate was so heavy, it would be ridiculous to expect a human to open it. The only way was to install a set of gear wheels on the inside, then use a rotary wheel to slowly open it. ... The next morning, Chen Fan started transporting the bought equipment towards the world on the other side of the ripples. After receiving the gate in two day''s time, he would be able to turn that place into a natural underground shelter. Two days later, the gate, which was painted in green-gray rock designs, was sent to the dock. Accompanying the gate were 24 solid steel nails, each three meters long and 40 centimeters thick, as well as an ash gray flat shovel. The steel nails were ordinary, and were meant to be drilled into rocks, to make the frame firmer. On the other hand, the shovel, whose shaft was five meters long and whose blade was 1 meter wide, was extraordinary! That was because it was made from tungsten steel, and cost as high as sixty thousand yuan! The material has both an extremely high hardness and melting point, and is mainly used to make the filament in light bulbs, as well as to cut alloy steels efficiently. So, why does the tungsten filament in light bulbs glow? That is because the metal has a very high electrical resistance. Current cannot pass through easily, thereby, it then produces heat energy inside and glows. The way tungsten works is the same as iron, which glows when red hot. The melting points of tungsten and iron are respectively 3380 and 1515. Holding the five-meter long handle, made from ordinary metal, the electric eel could pass electricity through it and heat the blade to a few thousand degrees Celsius, which could be effectively used to close the gap between the door and the column of nails. After the electric eel dragged the gate to the cave on the mountainside and installed it, Chen Fan quickly brought the eagle, which was already over 125 kilograms in weight, and whose body was covered with gray-brown feathers, onto the armored vehicle. It would be too late, if Chen Fan did not bring the eagle to the cave at that time, because its wingspan was already over seven meters long. In a few days, it would probably not even be able to fit inside the armored vehicle. Although the eagle was bigger than any other eagles in the world, it was still a baby bird, whose feathers had not fully grown. It was so dependent on Chen Fan, that it would follow his instructions blindly. Chen Fan held it just like he was hugging a cat, as it was very obedient. It was already over ten days since the eagle was hatched. After ten more days or so, it would be able to formally begin practicing its flying skills. After all, the purpose of Chen Fan hatching it in the first place was so that he could ride on it and soar in the blue sky. Therefore, starting from that moment, he had to train it into a qualified mount. Otherwise, when it was grown, it would no longer be so convenient to train. As for the way to train it, Chen Fan decided to use the same method as police dogs. He would lure it with food, causing it to eventually perform certain actions as a conditioned response. Lying on the ground was the most basic technique, which would be trained first. This was so that, when it was grown, Chen Fan could climb up and down from it more conveniently. Before an animal is trained, its master needed to give it a name. In this way, when the name was called, and it would then understand that its master was summoning it. The name had already been decided: Chen Fan would call it "Cloudracer"! The eagle was female, and so this cool and elegant name was quite suitable. Also, he deliberately cut down the paws from the two pangolins, used the Kun Wu to chop down a small part, then asked a highly skilled handcraft master to make three beautiful high frequency whistles, the kind that many people played when they were young. The small, steel whistles were silver in color, had a flat mouthpiece and a round body, and were of a high frequency in pitch and tone. The whistles were meant to call the eagle from afar. The frequency of their sound was over 3000 Hertz, and eagles were most sensible to sound waves with frequencies of 3000 to 7000 Hertz, because the sound made by rodents falls within this range. "Cloudracer, lie down!" A beef block, its favorite food, was held in Chen Fan''s left hand, while his right hand kept signaling in front of Cloudracer. Of course, even though Cloudracer could not understand what Chen Fan was saying, it still stared at the beef on Chen Fan''s left hand with anticipation. Since the lure did not work, Chen Fan had to use force. He went up and pressed on Cloudracer''s back, pushing it down gently. Cloudracer did not resist. It obediently cooperated and lowered down its body, which earned it a small piece of beef as a reward. Repeating this for five times, Cloudracer was smart, and learned that, when it saw Chen Fan signal or heard him shout "lie down", it should obediently lie down on the ground, because it would then get food. In order to train it, Chen Fan purposely did not feed it until it was full. After learning the action, the next step was to slowly train it, so that the action would become a conditioned response in its mind, and it would then lie down even without food. The whole afternoon was spent by the man and the eagle in this training: the eagle would lie down, stand up, eat the beef, and repeat this cycle. The next day, the eagle, which was as clever as the python, actually managed to learn quickly. Without Chen Fan signaling, it kept lying down and standing up at the same spot, and Chen Fan did not know whether to cry or laugh! After lunch, Chen Fan started to train Cloudracer with the whistle. He wanted to train it until it could instinctively understand that hearing the whistle meant that its master was calling for it. After blowing the whistle just a few times, Cloudracer did not come, but the white python ran over happily instead, after which, it stared at Cloudracer, whose feathers were almost full, drooling. The python naturally had an immense interest in anything with wings. In fact, Chen Fan had seen it hiding on the hills a few times, pretending to be dead. Whenever a bird landed nearby, no matter its size, the python would blow out a gust of cold mist, freezing the bird and then eating it. The python scanned Cloudracer''s body with a greedy look, frightening Cloudracer so much that it hid behind Chen Fan, trembling. However, because the electric eel, which had many blue electric arcs dancing on its body, was just beside them, the python could only stare at the bird and not do anything else. Roar! The python looked at Cloudracer reluctantly, then ran to the mountains in the distance to continue catching birds. Howl! Not long after the python left, Chen Fan suddenly heard a miserable bellow from the distance. He originally thought that it came from the python, but after turning his head, he realized that the python was lying on the peaks unharmed. "Probably some large animal got caught by its natural enemy!" Shaking his head, Chen Fan continued training the golden eagle. Cloudracer, which had already grown to 150 kilograms, was 1.8 meters tall when it stood up straight. When Chen Fan rode on its neck, it could still walk shakily. Howl! In the evening, when Chen Fan was about to go back and sleep, another miserable roar came in the distance, together with the faint sound of something crashing onto the ground. Even if the sky was to fall, Chen Fan would not bothered about it, as long as he was not affected. In light of this fact, he even prayed in his heart that it would be better if all the huge animals around him died. Before Chen Fan went to sleep, he would always bring Cloudracer to the seaside, and let it stay with the electric eel, so that, if there was a danger, the electric eel could jump up and protect it. ... The next morning, Chen Fan exited the armored vehicle and waved at Cloudracer, as if he was the leader of a nation who just alighted from a plane. He threw a piece of beef weighing over 1 kilogram at Cloudracer, which jumped up like a spring, caught the beef, and swallowed it. Rumble... A dull noise came from the distant mountains, and accompanying the rumbling were the faint cries of animals. Chen Fan estimated that it was at least tens of leagues away from his location, and that it was probably caused by two large animal populations fighting over their territories. At the moment, Cloudracer''s feathers were starting to become golden, and the original fluffs were already covered by feathers with hollow shafts. Driven by instinct, its two wings often flapped unconsciously, just like a propeller helicopter with insufficient fuel that was struggling on the track. Chen Fan was already training it on how to walk left and right, which would form the foundation for learning how to fly left and right. Riding on its back, Chen Fan would signal it on the direction to go by pulling the feathers on its neck. At first, Cloudracer certainly could not understand Chen Fan''s intentions. However, as long as it did not go in the direction as signaled by Chen Fan, he would keep pulling its feathers hard, until it walked in the correct direction, after which, Chen Fan would award it with a piece of beef. After it could understand that pulling its feathers was meant to signal it on the direction to go, Chen Fan would move on to a more advanced training. Meaning that, he would signal it on the direction he wanted it to go by shifting his center of gravity. And lastly, dear readers, just to explain more clearly on a few things you may have read: Some readers may be wondering, since the python''s head was only the size of a buffalo, how could the electric eel, which was about as long as the python, hold the armored vehicle in its mouth? That is because a snake''s head is much thinner than its body. The head of a green anaconda, which is over ten meters in length, is not even as thick as a rubber ball. On the other hand, an electric eel''s head is as thick as its body. Furthermore, an eel has a fat but short body, while a snake is thin and long. 230 A Slaughterhouse? The trees cast shadows, and the mountain ranges were far without end. A strong wind blew across, as if it was caressing the wheat fields, creating a rippling effect. The wind was the sky''s breath and the mountains were the earth''s spine! Doesn''t this look like a majestic landscape painting? Unfortunately, an animal''s desperate cry could be heard from afar, as if its testicles were bitten off by an alien. The shrieks completely destroyed the majestic grandiosity of the scenery. "Cloudracer, jump here!" Chen Fan, who was standing at the foot of the mountain, started howling at the sky. On the cliff about 30 meters above, was the golden eagle, who had grown to a length of 30 meters and a wingspan of 17 meters long. Cloudracer cowered at the side of the cliff. It looked as if it was too afraid to jump down. What a pitiful expression! No doubt, even the most intelligent human toddler would have to fall down multiple times in the process of learning how to walk! If Chu Ying could not persevere against the painful battles and attacks, how would he be able to soar on the ninth heaven? Thirty meters seemed to be an extremely safe height. Looking at the cowering Cloudracer, Chen Fan''s lips curled into a devious smile. At the same time, a cunning smiled was also plastered on the face of the electric eel, who was curling up by the cliffside. It lifted up its forepaws silently, then gave Cloudracer a little push... "Ang!" The moment its fingertips touched Cloudracer, the latter spread out its wings and let out a piercing shriek. The shrilling sound had an extremely high frequency. Chen Fan and the electric eel trembled, but they had nowhere to hide. The ear-piercing din lingered around the mountains for three to five seconds before gradually coming to a halt. Chen Fan rubbed his eardrums and sighed dejectedly. Now that the voice had mellowed down, Chen Fan realized that the scenery before him had suddenly turned dim. He quickly lifted his head, only to realize that Cloudracer had actually tripped on its wings and was rolling down the the cliff. "Oh no!" Chen Fan made a rather peculiar noise and scurried behind a piece of rock within half a second. "Thump!" Cloudracer staggered like a drunk alcoholic before finally falling flat on the ground and spattering a storm of dust with its wings. The dust storm almost drowned both Cloudracer and Chen Fan. "Bah Bah Bah!" Chen Fan covered his nose and mouth before dashing out from the back of the stone. This fellow was definitely a dust machine. If that was not the case, how was it able to stir up such a dust storm? After experiencing the fall, the dusty and dirty Windracer still refused to stand at the cliff, despite Chen Fan''s desperate pleas. Finally, Chen Fan was left with no choice but to control the electric eel. It ran down the cliff and seized Cloudracer, ready to settle things with force. "Bam!" Chen Fan had learned his lesson this time. He directly ran toward the cliff, while the electric eel remained on the ground. The first try, the second, the third... Every time Cloudracer flapped its wings and soared into the skies, only to fall down to the ground immediately after. Regardless, Chen Fan would still provide it with a big fresh fish to console its fragile little heart. Eagles generally have an instinct to fly. After multiple trainings, on the third day of this cliff-jumping activity, Zhui Yu screamed, as it was finally able to flap its wings and soar in the skies. After it tasted the freedom of flight, Cloudracer seemed to have entered into a trance. It hovered around the blue sky, occasionally teasing the electric eel or provoking the python. As the saying goes: newborn calves are not afraid of tigers. Since Cloudracer had yet to step foot into the "adult world", whenever it stumbled upon other humongous animals, it would probe them with its claws. The results were rather predictable. There was one instance, when it was almost gobbled up by a big fish in the ocean. After learning from its mistakes, it was finally willing to hold back a little. It even self-taught the concept of "bullying the weak and fearing the strong", as it now only picked fights with smaller creatures. "This is finally rideable!" Staring at the opulent saddle with beautifully carved patterns, which was purposely produced by a handicraft finishing factory as per his request, Chen Fan was almost moved to tears. From the moment it hatched till its training periods during adulthood, Chen Fan was its mentor and caretaker. It was one of his most indescribably difficult periods in his life. Finally, his endeavors paid off. How could he not be excited? Regarding the saddle with beautifully carved patterns, after witnessing the birth of a horse saddle, an elephant saddle, an ostrich saddle and other nonsensical creations, this new history-changing invention was created! The seat was made up of a strong, lightweight polythene material. It had a matte surface with beautiful flower patterns on top, which would increase its friction and prevent the rider from slipping off. There was even an arc-shaped handle on the front part of the saddle. Two stirrups were also connected to the bottom part of the saddle. Also, an inbuilt soft leather belt would be tied to his waist to keep him in place while riding. As for the billet strap, it was present to keep the saddle in place on the golden eagle. Chen Fan chose a golden dacron strap, which could withstand the sudden 2000kg pull, whilst the hoop was completely made up of titanium alloy, making it unimaginably hard! Chen Fan had requested the factory to produce seven different sizes of this extremely expensive saddle. The biggest one would be a perfect fit for the size of an adult golden eagle''s neck. Speaking of the adult golden eagle, Chen Fan had become downhearted. To prevent it from creating any form of havoc after discovering the golden eaglet, Chen Fan had even placed the individual missile launchers on the sides of its body, so it would be prepared for any sudden attacks. Unfortunately, the humongous eagle had disappeared without a trace. Did it die from severe injuries, or did it leave the grounds because it was heartbroken over its children''s disappearance? After he blew a shrill-sounding whistle, Chen Fan smiled cheekily and stroked Cloudracer''s head. As it was enjoying the tender care from its owner, it probably did not even expect Chen Fan to have such twisted thoughts! After waving his hand at Cloudracer like a head of state reviewing his troops, Chen Fan grabbed the saddle and positioned it on its back after it laid down on the ground. He then tied the long billet strap across its chest and buckled it into the shape of an X. Surprisingly, Cloudracer was not agitated after the saddle was tightly strapped on. It wiggled its body, only to realize that it could not fling the saddle away. So, it ended up letting it be. Chen Fan then put on aviator sunglasses and a brown leather hunting jacket and hopped on Cloudracer''s back. He spent quite some time coming up with this rider-like outfit. He took reference from cowboy accessories and modern rider style trends. He even wore a leather ammunition belt on his waist, with a Beretta M9, five bullets, and two grenades carried in it. "Cloudracer, let''s lift off!" Chen Fan shouted in full spirit. He then gently nudged the eagle''s abdomen as a signal to lift off. "Ang!" Cloudracer''s screams were silvery like chiming bells. His claws pushed off the ground and the two immediately soared toward the sky. When the body was freed from the gravitational pull, all that could be heard was the sounds of the rustling wind. How does it feel to be able to feast upon the vastness of the views as one rises higher into the sky? This feeling could not be emulated by merely sitting in a plane. The plane is a metal cage. How would it be able to allow one to have a taste of the most primitive ways of flight? Chen Fan did not even have to open his eyes to enjoy the view. All he had to do was to relish the rhythm of Cloudracer''s flapping wings and the feeling of his body piercing through the wind in lightning speed in order to experience the mystery of flight! "The clouds rose, and my eyes strained to see the birds fleet. It tried to ascend the mountain crest, but it dwarfed all peaks under our feet Damn, this feels incredible!" As he rode on Windracer''s back, he started reciting Du Fu''s "Gazing on Mount Tai" gallantly! When Cloudracer was still unable to fly, Chen Fan had started training it to identify which direction to take through movements. Thus, at this very moment, all Chen Fan had to do was shift his body''s center of gravity so that Cloudracer, who greatly relied on him, would know when to change directions. "Oh!" While Chen Fan was still living in the pleasurable sensation of flight, a scream of anguish resonated from the large mountain. It sounded as if they had arrived at Avici. "Cloudracer, let''s fly toward the large mountain. Why don''t we go find out what animal is actually wailing nonstop?" Cloudracer hovered above their living place twice. Chen Fan shifted his center of gravity so that it would change its direction. The monster had been wailing for more than ten days. Sometimes, there was not a stir around, but other times the sound could be heard in quick succession. Regardless, they all sounded like the wails of animals that were about to be killed. Since he was previously occupied with Cloudracer''s trainings and the electric eel was never able to walk fast on land, Chen Fan had no choice but to suppress his curiosity. Now that he had the means to fly, he would obviously have to go take a look. The serpent-like mountains looked like a projection of slides as they quickly flashed passed Chen Fan''s sight. Cloudracer trailed the mountain tops for about 30 seconds, the surrounding air suddenly reeking of blood. "Did someone open a slaughterhouse down there?" Chen Fan''s curiosity was piqued. He could not wait to take a look at the creature who was slaughtering animals. As Cloudracer elevated his body and leapt toward the 1000-meter tall mountains in front of them, Chen Fan''s eyes were fixated on the sight below. The harder he focused, the bigger his eyes became. If a biologist had witnessed this scene, he would definitely be sliced open for research purposes, to test if he was actually a metamorphosed Lionhead Goldfish! There was a barren rocky dessert at the back of the mountain, with a blue natural lake situated on the right. The surface area of the lake was not huge, about the size of two football fields. Meanwhile, 27 silver-haired chimpanzees, whose heights were about 13 meters, stood in the middle of the rocky desert. The chimpanzees had bushy hair and their foreheads bulged out like little hills. Their chests looked like they had silicone breast implants, which girls would probably be envious of. Their muscles were built like a brick outhouse and their extremely long upper limbs reflected the true essence of "herculean strength"! The 27 chimpanzees each held a tree branch as thick as a white python in their right hand. The branches were stained with a bloody stench. They were surrounded by over 50 types of colossal creatures that were glaring at the chimpanzees ferociously. If this sight was not thrilling enough, there was a sea of animal carcasses lying nearby. There was also an unknown plant that was encircled by the chimpanzees, as if they were guarding it. Any idiot would be able to identify the fact that the plant was a valuable treasure of the location. The plant was about five meters tall and had seven to eight pieces of emerald hued new leaves that hung on its barren white rhizome. An extremely purple round-shaped fruit hung on the tip of it. While Chen Fan was in a daze, the chimpanzee in the middle of the troop, which was evidently taller than the rest of its counterparts, had white hair growing from its back to its tail and thighs. Anyone would obviously be able to identify that it was the leader of the chimpanzees. Suddenly, the leader turned his gaze toward the golden eagle, Cloudracer, which was 1000 meters above the ground! (To be continued, if you wish to know what happens next, please log into www.qidian.com for more chapters. Go support the author and authorized reading!) 231 Total Conflic Its gaze was like a cold machete. Anyone who looked at it would feel frightened. Its look revealed that it was totally calm and fearless. In fact, it was the look that could only be possessed by one who had undergone the baptism of time. Being stared at by the leader of the gorillas did not cause Chen Fan to be stressed at all. This was because Chen Fan was at an elevation of over a thousand meters, while the gorilla was no more than 15 meters tall and obviously did not have wings. The next moment, Chen Fan realized that his judgment was terribly wrong. After seeing the golden eagle in the sky, the huge gorilla put down the trunk and picked up a large rock. Then, he whirled the rock, which was over half a meter tall, above his head, just like a tornado. He then threw it towards Cloudracer. It is common knowledge that the anatomy of gorillas closely resembles that of humans. It is also known that primates can use simple tools, and that a gorilla weighing 150 kilograms can shove a car a distance of four meters in just one push... Boom!!! It was difficult to describe how strong the gorilla was. To provide an idea, however, it threw the rock, which weighed a few hundred kilograms, at the speed of a crossbow projectile! "Tweet! Ah!" Cloudracer and Chen Fan, both being inexperienced in such situations, shouted out simultaneously. The first was flapping its wings desperately, while the other was clinging tightly onto the handle in front of him. Their reactions were actually quite exaggerated. If the adult golden eagle were to have been there instead, it would definitely have remained much calmer, as the gorilla was over a thousand meters away from the eagle. Over this distance, even a bullet shot by the Barrett anti-material rifle would take more than an entire second to reach it. Vroom! After 2.5 seconds, the heavy rock flew past the golden eagle. It rushed by roughly eleven meters on its left. The speed was so fast, Chen Fan was certain that it would smash the two into sludge, should it hit them! "Let''s go!" Chen Fan yelled. Not daring to stay any longer, he immediately urged Cloudracer to escape. Roar! Just as the lead gorilla was throwing the rock, a black wild boar, which was over ten meters in length and had tusks taller than a human body, howled and charged towards that plant. Bang! Without even using the weapon in its hand, a big gorilla closest to it lifted its left paw to slap the side of the boar''s head. The sound the impact created was even louder than thunder. The boar flew forward immediately, its body slanted and blood oozing out from its ears and nose. The scene was like cold water being poured into boiling oil: the group of animals, which had been staring at the plant, went totally berserk. All of them roared and charged towards the circle of huge gorillas. Chen Fan, who had already escaped far away from the place, looked back to see a scene that he would remember for the rest of his life. The more than 20 "guardians" reminded him of Megatron from the movie Transformers. Whenever they attacked, they would kill whatever and whoever were in their paths, instantly. The scene was so bloody, that ordinary people would not have been able to tolerate even the sight of it. Whenever an animal was smashed by a trunk, either its brain fluid would burst out or its bones would be crushed. The most tragic animal was a reptile with two huge horns on its head. Just as it opened its mouth wide to bite the arm of a gorilla, which was fighting with other monsters, a trunk came out of nowhere and was inserted into its mouth. Then, the trunk was also inserted into its belly with the same force. Next, the gorilla raised its arm and lifted the reptile in the air, throwing it hard at another animal. Needless to say, the trunks the gorillas were holding were definitely something similar to iron sandalwood trunks, which had the absolute high resistance to impact. Otherwise, it would not be possible that, after fighting with the animals for so long, there were still no cracks in the trunks. ... "It''s so scary!" Five minutes later, Chen Fan, who had returned to the seaside, leaned against the electric eel''s back, while patting his own chest. He was astounded that the gorilla could actually throw a rock over a thousand meters, and then, that the rock was still powerful when it reached them over that distance! After calming down from the shock of all that had just happened, an even more shocking question came into Chen Fan''s mind. Compared to humans, animals understand the phrase "to act according to one''s ability" even better. For example, a wolf will never go and fight with a tiger. So, what was this treasure that could cause so many clever animals to risk their lives? Judging from the roars he had heard during that period of time, there were at least a few hundred animals that had already been killed by the gorillas. Since so many of these animals had tried to bite off more than they could chew, which eventually got them all killed, it meant that the thing being guarded by the gorillas must be extremely attractive and valuable to them. Perhaps, it could even make them immortal! "Immortality, perhaps? Should I go and take that plant, then?" Chen Fan mumbled to himself and kept rubbing his head, wondering aloud with hesitation. There were 27 silverback gorillas. If Chen Fan really wanted to eliminate them, he only needed to use his brain and think of some feasible way. The problem was that he was totally unsure of the plant''s effects, meaning that he did not know whether he would get back an adequate return as compared to the price he would be paying to get it. If he did get the plant in the end, if the plant was useless, he would be taking a very huge loss! Seems like I need to observe things a bit longer.. Standing up and dusting himself off, Chen Fan entered the armored vehicle, planning to return to the cave in Zhongyun. Logging into his computer, Chen Fan opened the UBS website, only to realize that three days had already passed! What''s more, during this time, the Ohno Group had still yet to send over the liquidated damages! Until today, the Ohno Group had already sent their liquidated damages four times, a total of which was 870 million USD. Since they had delayed for so long this time, perhaps they wanted to repudiate the debt... "Humph, I will give you three more days. If you still refuse to pay the money, I will make you pay in more serious ways!" Sneering, Chen Fan sent an email over to them, demanding the liquidated damages. Meanwhile, in the Takeda Building in Shinjuku, Tokyo, a small meeting among the board members of the Ohno Group was taking place. "Alright. I think everyone already knows the reason for this meeting." In front of the brown oval meeting table, Goro Ota cleared his throat, a serious expression on his face. "We have three offshore drilling platforms left now, and can only produce two hundred thousand barrels of crude oil daily. Even if our crews work day and night without rest, the oil produced can only meet the requirements in the oil supply contract with Matsui Chemicals. Since Matsui Chemicals is a semi-military factory, we can only terminate the other two oil agreements to prevent us from suffering further losses. If anyone has any opinion on this, please share it now. We will then decide on the outcome of the proposed plan by raising our hands." "Sir, after the plan is carried out, what will we do about the liquidated damages on the agreement? One of them is a subsidiary company under our group, and there will not be any legal disputes or liquidated damages." A middle-aged man, the third person sitting on the left at the table, asked, frowning. "And, how about our agreement with Kate Rozanne, the Chinese agreement? The liquidated damages on the agreement are as high as 200%, and we have already delayed the payment this time by three days. Furthermore, if we terminate the contract just from our side, the opposite party will definitely sue us. By then, the the office will certainly conclude that the agreement is in effect, so we will then actually have to pay the liquidated damages." "The plan to refuse to pay the liquidated damages is not my idea, but that of the Nakagawa family. If things continue to be like this, by the time the agreement ends, we must pay liquidated damages as high as seven billion USD. This is an astronomical number that we cannot, and will not, accept. As for legal issues, the Nakagawa family has decided to use internal communication to settle them." "Since this is the plan of the Nakagawa family, I have no objections." "Me either!" After hearing this, all the directors seated were no longer interested in further discussion. In less than five seconds, all of them raised their hands in agreement. In the afternoon, instead of getting the liquidated damages, Chen Fan received an electronic letter of notice from the Ohno Group, which read: Dear Mr. Kate Rozanne. Because four of our oil wells have successively experienced irreparable major accidents, we have to drill four new oil wells on the site. Therefore, after discussing with the board, we have decided to terminate the oil supply agreement with you unilaterally. If you wish, you can sign a new oil supply agreement with us for the following year. However, the quantity of oil and the amount of liquidated damages must be decided by our company. "F**k. Seems like they have decided to turn against me!" Although it had been Chen Fan himself who caused their oil wells to malfunction, he still smacked the table in anger. He then typed his response: I remember that, in the agreement, there is a line stating that we cannot terminate the agreement unilaterally. We can only terminate the agreement when all of the 78 million barrels of crude oil are delivered, which is the amount supplied in half a year, unless both of us agree otherwise. Now that you have decided to breach the contract unilaterally, I would like to ask your company if you plan to pay the liquidated damages at all? Now it was the company''s turn to respond: Although we regret that the agreement this time cannot be completed, please understand our difficulties. As for the liquidated damages, you can settle it via negotiation with the arbitration institutions in Tokyo. "Settle my a**!" Chen Fan was fuming, as he would not be stupid enough to eagerly run to Japan and engage in a lawsuit. In his opinion, the arbitration institutions in Japan were blacker than the coal in China, where many victims of the Sino-Japanese Wars had gone to sue the offenders, but no institutions had given them fair adjudication. If they really wanted justice, they had to settle it with force. These examples swirled in his thoughts. You can wait to pay the astronomical fines from the Libya government! Chen Fan closed his email, not even bothering to reply again. The crude oil leakage in the Gulf of Mexico gave Chen Fan an excellent inspiration, in that, that one oil well caused the largest oil company in the UK to lose tens of billions of USD. The indirect losses were incalculable. If it hadn''t been for the UK government, which had been supporting it, it would have collapsed immediately from the chain effects, just like a game of Dominoes. "Nakagawa family and Ohno Group, you can just wait to die!" Chen Fan was so angry, felt capable of doing anything at the moment. Lying on the bed, he planned to control the electric eel to go to the Libya seas, then overturn the oil wells there. Of course, Chen Fan was not a hothead. Hence, he was not prone to doing anything rash, without first thinking about the consequences. Were he to destroy the oil wells, the social repercussions would definitely be enormous. The Libya government and Japan would both pay close attention to the incident, so Chen Fan had to do everything flawlessly. In other words, Chen Fan had to do something that would not lead to them suspecting Kate Rozanne... 232 The Blessing Spreading Spirits Seamlessly perfect? This should not be difficult, since there were way more unexpected situations than the stars in the sky. It was somehow common to have some accidents, too! The time was 2 p.m., and the electric eel was expected to take a little more than a day to arrive. At that time, Libya''s Garaf Economic Sea area would surely be the center of focus worldwide. As for the environmental problems caused by this incident, Chen Fan''s philosophy was "Having a dead friend is better than being dead yourself." Since the ones who would get into trouble were somehow Libya and the Zhongchuan family, not himself. Besides that, with the help of modern technology and huge sums of money invested to stop the oil pollution from flowing into the sea, some little trickle that got away would not cause any major environmental harm. Time had passed in the blink of an eye and it was already the second day. The route for the electric eel''s operation was still the northern-end of Russia route, which would pass through the residential site of the Eskimos at the beginning, then cross the Strait of Gibraltar and head straight up to the Mediterranean sea. In order to carry out their plan, the electric eel took a native species from the waters around Greenland in preparation for a "trick". The No.1 oil rig located 83 miles away from the coast was first targeted by the electric eel. The last time, the electric eel drilled to the bottom of the oil control valve and twisted the pipeline with its brutal force in order to prevent the crude oil from flowing through. Today, the electrical eel was preparing to break the bottom of the oil controlling valve directly in order to trap the Zhongchuan family in an inescapable debt! Crude oil is a viscous and dark-brown liquid. Even though it is lighter than water and can be dissolved in various types of organic solvents, it''s somehow insoluble in water and would even form a type of emulsion that''s difficult to get clean. Thus, when crude oil leaks, it would float and spread on the surface of the sea rapidly, then chemically react with the sea water to form a type of sticky and viscous grease. The only way to get rid of this would then be using an absorbent mat or powder, made by wool and polypropylene. Had it spread onto the land, it would seep into the soil slowly. The only way to eliminate it at that point would be natural decomposition. However, that would take at least five years! When the electric eel reached the No.1 oil rig, it found that the subsea oil extraction tree was demolished and only the oil controlling cap on top of it was left. Yet, there was an oil drill with a diameter of one meter that was working noisily at the site five meters away. Presumably, they must have decided to abandon this oil rig and re-extract the same site. "Hirano Yuta, do you think that the newly exploited oil rig would incur the same trouble as last time?" The two young men in orange-yellow working attire chatted while laying against the balcony fence on top of the living cabin. That was due to the operation of oil rig only requiring a few people to keep an eye on it. As such, there was nothing much to be done by them. "How would I know about this?" Hirano Yuta took a last puff of smoke and threw the cigarette butt into the sea, like how Galileo threw an iron ball out from the leaning tower of Pisa when experimenting with gravity. He continued to speak. "Perghhh, I am pissed that you mentioned this matter. I was inside surveying the ship, which was sent by the headquarters last week, and asked the geologist from University of Tokyo if there was someone intentionally destroying the oil rig, since there were so many facing the same issues at the same time. And, do you know how he answered me?" "How?" The man sitting next on him suddenly threw his cigarette away and paid full attention. In fact, many people had suspected that it was a hostile act done intentionally by the competitors. Otherwise, how would the incident be as coincidental, like all the planets lined up with the sun? "The professor looked at me like I was a fool instead!" Hirano Yuta slammed the railing angrily and said. "Then, the doctor was being sarcastic and suggested I go back to elementary school. He said this because I knew when I was in middle school that, according to the calculation from the standard atmospheric pressure formula of five 1.013 x 10 square pascal, and the = p0gh/RT frictional resistance formula, and also the multiplication of level of damage having been done to the surface of earth with the mohs hardness of 5.6, I could come to a conclusion that only God could complete such a work. Especially in light of it being completed so precisely in only one day. Of course, I don''t believe in God. In fact, I don''t think God exists. I only believe in science. Nonetheless, science told us that the human technology had not been that advanced, at least to the extent where even underwater robots couldn''t capture any trace of the machines exploited in the videos yet." "This person is mentally ill!" "Who would say otherwise? "Hirano Yuta complained. "I understand that with the current human technology, no one could drill into the hard formations of a sea bed yet. But he didn''t have to tease me with numerous annoying formulas, right? I really wanted to smack..." Without finishing his words, Hirano Yuta lifted his tired eyes quickly, staring at the sea with an unconcealed shock on his face. "Oh, my God, have a look, quick, it''s a narwhal!" Following the direction of his pointing with his index finger, he could only see a spiral-shaped brown horn, about 3.5 meters long, reaving on the surface of the crystal-blue sea. It belonged to an approximately 5 meter long whale. "Splash!" Once the narwhal with black-and-white dots emerged from the surface of the seawater, it spit a puff of off-white gas, causing the crowd on the oil rig to scream. It was a narwhal, the legendary sea elf! In ancient times, its straight and tough horn was always sold as being the horn from a unicorn. Usually, it was only sold to the European royal family by dishonest traders. At the peak of the Roman Empire, on the throne of Emperor Trajan, two horns were erected as a symbol of power. To get these two horns, he even ordered his men to lead troops and ships that were full of spices, jewels, and weapons, all for the purpose of exchanging with the aborigines in Greenland. What was even more ridiculous, was that when the Roman Empire collapsed and the two unicorns were robbed by Byzantium, where they were treasured until the demise of the Byzantium Dynasty, only to then be later lost in the war. However, living in the modern days with advanced technology had now revealed the mystery of narwhal. Specifically, that its horn was actually its teeth. There were a lot of pictures regarding it online. Why then, would the workers on the oil rig shout? That was because narwhals were like pandas. They are a species exclusive to the Arctic Ocean. Just like how the panda is exclusive to China, people would definitely be shocked if the panda from our country went all the way to Myanmar. "Click, click. Snap, snap." Many people on the rig took their camera out and took several pictures of the narwhal. "Oh, it must be the miracle from the sun goddess, and I promise you that the presence of this sea spirit will bring us good luck." An oilfield worker who believed in Shintoism began to pray sincerely. (The goddess of the sun, also known as Amaterasu, who would''ve thought that Amaterasu was a she?) More than half of the workers here were Shinto believers. The belief of the biggest religion in Japan, Shintoism, is precisely that the spirits in nature are gods and deities. As such, when they saw a narwhal, they immediately prayed sincerely. "This is the glory of the sun goddess, so I want to tell everyone about this!" The chief commander of the rig, Kinoshita Nanami, delightedly shared the photos of the narwhal, which were just copied into computer from those who were on duty at the oil well in the groupchat. He had also edited the photos and posted them on their public website for the purpose of publicity. "It''s done, Kinoshita-kun! "Uchida Ryota, who had just finished editing the photos, said in a credit-seeking tone. In order to make the picture look better, he added a sentence which read: The spirits from the distant sea, spreading the glory of the blessing! "Good!" Kinoshita Nanami returned him with a complimenting gaze in a frank manner. At the same time, the workers on other oil rigs who received the picture passed on their congratulations. Two of them had even replied enviously: "Why didn''t the ocean spirit come to us?" "Hehe, I was the first one who saw it!" On the side of the railings, Hirano Yuta beamed with pride. "Then, you must be the luckiest person here!" "Huh? Look, something''s wrong with the color of the sea!" "Yeah, how could it darken for no reason? " "Well...well...it seems like the crude oil is leaking..." "Wee-woo-wee-woo!" At this moment, a high-pitched siren rang out on the oil rig, like a shriek, causing people who were daydreaming to possibly have thought that the 2012 apocalypse event had arrived. "What is actually going on?" Kinoshita Nanami dashed into the commanding room in a fast pace. Then, two pale-looking face came into his sight, making his spine shiver as if it was frozen. "We...Our underwater detectors had found that there was lots of crude crude oil gushing out from the seabed..." "Pull up the oil belt immediately, and let the helicopter spray the oil-absorbing powder. Then dispatch the oil-clearing ships to clean the crude oil!" The sound of Kinoshita Nanami growling was so loud that even pilots of helicopters could hear him. Their effort was nonetheless futile, the orange-yellow oil isolating belt couldn''t stop the crude oil from gushing out. Even the oil-absorbent powder was ineffective. The oil-absorbing power expanded and bubbled like a school of dead fish, floating among the oily patch on the sea. (Oil-absorbing powder, which is similar to desiccant, is packed in a cylindrical mesh bag and capable of absorbing crude oil of ten times its own volume.) Within half an hour, the overflowing crude oil had overcome all the obstacles and spread its black trace through the ocean like a virus. "Immediately notify the headquarters and ask for help from the other six wells!" After shouting that sentence, the legs of Kinoshita Nanami could no longer support his body weight of 200 pounds and "Bam!" he collapsed onto the floor. "It''s over... it''s over, it''s all over" Twenty minutes later, six UH-1 general-purpose helicopters carried a large amount of oil-absorbing powder and mats to the contaminated area. After letting down the things impatiently, it returned immediately. Several crude oil recovery vessels were also moving towards them at maximum speed. At the same time, a blue colored deep-sea robot was deployed into the oil-polluted sea to live-stream the real-time situation of the leakage at the site with its cameras. Simultaneously, the seven technicians and managers of the oil rig were all gathered at the the commanding room, staring at the images sent from the deep-sea robots on a big screen without moving an inch. The advancement of technology and the rapidly developing information technology had allowed them to receive the same footage, despite being at different places for the purpose of brainstorming and discussing solutions! It felt like a century had passed before the deep-sea robot hoisted by steel cables reached a few hundred meters underneath the sea. The scenes of smoke gushing up black fog everywhere had shattered everyone''s hopeful fantasy. Especially under the searchlight, the controlling valve on the abandoned oil well was nowhere to be found, and only the leak with black liquid that was gushing nonstop violently could be seen. The operator of the robot insisted on circling the area once more. Finally they found the broken, white oil-controlling valve at the back of of the mist. And then there was silence, pin-drop silence, like the endless space beyond the atmosphere, where no sound could be transmitted. A long-dead narwhal lay beside the oil-controlling valve. Its 3.5 meter long horn on its lips was lying below the leak on the pipeline, the metal sheet that broke off still wrapped around the horn. Looking at the twisted opening of the metal pipe, one could quickly understand that it was caused by the narwhal after struggling to remove its horn, which was stuck in the pipe. But why did the two ton narwhal pierce through a pipe, as even bullets have difficulty in piercing such a metal? And why did the valve fall from the pipe? None of them could tell. "Yes...yes...that nar...nar...nar...narwhal..." Kinoshita Nanami rolled his eyes upwards and fainted without another word. "Who can tell me how did this damn narwhal managed to cross the Strait of Gibraltar to here? Why didn''t you all kill him at that time?" There was a burst of roaring coming from the control room. "The spirits from the distant sea, spreading the glory of the blessing..." The editor of that picture sat on the chair and uttered to himself. "Ah, screw that spreading of blessings..." The Ota Shiro who lived at the distant Shinjuku, Tokyo, yelled loudly. The last time a yelling this mad happened in Japan was probably during the Tokugawa Shogunate era by Tokugawa Keiji, when he was threatened into handing over his power by the two unorthodox samurais, who had held katanas on his neck. The anger in Ota Soro''s heart was indescribable. When he had just received the photo of the narwhal from the Libra oil-rig base, he even opened a bottle of aged wine. Sadly, before he could finish it, the screen on his desk suddenly switched to the footage from the deep-sea robot. That initially energetic narwhal had now became a mass of greasy black charcoal. Worse still, it broke the controlling valve into halves... "God, is this the devil''s sea?" After yelling his anger out, Ota Soro pulled his hair and howled in pain. If it was ten years backm when he was still single, he would have opened the window and jumped off from the twenty-first floor of this building. "Hmm..." Andy Bissell spoke awkwardly after a long silence, "If all goes well, we we will seal the rig in fifteen days." ... "If you manage to get it done in fifteen days, I would then climb around the stone tower three times!" Jeered Chen Fan as he watched the re-aired online news. A seabed is incomparable to land. Even when the oil rig in Mexico Bay leaked, the U.S., the U.K., and Mexico took about two months and ten days to close the oil rig. Although the oil rig in Libya wasn''t that deep, sealing it within fifteen days was impossible... "Phew Zhongchuan family, don''t you understand that money is even softer than toilet rolls in front of violence? Why did you mess me up?" Chen Fan, whose eyes were looking up to the sky, had closed the website. It had been three days since he visited Cloudracer, so it must be pissed by now. This time he had brought a Barrett anti-materiel sniper rifle to fend off the gorillas during his observation, just in case they wanted to attack him. The deadly weapon weighed 30 pounds and was equipped with 10 rounds of clips, It could hit through a helicopter''s bulletproof glass from two kilometers away, even tearing the pilot in half in the process. If replaced with a high-powered, full-metal armor piercing round, it could smash through a bullet-proof Hummer from 3 km away or smash five gorillas in line, skewering them like a kebab. (To be continued. For more, please log onto www.qidian.com.) 233 When Can The Oil Well Be Sealed? The spill of crude oil was an event that all governments detested. This was a disaster that no one ever wanted to happen in their own territorial waters! Not only was the viscous, crude oil difficult to clean, but the sea area that was covered by it also brought a complication that was capable of making zoologists jump to their deaths! This complication refers to the bundles of seaweed, coral reefs, seabirds and small fish that would inevitably die, due to toxic chemicals that are released by the crude oil, such as benzene and toluene. The great loss is difficult to be measured in terms of money, but it was known that it would undoubtedly deal with the fishing and tourism industries a devastating blow. It only took a single day for the crude oil to spread over more than 10 square kilometers. Despite the efforts of the seven oil wells, which were stationed there by the Ohno group, it appeared to be useless. "Command Ohno group to stop all of their sea projects here immediately. Then, start the primary disaster relief plan. Ask the coast guards from all over the country to quickly take part in the remediation work. Also, commission each city to dispatch one-third of their firemen to participate. Place orders from all the textile factories and chemical plants, instructing them to produce oil absorbent mats and powders at full capacity. Also, unseal all of the oil absorbent booms in stock in the cities on the shoreline. There must be more than two rows of oil absorbent booms set up by the bank. Do not let the crude oil leak onto the shore!" Gaddafi, the president of Libya, who was in his late sixties, sat on the office chair, which was made out of walnut wood, while his skin, which revealed quite a number of age spots, tightened like a discus. He had never been as angry as he was today, despite having been in power for 40 years. This could not even compare to when he had launched an armed coup to overthrow the rule of the dynasty in 1969, followed by the sanction of the US-led western group, nor when he was criticized by George W. Bush! "Stop all of the investment plans immediately and withdraw all possible funding. Then, mobilize all of the relevant industries, making them responsible for the purchase and production of oil cleaning materials. Contact the Air System Company, then rent all of their idle planes and deliver the materials to Libya by air transport as quickly as possible." The mentally exhausted head of the Nakagawa family, Nakagawa Ohno, was sitting on a wicker chair, giving out these orders, one after another, with shaking hands. This was absolutely the biggest crisis that the Nakagawa family had ever seen. Not only did they have to bear the astronomical costs of the environmental compensations, as well as the enormous costs of the oil cleaning, they also had to face a hard hit from their foe, the Mitsui family. Looking at all of the major oil spill accidents that had occurred around the world for the past few decades, each had resulted in the loss of at least 10 billion US dollars! For example, there was an accident in 1999, when the oil tanker "Erika," which carried 20,000 tons of oil, sunk into the sea at an area of 70 kilometers south of the Port of Brest. At that time, the EU investigation team spent two months on the case. When all was said and done, the investigation resulted in a cost of 2.1 billion US dollars, which was fully paid for by the French Total S.A. group. But, this was just the compensation for the pollution that resulted from the 20,000 tons of crude oil. In fact, the cleaning fee that they had to pay was double this amount! Nakagawa Ohno continuously chewed on three fast-acting pain relief pills, as his heart was weakened out of anxiousness. The No.1 drilling platform could earn more than this amount within two days. The oil spill incident at the Gulf of Mexico, which was similar to theirs currently, had led to economic losses of more than 100 billion US dollars. England''s oil tycoons had already paid almost 30 billion just for compensation, and this had yet to even include the cleaning costs! As of this moment, the conservative estimate for their projected costs already reached into the billions of US dollars, which was too much for the Nakagawa family to bear. Even if they were wealthy enough to have total assets worth 300 billion US dollars in the Union Bank of Switzerland, their annual net profit was only a few hundred million US dollars. In order to come up with 20 billion US dollars, the Nakagawa family would have to borrow more than 16 billion US dollars to fill the gap, unless they closed out their immovable properties. But, closing out the immovable properties would officially signify the beginning of the fall of the Nakagawa family, or at least result in a huge step backwards for at least a few decades. If this were to happen, their domestic position of second place would most certainly be reduced to fifth or sixth place "Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, welcome to CCTV News channel''s regularly broadcasted News. I am the host, Lang Yongchun, and I will now introduce the main headlines!" "The Palestinian government criticized the Israel conflict strongly, as Hamas swore to resist until the end!" "The Ministry of Culture made an announcement yesterday, pledging that they are going to fully support the development of the emerging culture industry on the Internet." "An especially huge oil spill has occurred off the coast of Libya, and the neighboring countries have indicated that they will lend a helping hand in order to save the polluted sea area together." "Next, we broadcast the details" "Yesterday at 3 p.m. Beijing time, a huge oil spill accident occurred at the economic zone between Libya and Garraf. The cause of this incident was due to leakage at the bottom of the oil control valve of a drilling platform that was developed by a Japanese petroleum corporation, which led to the gushing out of a large amount of crude oil." "This is perhaps another major accident, following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in Mexico. When our accredited reporter in Libya, Hu Qianqian, sent us the latest information, the oil was still leaking." "According to reports, the broken pipeline was gushing out oil at the rate of 12 thousand tons per day." "China''s PetroChina, along with the Royal Dutch Shell company and the American ExxonMobil company, will be joining hands to provide humanitarian aid towards this havoc caused by the Japanese Nagakawa Ohno group." "For now, only time will tell whether we will succeed or fail. We must seal the leaking pipes in the shortest time possible, in order to resolve the problem from its root. We have already sent the national expedition group to the site of the incident, in order to command the coordination work to be done. The Japanese government has also indicated that they will provide modern well-control technology, as well as donate 700 tons of oil absorbing powder, so that we may carry out decontamination efforts!" "Mr. Andy Pierre, How long will it take to effectively control the leakage accident this time?" "Hmm" Andy Pierre finally spoke with a clearly hesitant tone. "If everything goes well, we will seal the oil well successfully within 15 days. ... "If you can seal it within 15 days, then I will climb three rounds around the stone monument!" Chen Fan, who was watching the replay of the news online, said categorically. The seabed could not be compared to land. Even with the cooperation of America, England, and Mexico, the three countries had still spent two months and 10 days to seal the oil well in Mexico. Although the oil well in Libya was not as deep, it was still unrealistic to think that the oil well could be sealed within 15 days. "Huh! Nagakawa family, don''t you understand that, in the face of violence, money is softer than tissue paper? Why do you provoke me?" Chen Fan, who was looking towards the sky, closed the tab on the browser. It had been three days since he last took care of Cloudracer, so he reckoned that it must have been infuriated for a long time now. This time, he brought a Barrett anti-material sniper rifle and was prepared to use it to defend himself, when observing the Gorillas. This was to protect himself, just in case the Gorillas had malicious intents towards him. This large weapon, which weighed 15kg and was equipped with 10 cartridge clips, was capable of penetrating a helicopter''s bulletproof glass windshield from a distance of two kilometers. At the same time, it could also split the pilot in half! Also, if it was equipped with a high energy and fully metallic High Explosive Anti-Tank warhead, it would be able to penetrate a bulletproof Hummer from a distance of three kilometers. It could even penetrate five giant Gorillas in a line, forming a sugar-coated Chinese hawthorn fruit on a stick! 234 An Irksome Appearance Of course, the killer weapon that has been banned to be used on civilians nationwide had a recoil force like no other. Even though a recoil spring had been incorporated in the barrel along with a muzzle break, anyone who could not take more than 100 pounds in weight on their arms had better not play with this gun. Chen Fan was getting used to the gun. His only concern was that the gun was earth-shakingly loud. In fact, it was such a loud gun that Chen Fan could only store it in a soft bag and sling it over his shoulder. As he jumped off the vehicle while carrying the bizarre looking bag, Cloudracer, who was hovering in the air, came rushing as if it was seeing its family again. It was using its head, which was now as big as Chen Fan, against him. It had just been a few days, but Cloudracer''s body size had increased twofold. Its wings were now 24 meters apart. It was definitely a huge monster. After playing awhile with Cloudracer, Chen Fan did a flip jump onto its back and flew in the direction where the gorillas gathered. "Rawr!" Cloudracer roared. Its wings were flapping hard as it rose above the ground, agile like an F-35 joint strike jet fighter. The horrible shrieking noises were still going on. The blood was so dense that you could smell it from miles away. Chen Fan didn''t understand how those gorillas could survive up till now. Gorillas were herbivores. They would only eat meat occasionally by catching unsuspecting small animals. However, there were no fruits like bananas, durians, or jackfruit in that desert for the gorillas to eat, so only animal carcasses could fill them up. When Cloudracher was preparing to land on the top of the mountain, Chen Fan was slightly stunned. The giant python was also on the top of the mountain, staring at him suspiciously. "It seems like this fellow wants to join this adventur!" Chen Fan walked quietly to the python, opened his bag, and retrieved an ultra killer weapon that was almost two meters long. "Clack!" He inserted the clip, then focused his vision onto the advanced combat optical gunsight (ACOG) to observe the current situation. "Croak!" The python growled. It was curious as to what Chen Fan had in his hands, but he did not want to explain it to the snake. A telescopic sight with a magnification of 8-32x44MM was able to deliver clear images to Chen Fan''s eyes. When the magnification was set to 20, he could see the hairs on the gorillas. All 27 silverback gorillas were highly alert, their expressions grim. They each held a large stick in their muscular right hands and kept on waving it. Their gaze was sending out a message: "Try me if you dare!" It seems like the animals that came to provoke them had changed again. Most of them were creatures like jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards, and some other strange looking ones that Chen Fan could not recall. After observing for a long time, he shook his head. He was not optimistic about these attackers. It was a group of 20 large gorillas, who had teamwork skills and knew how to use weapons, against a bunch of sly animals that only knew how to charge blindly. It was incomparable at the most basic level. So, what if there were more of them? You can''t expect a tiger to team up with a wild boar, right? In fact, Chen Fan thought it was rather pointless if the giant python went up there. There were 27 large gorillas that would tear it to shreds with brute force. He estimated this was the reason why the snake was hiding in a corner to watch, instead of joining the battle. Then, the giant python turned and looked at Chen Fan eagerly. What it meant was very clear. It wanted Chen Fan to summon the lethal electric eel to help him finish this business in a magnificent feat. "Don''t look at me like that. I''m not very good at reading expressions. I totally do not get what you mean!" Chen Fan turned away cold-heartedly, ignoring the snake''s desperate gaze. "Clunk!" The electric eel was getting anxious too, wagging its tail, which was now as large as a train. If it wasn''t concerned that Chen Fan was too small and weak, it would have joined the fight by now. "Actually" He couldn''t stand the python anymore. Chen Fan pretended to think deeply and stroked his chin. "It''s not impossible to help you obtain that plant... Am I insane? Negotiating with an animal?" "Fine. I''ll help you obtain the plant, but I get to try it first. If it''s effective, then we''ll share it, half each. If it''s ineffective, it''s all yours!" To be honest, Chen Fan wanted to find out what effects the plant has as well. He didn''t want to act hastily simply because he had no clue. For instance, he did not know why the giant python could increase its freeze attack by eating the blue stones, but then nothing happened for the electric eel when it did the same. What really broke his heart was that the Ghost Moon Incense was only effective toward aquatic animals. Cloudracer had no results after eating that. Even the blue stone was ineffective for Cloudracer. Come to think of it, the giant python was the luckiest of the bunch, as it got all the advantages! "Maybe I''m just unlucky..." Chen Fan sighed sadly. He focused his gaze on the ACOG again to observe the lake topography behind the gorillas. To obtain the plant, it was necessary to kill all competitors. The bunch of low-grade beasts should not be a problem. He counted on the giant python to take them down solely. The gorillas were more difficult. They knew how to utilize throwing weapons, so even the electric eel had to peel its skin after getting a hit. According to Chen Fan''s observation, there were gorillas everywhere in that desert. If you go against one, it''s an invitation to hell that was jointly signed by all 27 large gorillas. "It seems like this is the only way!" Chen Fan packed the barrett sniper rifle into the bag. Then, he focused his thoughts onto the electric eel and commanded it to move closer. It was about 23 kilometers away from the ocean. The electric eel had to climb the mountain for half an hour to reach its location. Then, it had to follow the path and swim into the lake. Half an hour later, one flying creature, one human, and one snake stood on top of the mountain. There was a deafening rumbling sound. Then, a majestic, hundred meters long, black creature appeared before their eyes. "Roar!" Realizing that help had arrived, the giant python got so excited that its small eyes almost became one straight line. The electric eel greeted the giant python and moved toward the south-west direction while holding a spear. The giant python started to follow right behind unexpectedly. "Rowr!" The electric eel patted the python''s head and pointed at his own position, then at itself, then at him again. After a bunch of complicated hand gestures, the giant python finally understood that it should remain next to Chen Fan. A powerful energy could provide a sense of security. Chen Fan was in an unfamiliar territory and did not have the sense of security. Between the electric eel and the giant python, one of them must remain to protect him. The mountain top was 1500 meters away from the lake. The electric eel had to turn a big circle in order to reach the lake without getting spotted by the giant gorillas. The lake was about 30 meters deep, with a surface area of about two football fields. It was a tad small, but fortunately was big enough for the electric eel to squeeze into. "Shoosh! Shoosh!" When the giant python turned to look at the barrett sniper rifle, Chen Fan had deftly reloaded the gun. For this type of bullet, the shell casing itself weighed about 40 grams. The moment it fired, the bullet could reach a speed of 900 m/h instantaneously. Within 1,500 meters, there was no need to include consideration for wind direction or bullet delays. Aim, fire, hit. It was as simple as that! "Giant gorilla, please don''t blame me for being too cruel!" Chen Fan took a deep breath, then shook his arms around to let his muscles relax. However, just as he was ready to fire at the giant gorilla, there was a sudden change in the situation below that made Chen Fan''s jaw drop right to the ground. There was a feline creature. It was not longer than 5 meters and was about 2 meters tall. It was green and had no fur. Its smooth skin was shiny, possessing the texture and sheen of a metallic substance. When did it appear at the border of the desert?! It had four strong limbs and its tail touched straight to the ground. It almost looked like a panther, but there was a crescent-shaped spiral horn on its forehead. Beneath its jaws were two fierce tusks. Its blue eyes that kept blinking were emitting an impressive, unstoppable aura. The creature, however, did not make any noise or advance into attack mode. It moved forward casually and carefreely, as if it was just going to have a drink at the lake. And yet, because of its nonchalant manner, all of the surrounding animals felt deep fear. They were all shivering as they made way for it, and no one dared to make eye contact with it. "Roar!" The 27 giant gorillas stood in a circle. As if they had been poured ice-cold water on a winter night, their stares were cold and fierce. They pounded their chests with their left fists, producing heavy and vigorous sounds. The giant python was grave from the sudden change as well. It curled up in a defensive mode, as if getting ready for a strong enemy. "What in the world is this?" Chen Fan bit on his sleeves nervously. It seemed that the creature below was releasing a certain kind of powerful aura, and anybody who saw it could feel its fierce, brutal presence. Suddenly, the gray creature stopped in its tracks and looked around with its rhombus head. Wherever its vision went, the beasts bent down instantly. The scene was like a grass cutting machine had just passed through. Then, it looked up to the sky and roared loudly. The roar felt like thunder and pierced through the clouds. Even the electric eel, which was still submerged in the then peaceful lake, could felt the strong ripples that were formed from the vibration of its deafening cry. The sound of its angry roar was still lingering within the mountains when the gray creature burst into bullet speed and charged toward two sides of the creatures. It was like an Acco super bulldozer, capable of blowing even a 70-80 ton giant bear into the air. The funny part was that the bear wouldn''t even have a chance to retaliate. Then, it became a ray of dark light, and wherever the light went, dark smoke rose and shrieks were heard. No animal could hide from the attack of its crescent spiral horn. "Bang!" a cattle-looking green wolf was just trying to escape when the gray creature caught up with it. It ducked from the green wolf''s sharp fangs, and its forehead made a swift move as the crescent spiral horn stabbed into the wolf''s temple. A generous flow of red and white fluid gushed out of the wound. "Oh god, what is this thing?" Chen Fan was pressing on the ACOG so hard that he had almost smashed it. This creature was quicker than the giant python, and it had forcefully adopted the 106 Routines Chun Yang Jian sword technique with its horn. (To be continued. If you wish to know what happens next, please log into www.qidian.com for more chapters. Go support the author and authorized reading!) 235 Giant Gorillas Gone Wild What if it had attacked using its two sharp, monstrous tusks? The deadliest organ of a carnivore is its mouth, and perhaps its claws, too. A "green-faced tusk" was most appropriate to describe its appearance. It looked like it came from a mystical land, so Chen Fan decided to call it the Mystic Panther. Within 30 seconds, this formidable Mystic Panther had beaten almost all the competitors. Only about 10 creatures managed to escape. The others were left wailing in a pool of blood. There were even a few who struggled forward a few extra meters, but still dropped dead from severe injuries. Facing 27 giant gorillas alone, it still did not have a single strand of fear in its eyes, only limitless confidence and pride. On the contrary, the 27 giant gorillas had a strong spark in their eyes. Their dark bodies gathered closely around each other. RAWRRR! The giant silverback gorilla in the middle roared, swinging a 10 meter long tree, swishing it in the air. The scene absolutely looked like it was from a science fiction movie. All 27 gorillas were taller than 10 meters, but they were agitated by a single 5-meter-long, 2-meter-tall Mystic Panther...how could this be? The Mystic Panther was as fast as lightning and immensely powerful. However, in the natural world, the strength of gorillas is definitely top three among all the creatures. Hence, there should have been no need to be afraid of a panther, or even 20 of them. Unless of course, the Mystic Panther had some special powers. Just like a cobra snake, in terms of strength, even a small child could stomp it to death, but its deadly venom could take down a whole african elephant. The strange scenario was at a standstill. Nobody was sure whether the giant gorilla or the Mystic Panther would break the deadlock. As expected, both sides broke the deadlock at the same time. The 27 giant gorillas reacted at the same time, all picking up stones and throwing them at the Mystic Panther, roaring thunderously. Meanwhile, the Mystic Panther moved like electricity, as it spat out a light blue crescent shockwave. Let''s say that the crescent shockwave had a speed of an arrow fired from a strong bow, then the stones threw by the gorillas merely had the speed of pebbles launched from a slingshot. The strong light blue shockwave hit the chests of the giant gorillas, who didn''t even had time to dodge. A shockwave of a half a meter thick then went right through their chests and came out from their backs. It kept on going for a few hundred meters before the shockwave started to dissipate. Rumble. An ill-fated giant gorilla looked at its chests in disbelief. Then, just as it wanted to stop and cover its wounds with its left hand, it fell down with a loud crash. Brown colored blood gushed out, as if it was a water pump that had been left open. There was not a scratch left on the Mystic Panther from the stones thrown by the giant gorillas. While it was avoiding the stones, it had the opportunity and ability to spit out another ray of light blue crescent shockwave. "Wind...wind blade" Chen Fan stared at the Mystic Panther distractedly. The reality in front of his eyes was entwined with fantasy and magic, a scenario that his brain was having a hard time accepting. The wind blade hit on a giant gorilla''s abdomen casually, breaking its spine in half. The gorilla didn''t even have the time to scream before leaving to see the king of hell. It spat out two more wind blades. The furious gorillas were wielding tree branches and charging toward the Mystic Panther. There was one gorilla who swung the tree branch around as soon as it picked one up. While it established a dominant stance, the Mystic Panther didn''t even bother to glance that way. The panther powered up all four limbs, went right up to another gorilla, and clawed deep into its chest. It hooked the gorilla with its tusk and went in for a bite. "Bam!" The gorilla put a palm on its chest. It then covered its neck that was spraying blood and curled up like a shrimp on the ground. Just like a chicken just slaughtered at the throat, it was spasming and growling in pain with a deep strangling voice. Next to its body, the ten meter long tree branch seemed cumbersome. The giant gorillas realized that they had thrown away their wooden stick, then howled at the Mystic Panther to fight at close quarters. The gorillas were big and strong, and since there were quite a number of them, it was rather difficult to throw punches and kicks with the limited space. So, they gathered closely. The Mystic Panther, however, had the upper hand of being agile. It simultaneously tore open two more gorillas by the neck, and spat out another wind blade. Looking at the remarkable fight, where every hit was right on the flesh and every strike drew blood, Chen Fan felt that his brain capacity was getting close to overloading. Since when could a mouse take on 20 plus otters? He had also noticed another problem. The fighting capabilities of the Mystic Panther were undeniably strong, but its wind blade was deteriorating. Its fifth wind blade only left a ferocious wound on the gorilla, instead of cutting through them completely like it had before. CLANK! A dull sound of defeat travelled clearly to Chen Fan''s ears. That was when the Mystic Panther charged towards the leader of the silverback gorillas, who managed to duck away and slam its palm right onto the panther''s spine. The Mystic Panther flew 30 meters away. After rolling on the ground for a bit, it finally scrambled to its feet. Meanwhile, the leader of the silverback gorilla had four deep gouges in its chest from the panther''s claws. The dark hairs on its body were wet, soaked in red blood. There were 19 giant gorillas left. It was difficult to tell who had the upper hand. RAWR! RAWR! RAWR! The remaining giant gorillas were furious from losing their companions. It was as if they didn''t know fear as they charged forward with bloodshot eyes. With a squish, the horn of the Mystic Panther tore a hole in one of the gorilla''s abdomens. Then, it jumped away quickly, using its blood-stained eyes to look for the next target. Counting, "11...12...13...14...", Chen Fan stared blankly as he hid behind the mountain. His pupils expanded under the bright sun rays, revealing his frightened expression. Chen Fan could see it all clearly. The panther took on the attacks from seven giant gorillas, each time flying at least 20 meters away. However, this creature seemed like it was made of titanium alloy. It simply rolled on the ground until the momentum had worn off, then got up and fought again. How hard can an angry gorilla hit? On earth, just a mere slap could probably send a car flying. So, over here, it shouldn''t be too difficult for a slap from the giant gorilla to squash it into a soft mush... ROAR! As its comrades fell one by one, the leader of the silverback gorillas was getting anxious. It was trying to strike the Mystic Panther at every hit, no matter how injured it was. When its whole abdomen became a mash of blood and flesh and two deep holes appeared on its left shoulders, thanks to the tusks from the panther, only then did the anxious giant gorilla seize its chance. This time, the panther was attacking its comrade, when the leader gorilla then landed a slap on the panther''s forehead, smashing the whole creature''s head right into the ground. Meanwhile, it''s excavator-sized palm had been pierced through by the spiraling horn on the Mystic Panther''s forehead. It was as if it was someone else''s palm that had been pierced instead of its own. The leader pinched with all its might, grasping the Mystic Panther''s head in its hands. Then, like it was holding a gunny sack, the gorilla picked it up and threw the panther against the desert ground. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Deafening loud crashes knocked hard on everybody''s heart like a war hammer. Every living being was staring at the leader of the giant gorillas, stunned by its impressive fortitude. 236 The Charm Brought by Technology The inertia from the silverback gorilla''s swinging movement was so horribly strong that the Mystic Panther didn''t stand a chance. Thus, it could only take the beatings. Bam! Bam Bam! Chen Fan couldn''t recall how many times the silverback giant had thrown the panther around. He knew that the Mystic Panther''s green metallic skin had been torn apart by sharp rocks on the ground. It was even bleeding from its nose and mouth. Meanwhile, every single time the silverback giant gorilla swung its shoulders, the wounds on its body expanded from its movement. Red blood spattered from the gorilla onto the Mystic Panther''s body. There was no clear difference whose blood was whose anymore. Just like an elderly person nearing the end of their life journey, the movements of the silverback gorilla were slowing down with every passing moment. On its final attempt to lift its arm, it no longer had the energy to throw the panther down again. With a dull thud, like a robot that ran out of battery power, it fell headfirst on the desert ground. "You might not be the smartest, but I''m in awe of your courage!" Chen Fan sighed, as he looked at the silverback giant gorilla with sympathy. To be honest, Chen Fan had witnessed quite a few animal fights before. No matter how brutal it was or how much blood was spilled, he was quite used to it already. However, to see a warrior that knew its own end was coming, but kept going anyway, that was the telltale sign of a warrior that only cared about killing its enemy. Now, this was something he had never seen before. Even though the group of silverback gorillas had now lost their leader, they didn''t lose their spirits. The last five heavily injured gorillas howled and growled, all charging towards the Mystic Panther, expressing their anger with brutality! The first gorilla that got to the Mystic Panther locked both hands into a fist, then jumped and slammed its fists from a 90 degrees angle with all its might onto the panther. FHOOM! This heavy blow almost pounded the Mystic Panther''s bladder out from its body. There was dust everywhere and a tremendously loud noise echoed, causing people to wonder if the panther had been squashed into a teppanyaki squid. Then, suddenly, something unexpected happened. The giant python, who was just a spectator, turned into a ray of light and surged downhill from the mountain top in a rush. The python was dazzlingly fast, causing the creatures standing on the sides to open up a path reluctantly, like a collapsing dam. They then could only watch as the giant python zapped its way through. The five wounded silverback gorillas noticed the python''s ambush. They all furiously charged forward, ready to take on this despicable creature and tear it into pieces. Since this was not the giant python''s territory, the animals here did not know the depths of its capabilities. When the giant python ducked a vicious punch casually, it blew a freezing breath that turned the gorilla into an ice block. Only then did the other four gorillas get onto their feet, scrambling and howling away as they ran to pick up their weapons. But it was all too late, as the speed of the giant python was three times faster than the Mystic Panther. Besides its large physique, which makes it more difficult to avoid projectiles, it had the upper hand, hands down. What''s more, there were only four heavily injured soldiers, not 27 high spirited warriors like before. The giant python used its body, which was as massive as a train, to sweep in a circle on the floor, hitting all four gorillas, which hadn''t even had the chance to grab their weapons, sending them flying 20 meters away. In the end, only two giant gorillas struggled to their feet. They exchanged a look at each other, their exhausted bodies telling each other in an unspoken code: "We can''t overpower it!" The moment they were in a daze, the giant python attacked again with its tail. The two giant gorillas took the hit again reluctantly. All of this happened in a flash. According to the Humane King Sutra: "In the time of a flick, there are 60 moments. In a moment, there are 900 births and deaths." Within 60 moments, the two gorillas'' lives were taken away from them. They were left only with a strong reluctance, while disappearing from this world. Alright. Though the giant python''s action were sly and shady, the natural world has always been so cruel. Morals or philosophy does not apply to the order of nature. Hence, power will forever be the absolute ruler. The German iron chancellor, Bismarck, once said, "The truth lies within the shooting range of a canon!" It sounds violent and brutal, but there''s nothing more effective than brutality in solving problems. After defeating all the opponents, the giant python raised itself up towards the sky and let out a long hiss, then moved around in the middle of the sandy floor, rolling up dust and sand. This time around, all the other animals that were lingering took the opportunity to race forward. If they don''t do it now, they wouldn''t stand a chance. Even though the giant python was very strong, it did not discourage their determinations to obtain the plant. Bam! A deafening sound rang in their ears. As if they''d been cursed by a witch, all the beasts stopped in their tracks instantaneously, including the giant white python. The person who created the loud bang was none other than Chen Fan, using the anti-material rifle in his hands. The Mystic Panther that Chen Fan had thought was dead, suddenly started to tremble, then scrambled onto its feet. Its head was dyed with fresh blood, staring coldly at the giant white python. Fire! Chen Fan pulled the trigger without hesitation. The mighty strength of the recoil and deafening sound of the shot had made his face muddy and gray. This scene proved the idea: the more the effort, the better the rewards. The supersonic bullet was fired by high power gunpowder, meaning that no matter how sensitive to sounds the animals were, they wouldn''t hear its trail. Only when the bullet had flown a few hundred meters away, would the delayed sound travel to their ears. It was simple physics, because the bullet travels faster than sound! This supersonic bullet had also prevented the Mystic Panther from identifying its source and evading it. The bullet, packed with more than 20,000 Joules of force, went through the Mystic Panther''s rock tough body like a piece of thin paper. As it shattered into more than 20 metallic jets, these tiny pieces of metal tore the panther''s body apart. The panther''s majestic and streamlined body instantly turned into an abstractionist oil painting, becoming such a mess that even a great connoisseur wouldn''t be discern it! The beasts below seemed like they were losing their morale and came to a realization. The Mystic Panther, which was an unbelievably strong beast, was ambushed by a quiet creature that came out of nowhere and was killed by it? This was also the reason that the giant python was in a standstill now. Since it had never witnessed the power of technology, of course it didn''t realize that it was Chen Fan''s doing, especially since he was standing on the mountain top a few thousand meters away. While the animals were still staring blankly, intense ripples suddenly danced through the initially peaceful lake like a blooming lotus flower. Then, a 100 meters-long super monster with a full body of black scales emerged from within the ripple. The monstrous creature''s gaze was so fierce and powerful that its majestic body rippled with sinews. With just a look, anyone would understand how formidable the creature was. 237 The Purple Pupil RAWRR! Realizing that the black electric eel was coming, the giant python found its backbone, and closed in to the eel quickly. Two enormous beasts, both about a hundred meters long, were creating a stark contrast, as one was black and the other was white. Gazing nonchalantly, the eel was observing all the animals that were there to snatch the plant. Unfortunately, the electric eel did not seem ruthless enough, so none of them backed down. Well, Chen Fan didn''t mind if they didn''t back down. He controlled the eel to head toward the 5-meter-tall plant that had a purple fruit on it. The purple fruit was the size of a steering wheel. Its lustrous surface gleamed brightly, like jade that was crafted by an outstanding master. The purple fruit was odorless. The electric eel touched it with its front claw, and it bounced to the touch like a ball. This act of the electric eel had somehow stirred up the possessive desire within the creatures, which were also there for the fruit. They no longer cared about the enemy or about its surekill hit. ROAR! Before the electric eel could even take its stance, the giant white python gave it a stare, then slithered ahead to fight. Chen Fan was caught by surprise. He looked at the snake and thought to himself, this fellow is a strong contender. He was suddenly elated, like an addict who took a puff of opium, or a corrupt official tasked with ransacking a house. A smile then came to his face. But of course, smiles aside, the giant python wouldn''t be able to hold off this many opponents. What''s more, their target was actually the electric eel. So, two porcupines and a rough-skinned gray bear slid past the snake and went straight for the eel. The electric eel''s action was simple. It went further away quickly to ensure a safe distance from the purple fruit. Then, a deep blue light started to shine brightly from its body. Regardless if it was human or animal, they all had an undeniable fear toward lightning, so much so that the first thing that came to mind when seeing lightning in close range was to escape. A few clumsy animals scrambled away, as if to show by example that one can never outrun lightning. Within less than a millisecond, unlucky beasts that were still within the 80 meters perimeter were shocked by the electric eel''s blue lightning arc, which was as thick as a bucket. Without making a sound, they all stood like wooden sticks that were planted in the ground, emitting a strong burnt smell. Now that the electric eel had been improving its strength for the past two months, as it used up all the blue crystals, the voltage released by the electric eel was now as strong as 100,000 volts. The eel''s physique was also upgraded by a few levels. In terms of pure strength, even the giant python was no match against it. To it, killing a few 5- to 6-meter long animal within seconds was as simple as having a meal. After taking care of those beasts, the dust around the giant python had also settled. The snake was standing still by the defeated creatures, keeping a tight watch on the electric eel. "Cloudracer, let''s scram!" Chen Fan packed his barrett sniper rifle into the gunny sack and jumped on Cloudracer''s back. "It''s time to bail!" The electric eel had the plant in its palm. It gave a shriek, then ran away. The giant python looked at the electric eel, then at the dead Mystic Panther. It then opened its jaw, which was jammed pack with ferocious teeth, and sank them in the panther''s head. ...... Half and hour later, Chen Fan was sitting in the stone pagoda and playing with the steering-wheel sized purple fruit. Meanwhile, the giant python was leaning against the window sill, looking at the purple fruit intently. On the table lay a palm-sized light blue stone, very similar to the blue stones that were in the greenwater beast. These stones, however, were obtained from the forehead of the Mystic Panther by the giant python. Chen Fan ignored the stones for now, since they were rather useless to him now. He had his full attention on the fruit that he was cradling anyway. Judging from its lustrous appearance, it was impossible to tell what was so special about it. There was not even any scent on it. In fact, it looked like a magnified giant purple grape. After pondering for a long time and still being clueless, Chen Fan took out the Kun Wu dagger and cut a slice of flesh about the size of a wine cup off the fruit. He then gave it to the electric eel just to see what was so special about it. He had to wonder what was driving so many animals crazy to fight for it. The fruit was purple on the outside, with clear jelly flesh on the inside and a mild milky scent. The giant python also felt like its heart was sliced as Chen Fan sliced into the fruit. Its eyeball almost fell out of the sockets in anticipation. After feeding the small piece of fruit to the electric eel, Chen Fan went back into the stone pagoda. He transferred his thoughts onto the eel and quietly observed if there was any change. The fruit was digested within 10 seconds. However, three hours then passed and the electric eel was still the same. As a matter of fact, its stomach was growling with hunger again. The ever determined Chen Fan took out the Kun Wu dagger again, sliced a fingernail size piece from the fruit and ate it himself, just to see what effects it would have on a human instead. From the electric eel''s tasting, he could at least deduct that there was no poison in the fruit, so he knew that he wouldn''t be poisoned. Alas, the results were just as depressing. Chen Fan had no reaction whatsoever, even after waiting a long time. It was not like in the novels, where people find some treasures and consume them, then either feel boiling hot right after or a tingling sensation deep into their bonesor even excruciating pain! "Since it''s useless, let''s give it to the python then!" Chen Fan sighed heavily, bringing the fruit to the giant snake, who was looking at it intently. Cloudracer didn''t seem interested, so Chen Fan didn''t even leave some for it! Like a weasel spotting a lively little chick, the python''s mouth was watering impatiently. Before Chen Fan could fully extend both his hands, the giant python had already come up swiftly and swallowed it. Once it had swallowed the whole fruit, like an addict with a dose of heroine, the python curled up by the stone pagoda and relaxed. Since Chen Fan had nothing else to do, he decided to control the electric eel and head toward the sea waters of Little Japan, attempting to catch some expensive ingredients for his restaurant. He had his parents hire five experienced seafood handlers. They worked on the top floor of the restaurant and were in charge of the abalones, sharks'' fins, sea cucumber, fish maw and others. Eaten fresh, these seafood treasures were not as impressive as when they were air dried, where their full potential lies. In fact, air drying seafood catapulted its price even higher. Japan was known as the kingdom of abalones. The three different types that the country produced were amidori abalone, kippin abalone, and oma abalone, which were the creams of the crop among all abalones. Among the three, amidori abalone was the greatest, and was even named as the king of abalone. Chen Fan didn''t know how tasty it was, but he did know that these dried abalones were sold like gold by the gram. It was easy to locate the breeding grounds of these abalones from the Internet. All he needed was to research their approximate location. At this point, Chen Fan was lying down on his bed for a short nap. If only he had looked down, he would have seen that there was some unusual science-defying changes that were happening on the forehead of the giant python. These changes couldn''t be explained with physics, similar to the case of the electric eel. There were purple rays shining on the giant python''s smooth white scaly skin. The color of the rays was exactly the same as the fruit. It spread throughout the snake''s body in a complicated pattern, like a mirage of Chinese wisteria vines. It was so utterly surreal that it felt like a dream! After who knows how long, the Chinese wisteria started to bloom and illuminate. That lasted only for two seconds, then the Chinese wisterias started to dissipate, as if all that had happened was just a reverie. Swoosh! The giant python opened its eyes abruptly. Its originally black pupils were now purple! Yes indeed, the python''s pupils had astonishingly turned purple, with a slight glimmer in them. Literally speaking, the giant python had a fearless and formidable look in its eyes, possessing an enchanting, mysterious energy! Scientifically speaking, the giant python''s eyes had undergone some sort of changes that couldn''t be explained at this moment! 238 Spitting Out Human Words Not long after the giant python opened its eyes, Chen Fan, who was lying in bed, opened his eyes too. The harvest this time was great, within the seas of Aomori, Japan, the electric eel had found another 500 kilograms of netting abalone and 700 kilograms of JiPing abalone, alongside countless Sesame abalone and sea cucumber. Nowadays, many of these high-end seafood are artificially seeded and put into the sea to grow and develop naturally. The estimated production figure is normally calculated yearly according to the environment of ocean, but this year it seemed like they were sure to incur a huge loss. Walking down from the stone tower, Chen Fan was shocked by a huge cobra at the door as he was preparing to have the hotel workers transport his goods. "My God, since when have you gotten a pair of purple colored contact lenses?" Chen Fan was doubting if he had switched too frequently in between his own mind and the electric eel avatar, causing him to see illusions now. Rubbing his eyes violently, he was sure that it wasn''t an illusion. The eyeball of the huge python had indeed become a thick purple. Very ridiculous, wasn''t it? Yes, no doubt, it was really ridiculous... The purple fruit actually had the effect of changing the pupil? Wonder what would be the response of girls who wore colored lenses regarding this. They would love to look trendy by such technology, even though they have no eyesight problems, especially after discovering about the fruit which could change the color of their pupils?! "Look down, bow your head!" Chen Fan signaled to the white giant python to lower its head. Then, he looked at the huge eyeballs of the python unbelievably, his hand covering his mouth. "Yes ... it''s true ..." Chen Fan closed his jaw with his hand, as otherwise, he couldn''t speak. Its purple eyes shone even brighter than the gems here, and could reflect the projecting gold threads within the retina. "Yes ... it''s true ..." Chen Fan suddenly opened up his mouth wide, like a yawning hippopotamus. "It''s true ..." a soft voice had echoed in the air continuously. Its accurate pronunciation made Chen Fan''s heart stopped suddenly. "You ... you ... can talk?" Chen Fan''s gaze froze. His teeth were shaking, and he was making a sound like a woodpecker pecking a tree. "You ... you ... can talk?" The two huge eyeballs of the python continued to scan around aimlessly, accompanied by the rhythmic sound of its opening and closing jaw. Chen Fan had now fainted completely. If he hadn''t spent so much time with the python, he would''ve immediately directed the electric eel to kill it. Talking beasts are something only found in spiritual fantasy literature and are known by a common name, with no exceptions, which is "Monster"! "No, no, even parrots, starling, and a grackle could talk!" While Chen Fan loitered back to the second floor of the stone tower, he mumbled like someone with a mental illness! The reason parrots could imitate various types of sound was due to their developed muscles that were next to vocal organs and under the control of the brain. Thus, he could undertake complicated vibrations. Besides that, since the hard shells on top of their tongues had been removed, it had became much softer could move freely and even pronounce different syllables. In fact, many animals had such skills. For example, when a cat cat-calls, the noise it makes isn''t a mere howl. Then, what about this gigantic python? Despite the fact that the syllable it had just made was slightly sturdy and soft like an imitation show of cats, it had definitely pronounced the human language accurately and precisely. Unlike parrots, it could imitate correctly after only one time of hearing. It didn''t even need to be taught for a few times repeatedly. All these factors had shown that its vocal canal and intelligence level were drastically different. The current issue which Chen Fan worried with the most now would be wondering how this level of intellect developed in this python. The IQ of parrots was incomparable even to that of a 3 year old kid, who could only imitate speech, but was unable to express itself with the use of language. Regarding the wisdom of a python, Chen Fan was unsure, but he felt that it should far exceed the parrot. Then the next issue could be, could the python speak fluent Chinese? After a long time? "Possibilities are high. That plant must be some tool to develop human intelligence, one that could open up animal minds after eating them. So, I want to be a guest teacher and teach the python Chinese." This statement was said loudly by Chen Fan after he woke up from bed. Babies usually start to associate words with corresponding things during their ninth to twelfth months, most even understand the meaning of the words. Then, they are able to send out some simple words to express their meanings. As time goes on, the babies'' vocabularies would increase more and more, until they could say sentences composed of multiple words. Although these sentences were very simple at the beginning, there was no syntactic rule. After all, the babies began to use sentences to express their meanings. After that, the structure of the sentence would get more and more complicated with an increased number of words. Content of the expressions would also become more abundant and complex too. To teach a gigantic python to talk, Chen Fan planned to teach it some Chinese characters first, then only slowly increase the difficulty. "I!" Chen Fan ran to the giant python and pointed at himself while speaking in Mandarin. "I!" The gigantic python imitated his pronunciation accurately! "You!" "You!" "Gigantic python is a puppy!" "Gigantic python is a puppy!" ... There''s no way not to admit that the ability of a python in imitating was brilliant, as it managed to understand by hearing only once. However, Chen Fan would still need to teach it word by word, no matter how smart it was. After all, how could it learn calculus equations, when it didn''t even know what was one plus one? "Well, today''s class is up to here, and you''ve to do some revisions at home." According to his watch, it was already half past five in the evening, time to deliver some seafood and have dinner. "I still need to give a name to the python." When he boarded the submarine, Chen Fan glanced at the stunned eyes of the giant python, feeling that it had to be matched with a nice name. After having sat in the submarine for ten minutes and reaching the dock, Chen Fan could still not think of any nice names. All were either too boring or too exaggerated. Thus, he decided to check in a dictionary that night. While he took out his phone and was about to call those hotel workers to come over with some seafood, his phone rang with an unknown number. "Hey, is this Mr. Chen?" Coming from that phone was a sweet female voice. Her voice was so flirty that it gave him goosebumps. "I...am, who are you?" "We are the account manager of Rundong Auto Trade. The Lamborghini you ordered is here and the Maybach 62S Zeppelin has been here for five days now. When do you plan on picking them up?" "Oh!" Chen Fan was enlightened and nodded his head. He was so busy with the exploitation of the oil rig and that purple fruit nowadays, no one could contact him without knowing about his online ID. "I''ll be there approximately in two hours!" Those cars were actually ordered by him one month ago and, since they''re half-customized, their delivery had been delayed up to now. The seafood transporting truck had only arrived twenty minutes later. Chen Fan followed up and sat on the co-driver seat, waiting to take a free ride home. The driver was a young man in his twenties. He had just retired from the logistics support department in the Shenyang Military Region a few months ago, where he used to drive a petrol truck. Now, he was in charge of the transportation of seafood for the hotel. Xiao Zhou joked to Chen Fan that the bunch of women in the hotel had been crazy in wanting to meet him, to the extent of scaring the single men off and no longer daring to pick their partner out from them. For sure, Chen Fan knew of the reason. This attention was because he was rich. Yet, he still joked on himself by saying, "It seems like being too handsome is a burden!" Xiao Zhou smirked helplessly while looking at the front of road. Even soldiers were not that attractive in society nowadays. Though the cargo was heavy and extra-long, Xiao Zhou had experience with military trucks, so he could drive the truck like a bike. It only took twelve minutes for him to stop at the hotel''s distribution pathway. As Chen Fan walked into the crowded lobby, those observant servers had immediately spotted him out of the crowds. They shamelessly approached him in a very flirty manner. After sending the women off uneasily, Chen Fan took a lift up to the fourth floor. It was Sunday today, a day of which was Yunmeng''s day off. At first glance, her figure that was sitting in front of a desktop in her short black-collared uniform made him think that she was a secretary hired by his mom! "What are you playing?" Chen Fan put on a bad smile, tipped out his feet, and amplified his voice spontaneously. "Ah!" Yunmeng was both delighted and surprised. Then, she carved out a beautiful smile on her face and smiled while saying, "I''m playing QQ pet now, do you only know how to scare people off, Chen Fan brother?" "Hehe, where are my parents? Why don''t I see them around?" Chen Fan softly held her shoulder from around the pure white cushioned chair she sat on, which he now figured was no problem to sit more than one person on. "Maybe they went to the top floor to check on the dry goods." Yunmeng looked at Chen Fan with her big eyes and blushed slightly. She even felt a little bit guilty for being so intimate with Chen Fan. At that moment, Xiao Xue, who was dozing off before, now ran towards them recklessly. That gun didn''t leave any side effect, and even the nauseating wound had been covered well by its snowy white fur, making no one the wiser. Xiao Xue had grown, now reaching 1.6 meters long and 1.2 meters tall. "Hmm..." Chen Fan snorted from his nostrils, then rested his hands on Yunmeng''s youthful waist. "You ... when did you come?" Yunmeng blushed even more and couldn''t even talk properly now. "Not long ago!" Chen Fan did not know what was in Yunmeng''s mind for sure, but he slowly enjoyed the temporary warmth and peace of holding her softly in his arms without going overboard. 239 Ferocious Beast on Land Chen Fan was captivated by her alluring body. This feeling was as sweet as honey. No words could describe such warmth and tenderness. Yun Meng only held up for a brief moment before letting her guard down, bashfully burying her face into his chest. Chen Fan is essentially a simple and traditional minded man. Although he is lustful like most people, this does not mean he has no standards regarding women. He enjoys being in complete control when he is getting intimate with the ladies. He is definitely not into aggressive women, who seem as if they are deprived of men. Neither is he interested in fervent women, who come on too strong. Women like these are too frightening for his taste, and ultimately, killjoys. You Ge once said: "Fashionable on the outside, reserved on the inside. It would be perfect with just a sprinkle of grace." Yun Meng perfectly embodies this description of the perfect women for Chen Fan''s taste. They stood close to each other for about ten minutes. No words were uttered, neither was there any exchange of eye contact. Suddenly, Yun Meng''s cell phone started vibrating on her work desk, the entire desk buzzing along with its vibration. Both of them were startled. Yun Meng''s cheeks were burning as she picked up her cell phone. "It''s It''s just an advertisement message." Though the warm and fuzzy atmosphere was interrupted, a surge of lustful flame rose in Chen Fan''s chest. He could not help but lift Yun Meng''s chin with his finger, gazing down at her with bright eyes. Yun Meng''s cheeks turned bright red and the blush seemed to have faintly spread down her neck as well. The cell phone hung idly in her right hand. Her long eyelashes fluttered as she gently closed her eyes. Chen Fan could not hold back anymore, eagerly going in to taste the sweetness of her lips. Without her realizing, Yun Meng''s arms grew weaker and weaker under Chen Fan''s spell. Almost trembling, she was compelled to embrace Chen Fan''s warm torso. Her energy level drained rapidly, her arms embracing him at the brink of falling. It was as if Chen Fan had dropped an atomic bomb into her consciousness, blowing her mind into pieces within a second. "Wham!" The door suddenly swung open. Chen Fan''s mother barged in unknowingly. "Dinner time, Yun Meng" Chen Fan''s mother stood blankly on the spot, staring unbelievably at Chen Fan. Chen Fan and Yun Meng immediately sprung apart, a lovely blush spread on Yun Meng''s fair skin. Her cheeks were burning like wildfire. Yun Meng tried all she could to cover her face with her slender fingers. "Din...Dinner time" Chen Fan''s mother realized that she had just got herself in an awkward situation. She stammered a little, then rushed out of Chen Fan''s room, even shutting the door behind her as she exited. "Let...Let go of me," said Yun Meng bashfully and awkwardly, parting her fingers just a little. "Erm Okay" As thick-skinned as Chen Fan could be, such incidents left him dying of embarrassment. He dropped his hands from her waist. Both of them really wanted to dig a hole and hide in it. They sat on the chair awkwardly, neither willing to go down for dinner. "Where are Xiao Fan and Yun Meng? Why didn''t they come down for dinner?" asked Chen Fan''s father of his wife, while pouring himself two cups of spirits. "Let..Let us eat first. They are adults and will come down when they are hungry." Chen Fan''s mother felt awkward too. All she wanted to do right now was to finish her meal and make up an excuse to leave. This left Chen Fan''s father in confusion. After half an hour of procrastination, Chen Fan held Yun Meng''s hand and led her to the dining room. Yun Meng did not once look up. Seeing no one at the dining table, the both of them looked at each other and let out smiles of relief. Chen Fan did not want to linger after dinner, so he grabbed Wang Bing from the bunch of women and headed directly to pick up the car from Run Dong Vehicles Trading. The Maybach was more or less similar to the previous one, but there was much more to the Lamborghini Embolado. This car was designed by a genius industrial design student from the University of Erma. The initial prototype went viral online and received a better response than the limited edition sports car, the Reventon. Unfortunately, Lamborghini did not respond, despite pleas from millions of sports car fans. Just when everyone thought that this super cool concept vehicle could exist only in graphics, on December 25, 2010, Lamborghini made a high profile launching for this super cool concept sports car as a Christmas present for all sports car lovers. Unlike the globally limited edition Reventon that offered only 20 units worldwide, this model had an in-built aggression. Acceleration from zero to a hundred miles only requires 3.5 seconds, and it is a beast which easily surpass a maximum speed of 350 miles! Also, it is not only $300,000 USD cheaper than a Reventon, there is also an unlimited supply worldwide. The car''s angular features and slightly matted gray aerothane-painted body, along with its exaggerated prismatic boot, seemed to emulate the design of a Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor. One hundred and seven million after taxation was the price of this Beast. According to the owner of Run Dong, there are currently only seven units of this model in the whole of China, two of them in Hong Kong, one in Taiwan. Aside from the $20,000 worth of booking fees, Chen Fan paid off the rest of the sum in cash on the spot. Even the owner of the place could only dream of transforming into a woman and throwing himself at Chen Fan. All the salespersons around also looked at the him thirstily. ............ Middle sea highway was only completed by the government last year. It is the second highway that connects to Tian Hai City. This highway is constructed as straight as possible on a levelled ground, making it an absolute great spot for a joyride. One can always catch sport cars speeding down the highway to their heart''s content, regardless of the time, day and night. At eight o''clock sharp in the evening, Chen Fan drove his matte grey Beast to an elevated bridge on the fourth city ring, ready to test out the abilities of this top-notch sports car. There are no toll stations along this highway, because this is technically not a highway, despite its being build according to the standards of a highway. Everyone is free to use to the road. That''s why Chen Fan did not have to worry about getting stopped by the traffic police at the entrance of the toll stations. The interior decors of the Beast were grey as well. Chen Fan sat on the angled seat and opened a bottle of water to quench his thirst from the excitement. There is no gearshift in this car, as it now operates solely by a push-button. This enables the driver to focus completely on the controlling of the vehicle. Chen Fan took a deep breath after fastening his seatbelt. Gently, he put some pressure on the accelerator with his right foot. "Vroom! Vroom!" The twelve cylinder turbine roared to life and bombarded Chen Fan''s heart. This surge of dynamics set his adrenaline on fire. It only took five seconds to accelerate from zero to 150 miles. Chen Fan was still new at this, so he did not dare push the accelerator too far. "Vroom! Vroom! Vroom!" Just as Chen Fan was about to enjoy the speed of these beastly wheels, two beams of sapphire blue LED headlights suddenly reflected in his rear-view mirror. An Aston Martin Rapide sped up next to him at the speed of 180 miles. "Beep Beep... Beep Beep..." The white Aston Martin now appeared by the side of his car, the windows quickly rolling down. Inside the vehicle, a young maiden wore a ponytail and a pink suit along with a tight body-fitting t-shirt underneath. She pointed her index finger to Chen Fan and gestured twice, as if to provoke him intentionally. "Kiddo, if you are able to win the race from here toward the middle sea, I will be yours tonight," she teased. The window rolled back up, leaving a gobsmacked Chen Fan. 240 Chen Fan’s Anger "F*ck!" Chen Fan was raging in his heart. How could such a beautiful maiden have made such a fearless statement? An abandoned mistress? She does not seem like one. Not many people are willing to spend so much on their mistresses. A rich girl who has just got her heart broken in a relationship? She seemed to be suffering from "Princess Syndrome". This is a big possibility for an explanation! She looked like she was in her 20s. It is difficult to gage if a person of that age is childish or mature. Their brains run faster than those who are in their 30s, but sometimes, they act no different from kindergarteners. For instance, they will do things without thinking about the consequences or hysterically act on their emotions! The lady in front of Chen Fan was a good example of this theory. "Bro, are you shocked?" The pretty maiden snickered. "What are you waiting for? Win the race, and I''ll be yours tonight." "Okay!" Chen Fan gestured with two of his fingers in determination. Before he could take any action, the Aston Martin drove off at lightning speed. The poor engine sounded like an asthmatic patient. "Gosh! What a freak!" Chen Fan shook his head, pressed the accelerator slowly. and lowered the speed to a hundred while listening his radio music in a relaxed manner. The maiden was really pretty. Her ponytail cascaded down her waist and she had a seductive figure and supple skin. It was as if beauty and fairness were etched in her bones. A lady of her type would definitely attract the gaze of all men, no matter where she goes, including Chen Fan. Unfortunately, the lady used the wrong method to attract. If she had come up to him and said in a sheepish manner, "You You are so handsome I. I", perhaps Chen Fan might have been seduced by her. However, she uttered, "I will be yours tonight" instead. Although she was genuinely pretty, Chen Fan was terrified of the ladies who made the first move, especially those who did so on strangers! In reality, a majority of men share this habit. They fantasize about sexy encounters with beautiful ladies all the time. However, when they actually meet a female stranger that is eager to have sex with them, they turn timid, too afraid to approach her. The reason for this is that sex is a rather primitive and vulnerable act. During this process, both the male and female are especially sensitive, and they wish to feel secure and in-control of the situation. Having sex with a female stranger will take away the security and dominance that can be derived from the act itself. It would also increase the uncertainty of things. Anyone who is cautious will definitely refuse to do so at first glance. However, Chen Fan had underestimated the stubbornness of this "freak". He merely relaxed for less than 30 minutes and yet the deafening sounds of roaring engines could be hear from afar. Its uproarious roars had completely blanketed the "terrestrial beast". The Aston Martin then passed by Chen Fan at full throttle, driving toward him with a cool drift. "Bro, you seem to be neglecting me! Am I not attractive enough for you?" The young maiden spoke fiercely, a strong emphasis being placed on her last sentence. "No, no, no! You''re pretty and I''m extremely attracted to you!" Chen Fan smiled with his teeth, then uttered calmly, "I''m sorry. I still have something important to settle, so I can''t race with you today. We can exchange contact numbers. Once I''m free, we can race again." "Hah!" She sneered. "Don''t you dare say you''re busy as an excuse, or any other ridiculous reasons, like you''re going to meet the CEO or something! Are there any businessmen who drive a Lamborghini Embolado? Most of them would be driving a Passat. I know you are the child of a nouveau riche, so don''t act like you''re a progressive man!" "How about you? How did you get the Aston Martin?" "I stole it!" "Come on! Are we going to race or not? If you win this, I will go home with you tonight!" "Let''s not race. I''ve only just got my driving license for less than a week. I''m worried that I will rollover my car." Chen Fan smiled helplessly. It was rather depressing to stumble upon such a freak on the road. "You coward!" The young maiden rolled her eyes at him, as if she was looking down on an erectile dysfunction patient, her gaze filled with disdain and despise. Crazily enough, he found her disdainful expression oddly attractive and charming. However, instead of acting like a salivating pervert, Chen Fan desperately wanted to crush her under his feet. Her words had really triggered the sensitive spot in his heart, sending him into a fuming rage. A beautiful woman had voluntarily presented herself to him on a silver platter, and yet he still refused. Isn''t that a cowardly act? If this scenario were to happen in a novel, the male protagonist''s adrenaline would increase madly. Even Michael Schumacher would be crushed under his feet! "Goodbye, my Bourgeois of Southern Han!" After the young maiden spit those words in his face, she then pressed on the accelerator and left. "Bourgeois of Southern Han?" Chen Fan could not even react to the statement. The moment when the Aston Martin''s rear tail lamp could no longer be seen, he burst out in anger, "You''re the Bourgeois of Southern Han!" To be addressed as a Bourgeois could be generally regarded as praise, as "Bourgeois" was used to address the children of the courtiers in the past. However, the calling of "young master" was only used by wealthy families. Hence, both of the appellations are on completely different spectrums. However, why was Chen Fan in a rage and having such strong desires to kill, when somebody addressed him as the Bourgeois of Southern Han? The reason was that the Southern Han during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period was very different from other dynasties. To explain: There once was a "kind" king who ruled the kingdom, whose name was Liu Chang. When he took the throne, he announced a representative policy. Anyone who had successfully passed the highest imperial examinations, or anyone who ranked higher than the advanced-scholars, were mandated for castration. This meant that those who wanted to work for his court would have to castrate themselves. After the policy was implemented, everyone was turned into spados. Even their children couldn''t escape from this fate, as they could only maintain the family''s honor and wealth by working for his court. As such, their children would also all be castrated, except the eldest sons. The maiden said he was Bourgeois of Southern Han. This meant that she had ridiculed him by basically calling him an eunuch! So provoking! She had provoked him to the depths of his core! Chen Fan believed that such horrendous humiliation could only be settled with blood! Chen Fan gave up on being cautious, neither did he still care about security or dominancy. He put all feeling aside, determining that he should fight for his honor boldly! "I''m as masculine as superman!" Chen Fan clenched his jaw and pressed the accelerator thoroughly, squeezing the inner potential of the "Beast" The speed increased from a hundred to 220 km/h in merely 9.7 seconds. Even the ever changing scenery outside the car window could not distract him at all. ... Zhang Bingbing watched the grey sports car speed past her in disbelief. An ear-piercing drifting sound could be heard. Then, finally, it ended in an extremely exaggerated and thrilling manner. When the vigorously rotating spoiler approached the steel fences with a mere gap of 20 centimeters, she covered her captivating red lips with her left fist to hold herself back from screaming. Looking at the aggressive "Grey Monster", which had halted horizontally in the middle of road and now blocked her way completely, Zhang Bingbing suddenly felt a hint of fear. 241 You Have Won "Scared the shit out of me, we almost knocked the barrier!" Poor Chen Fan, who wanted to play it cool, almost sent the lavish toy that he had just got straight for repairs. It was smoother drifting on his black BMW. Moreover, this was the first time he took this car out for a ride! Without even waiting for the hydraulic guillotine shear to rise up completely, Chen Fan took off his seatbelt and came out, his raging anger slowly recovered to calmness. This mentality was akin to the darkness before dawn''s arrival, signifying that violent thunders and showers will eventually occur before a moment of peacefulness. "Knock-knock...knock-knock..." Chen Fan lightly tapped the glass window twice. His dapper and suave actions and his super cool drift made him feel very masculine, but of course nobody knew what was going through in his mind. "What is it, my little prince from Southern Han Dynasty? Are you trying to use your absurd moves to prove that you''re actually a man?" As the dark window slowly descended, Zhang Bingbing, whose name spelled out the meaning of "coldness", did not even bother to turn her gaze toward him. "It''s now 8:30 sharp!" Chen Fan, who was still previously calm, suddenly turned up his volume and pulled his sleeves with undefeatable confidence and swag. "From today onward, till 8:30pm sharp tomorrow, you will belong to me and only me!" "To be frank, you are arrogant. I hope you''re not lying or just bragging." Zhang Bingbing took out two chewing gums from nowhere, throwing one to Chen Fan. Meanwhile, she used the tip of her tongue to skillfully open up the wrapper. The rectangular gum broke into half as she took a bite of it. "Five minutes, for the sake of not letting you lose terribly...I''ll stay at the same spot and wait for five minutes!" Chen Fan chewed on his gum and walked to his grey sports car. After adjusting his seat, he smiled and stayed put, as if he was waiting for daybreak to come. "Your ''humility'' will not win you any commendations. Instead, your ''egotism'' will be the primary cause of your absolute failure in five minutes." As she finished her sentence, her Aston Martin turned into a lightning bolt and pulled away. Counting from the piece of land Chen Fan''s foot had landed on to Tianhai City, the distance measured at 150 kilometers in length. It takes less than an hour for a sports car to arrive there. As Chen Fan made a compromise of five minutes, it had thus increased his time delay for a to-and-fro journey. This would result in the plummet of more than 10 percent of his chances in winning. Undoubtedly, the price and performance specifications of these two cars varied with extreme disparity. Her Aston Martin''s maximum speed was 323 yards, while Chen Fan''s was 389 yards. According to this data, Chen Fan would most likely win the race. However, what had happened in reality? Well... It was very difficult for Chen Fan to win by relying on his car''s performance, because almost no one dared to drive beyond 250 yards at night, unless he had already had enough of living and decided to terminate his life right there and then. Speeding at night places all emphasis on driving skills and guts. Thus, the actual role of a car''s performance plays might be greatly diminished to an extremely tiny range. As long as you are not afraid of dying, you could win by just driving a BMW Z4 worth 600 to 700 thousand dollars with the maximum speed limit gauge removed. Zhang Bingbing was well aware of this, which was precisely the reason she aggressively launched her provocations. If this situation happened during the day, she might as well just say, "Hottie, I am yours today!" For 220 yards, Zhang Bingbing sped at a number she dared not even imagine. One reason for this was that there were only a few lorries that passed by this road, and another reason was that she was in a grumpy mood. Usually, she hardly sped. Occasionally, even when she felt the mood to do so, she would only do so in purpose-built automobile racing circuits in order to experience the shifts and dashes of a speeding car. Unlike today, where she let herself loosen up completely, disposing all of her inhibitions and burdens. "A woman''s heart is a deep ocean of secrets"...This phrase seemed to be a reference to herself at the moment. ...... "Three...two...one!" "Vroom!" After the countdown ended, Chen Fan relentlessly stepped on the accelerator and went forward. The sudden change of momentum from stationary to motion was too overwhelming, making his chest stifle a little. He found it difficult to breathe. At three point seven seconds, the speed pulsed from 0 yards to 100! At seven point five seconds, from 100 yards to 200! At five seconds, from 200 yards to 260! This was the staggering motion that a dual turbocharger with 650 horsepower brought about. Coupled with a wide vision-angle and high power xenon lamp, it enabled Chen Fan to have enough time to adapt to the changing road situations, as it simultaneously increased his speed by a large portion. Numerous road signs reflecting a white sheen whooshed passed Chen Fan''s peripheral vision in a fleeting moment. On a straight highway, this "feral terrestrial raptor" could run at a speed nearing 300 yards per second. After 13 minutes, with the illumination of the xenon lamp, Chen Fan could already capture the image 200 meters away, it was the motion tracks of an Aston Martin. Then, he quickly plunged the accelerator below his foot and thrust forward with lightning speed. "Screech" The Aston Martin at the front reduced its speed unexpectedly, paralleling with an empty-loaded Steyr semi-trailer by its side. Both the driveway and fastlane of three point five meters wide had each been occupied, all that was left was a 5 meters wide emergency lane. According to such statistics, Chen Fan should have sufficient distance to overtake those vehicles. However, in reality, due to the deliberate obstruction of the Aston Martin, it maintained a distance of about a meter between the divider and the semi-trailer. If Chen Fan wanted to overtake it forcefully, it was very likely that he would be in close collision with that car. "Hmph You''ll still lose anyways, even if you pull off such tricks!" Chen Fan laughed slyly, completely carefree about the current situation. This was because his GPS had shown that he would arrive at Sizhou County in 15 kilometers. Meanwhile, the slip road that was stretched across the highway did not have any dividers in the middle. Therefore, when the time came, the road would be the breadth of four car lanes and two parking lanes. Just within this idle period, a person with short hair stuck his head out of the driver''s seat window of a lorry. He first blew a loud and vagrant whistle, and in the midst of Chen Fan being awestruck, he steered the lorry to the left and made a half circle. This caused the Aston Martin to slow down instantly. He then steered to the right again, forcing Chen Fan, who was prepared to overtake him, to retreat. This driver drove a lorry like a snake and scurried to the front. Then, without hesitation, he brought the unique advantage of a semi-trailer, which had excellent bending performance, into full play. He turned his direction alternatingly from time to time. "What.. the f*ck" Guan Jing''s mouth was widely agape, as if she''d seen an African elephant lying in a mouse''s embrace affectionately. The lorry driver''s endurance and driving skills were so brilliant that it made one''s hair stand on end. The semi-trailer had been toyed around into an S shape for an interminable period of 15 minutes, before it finally flung toward the slip road, heading to Sizhou County. "Chance!" Both of them didn''t even think twice, as they fiercely pressed their accelerators simultaneously. Unfortunately, Chen Fan''s Lamborghini''s acceleration was still better, and he surpassed the Aston Martin by zero point five seconds. Then, relying on the glow of the street lights, he increased his speed to 207 yards and disappeared on the road in a flash, just like an unleashed wild horse. After passing across Sizhou County, there was only 30 kilometers distance remaining to reach Tianhai City. Initially, Chen Fan was ready to push his car to the maximum, since her attitude had been so aggressive. But the minute he drove to the ring road entrance of Tianhai City, the roaring of the Aston Martin could no longer be heard from behind. "Did she run away?" Chen Fan came out from his car and leaned on its roof to see. Five minutes had passed, but the Aston Martin was still nowhere to be seen. Then, 10 minutes lapsed by, the Aston Martin still missing in action. "F*ck, have I just been stood up?" Chen Fan''s face was livid as he spat out the gum that had already become a lump of white wax after he had been chewing it for so long. He felt as if he had been denounced as an eunuch for no apparent reason, and then, was even tricked in the end. How could such things happen to him? It was an unforgivable mistake to even ponder about! Chen Fan deeply regretted not remembering her car plate number. He would not even have a chance to smash her windshield in the future. "Vroom vroom vroom..." Just as Chen Fan was prepared to leave, his eardrums captured a growing roar. Then, he was blasted with two bolts of bright car lights, illuminating each and every inch of him. "Screech" an Aston Martin halted by his side. Zhang Bingbing walked out from the car, her face looking as if Chen Fan owed her five million dollars. "You''ve won, you can now find a hotel." "What took you so long to arrive?" Chen Fan did not answer her question. He sized her up suspiciously. The meaning of his action was obvious: "You''re a psycho!" Zhang Bingbing stared back at him and understood what he meant, but she was not bothered about how Chen Fan looked at her. Instead, she said with a cold expression, "I received a call on the road, so I didn''t manage to chase after you. Don''t waste my time, let''s go find a hotel." Seeing this girl with a gorgeous curvy body and a face as delicate as porcelain and jade, Chen Fan instantly felt into a dilemma. "You can get lost now!" Chen Fan wanted to say this phrase coolly, but when the sentence came by his lips, only God knew why he had given a sudden turn to his reply. What he actually stuttered out was, "Th...Then...Let''s just go to Shangri-La" After finishing his sentence, Chen Fan suddenly felt ashamed. This lady in front of him did not, in any way, seem like a fallen woman. Chen Fan, being so accustomed to internet fiction, had naturally associated this scenario with the cliche plots found in them. He thought to himself: if he at once decided to make this move, would he be thought of as taking advantage of her? "Then get into the car!" Zhang Bingbing left a curt reply, heading back into the car. About 20 seconds later, she wound down the car window and said to him with a smile that no one would regard as genuine, "What''s wrong? Where did all of your guts go?" "Hehe, I was trying to recall my bank card''s password. I have too many cards, so it''s not easy to remember the right one." Chen Fan let out a hollow laugh. Since things had already came to this stage, he could only bite the bullet now. It isn''t nice to chicken out and run away, right? According to the GPS'' indication, Chen Fan held an emotional mishmash of 50% thrill, 30% nervousness, and 20% fear while he drove east toward the Shangri-La Hotel, which was located at Dongtai Street in the Lujiazui District. We have to understand that virgins normally share the same feelings their first times. Half an hour later, two sports cars landed at Dongtai Street, attracting multiple glances from passersby. Chen Fan shook like he had contracted malaria as he pressed the hydraulic button of his car door. I''m going to retire from being a virgin and I feel so goddamned nervous, he thought. "Good evening, Sir and Madam, is there anything we can help you with?" said a waiter in fluent Mandarin as he came up to them and bowed. "Get us a room!" Zhang Bingbing was so crass! 242 The Heart Being Scalded Smokes "Alright, may I ask what kind of room you''d like?" The staff member was still smiling professionally. "Hmm" Zhang Bing Bing pondered for a few seconds, before turning her gaze upon Chen Fan. "Give us a King Court Superior Room!" Chen Fan took out his normal UBS international VISA credit card. Usually, reservations were required to check in to the Shangri-La. However, this general rule is sometimes waved, especially at times when the hotel occupancy rate is low. When registering his information for their check-in, Chen Fan had difficulty again. In China, regardless of the star rating of a hotel, one must have an effective identity card to complete their registration. This requirement becomes more strict with the increasing star rating of the hotel. "I didn''t bring my identity card with me, could you use yours to register?" Chen Fan kept on touching his nose, his expression one of utter embarrassment! After five minutes, the staff member ushered the pair to the King Court Superior Room on the 12th floor. The very thing that had made Chen Fan''s heart pound had finally happened! In his mind, this whole thing was just very strange! When they entered, pretending to be very experienced in these matters, Chen Fan suggested, "How about we watch some TV first?" "No need. Why is a big man like you now acting more effeminate than a woman?" As she spoke, Zhang Bing Bing Bing retained her cold, straight face. "Then, can I ask the reason that you''re doing this?" Chen Fan asked, while he completely ignored the resplendent parlor and pushed opened the yellow door to the bedroom. Seeing the wide, disproportionate bed inside the room left him distracted and speechless. The tender lady was as silent as a stone. Her chest was heaving continuously. If this scene were to be made into a cartoon, Zhang Bing Bing''s forehead would surely be drawn wrinkled, with a few lines added to signify her pain. And, if this scene were shot in a Hollywood drama, Zhang Bing Bing would surely act with her face showing a downcast, melancholy expression! After a few seconds of silence, Zhang Bing Bing finally spoke, "Why do you keep on talking rubbish?" As she finished speaking, she walked towards the big bed in a few, quick steps. In a valiant and heroic manner, she shrugged off her pink jacket and kicked off her soft leather shoes. Zhang Bing Bing''s was not a tall woman. However, with her slim and golden perfectly proportioned body, paired with her smooth, oval face, she could entice any normal male. Chen Fan looked at her cautiously. He wanted to say something, but at the same time, on such an occasion, except for playing rough and f*cking, nothing else was really necessary. Like a barbarian, he removed his jacket and shirt, showing the defined muscles on his upper body. When he was about to remove his belt, he suddenly stopped. He felt that it was just plain rude to only wear pants in front of a female stranger. Ready to follow her lead, wearing a shirt and getting into the bed, Chen Fan stopped again, lost in thought. A female stranger is suddenly convincing me to check in with her at this hotel. So, there must be a reason for this... Chen Fan did not know the reason, and besides, they had already progressed to this late stage in the game! Hence, he could not bring himself to drop out of this now, neither could he quiet his inner desire. Thinking that he could not afford a single mishap, he walked to the bedside table and took out a condom from the drawer. Do not misunderstand, as he only knew that it would be there because he had lived in a hotel before, so he knew that it was customary for these to be provided to guests in this same general location. Of course, this would be the first time he was going to use one of them! His action instantly received contempt by Zhang Bing Bing, but he managed to withstand her ire. When he laid on the bed, Chen Fan could certainly feel her shudder for a moment, although she became calm again soon afterwards. After thinking a little, Chen Fan nervously wrapped his arms around Zhang Bing Bing''s waist, ready to conquer her via his usual steps. In this information-rich modern age, a sexual relationship between a male and a female was no longer something that needed to be explored anymore. As such, anyone with a decent knowledge could find a lot of things on the internet to satisfy oneself. Chen Fan had watched many adult films, so he had some practical experience in this himself. Hence, although he was nervous, he was not necessarily out of practice. When Chen Fan touched her, he felt that her body was cold and slightly quivering. Why is she more nervous than I am? There were some doubts in his mind, but a man could not think about problems in such a situation. He could not allow hesitation! Chen Fan''s slowly inserted his right hand into her T-shirt, caressing her waist. Her magnificent skin was like a soft, smooth pudding, which made his brain undergo a strong chemical reaction. Not even two seconds had past, when this reaction caused a slightly alkaline liquid to be produced by him. In other words, he was overwhelmed by lust! As Chen Fan''s right hand swiftly moved upward, Zhang Bing Bing also became aroused. She crossed her arms in front of her chest, while her body started to tense up. With Chen Fan''s mastered movements, her tensed body slowly relaxed. She closed her eyes. Her cheeks were flushed, and she was biting her lips tightly. Chen Fan laughed, while continuing to sensually squeeze her breasts. He asked, "Hehe, how is my technique?" Zhang Bing Bing could hardly utter a word from her throat. Instead, she suddenly used one hand to cover her opened mouth. Meanwhile, her other hand grabbed Chen Fan''s arm. Her eyebrows frowned, as if she was experiencing some inexplicable pain. After a while, when Zhang Bing Bing released her hand, five white marks were apparent on his arm. When she opened her eyes to look at Chen Fan, her eyes had a hint of blurriness to them. Her misty pupils seemed to contain something unknown. Under such a gaze, Chen Fan had a strange feeling. Chen Fan opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but he could not utter a word. He dimmed the lights, then covered himself in a blanket and removed his long pants. Immediately after, one of his hands restlessly moved downwards slowly, finally reaching the button on the girl''s waistband. His action made Zhang Bing Bing frown. She instinctively intertwined her two slim, beautiful legs, blocking him. "Hey, can you be more cooperative?" "Bring it on!" Zhang Bing clenched her teeth and relaxed her legs, although both of hands were still clenched tightly on the bed sheet underneath her. The incoming strange feeling made Zhang Bing Bing open her eyes. Suddenly, an unbearable pain made her breathing lag. She quickly used both of her hands to resist Chen Fan by his stomach. She did not even wipe away the fine and dense droplets of sweat on her forehead. At that very moment, Chen Fan became flustered and panicked. All he wanted now was to escape from there! From what he saw under the dim lighting, combined with his numerous picture research and his unsuccessful experimenting on Yun Meng and Wu Ruoyu, he clearly knew what was happening right now. He was not a super conservative or strict old man. If he had intercourse with this lady, it would be a lie to say that he would not feel guilty at all. But, it would also be a lie to promise that he would take the responsibility of any outcome of their affair. "Don''t worry, even if you wanted to find me on the second day, you would never find me!" Seeing Chen Fan''s expression, Zhang Bing Bing vaguely guessed his thoughts. "Hehe! Even now, you can''t tell me why?" Chen Fan frowned, blaming both him and her, and continued, "If a lady like you wanted to find a male partner, there might be a whole line of men rushing for a chance with you. Even if you don''t have many male friends, there are still some who keep on bugging you to be with them, right? Yet, you just randomly find someone on the road" "I wanted to say that you are an idiot, yet you don''t seem like one. Idiots are clueless and lack a deep understanding of the need for self-realization. Thus, they will only ignorantly follow others'' actions, without even having control over their own thoughts. In other words, an idiot would never have a calm, determined and confident gaze like yours. "I wanted to say that you are not an idiot, yet you are doing such an idiotic thing" Chen Fan was feeling agitated, otherwise, he would not use such a strong word as idiot. "That''s right, it is like the saying goes, ''The more excellent and arrogant a young woman is, the more idiotic and unreasonable are the things she does!" "Are you done chattering on?" Zhang Bing Bing said weakly. "I am done!" "Then, continue!" "Uhn" She suddenly lifted her lips, her misty eyelids blinking sharply at Chen Fan in reply to his narrow-mindedness. Sweaty was the best word to describe Chen Fan right now. Chen Fan was trembling, his eyes set on Zhang Bing Bing''s snowy white skin. About five or eight minutes passed, then Chen Fan suddenly stopped his movements. His breath became heavy, as he wanted to release his moan that he had repressed for a long time. At this moment, Zhang Bing Bing slowly opened her eyes, then let out a sigh, as if she was being relieved of a heavy duty. After wiping the droplets of sweat on her forehead, she used a blanket to cover herself shyly. After she pulled over the blanket, Chen Fan was left lying naked on the bed. He also wanted to pull the blanket to cover himself, but this would leave her naked and exposed. Therefore, he just simply brought himself closer, also under the blanket. "Sowhat is your name?" Chen Fan took a packet of cigarettes from his shirt pocket, then lit one up, holding it in his mouth. His cigarette addiction was not a serious one, as he could easily last an entire week without smoking. Moreover, he would feel dizzy if he smoked more than three cigarettes in a day. "I don''t think there is any need for you to know this!" As the smoke clouds floated towards Zhang Bing Bing''s face, she did not even attempt to dodge them. "Okay" When he finished smoking, he felt uneasy, then asked, "So, are you sure that we will not contact each other after this?" "Have you read too many romance novels?" Zhang Bing Bing replied impatiently. "If at all possible, it is best if you just disappeared right now!" "Then...Then...I will be off" Chen Fan felt embarrassed. Chen Fan looked at his pants that he had tossed aside earlier. Clenching his teeth, he removed the blanket and jumped down to grab and put on the pants. As he did so, Chen Fan''s eyes suddenly fixated on the black notebook that was on the ground. He wanted to scream, but he just managed to open his mouth, not uttering a single word. The tiny metallic silver words, which were written on its cover, read: CHINA POLICE. The words were like a searing iron, searing his heart. Chen Fan took up the black notebook with trembling hands. When he saw the metal national emblem and police officer card, which was only made from a second generation of identity card, Chen Fan was so shocked that his head started spinning. 243 Deputy Investigator A female police officer who drove an Aston Martin? Missie, your family is already so rich, why don''t you just work for the government? Otherwise, the Prosecution Office or the courts are much better places than working as a police, which is such a hectic occupation! Chen Fan could obviously feel that his brain capacity could not cope with the current situation. These scenarios could only happen in novels, so how could this have happened to him? He speedily turned his head to take a glance, and saw that Zhang Bingbing was facing him with her back. She was unaware of the events that were happening on this side. Zhonghai City Police Identification Card Name: Zhang Bingbing Job: Deputy Investigator Rank: Class 2 Commissioner Identification Number: 1045832 Work Unit: Zhonghai City Police Station As above seen, the card read, "Deputy Investigator in the Police Bureau," which was the equivalent to enjoying the entitlement of a Deputy Police Commissioner, but really being a technical personnel who does not hold any actual leadership position. "Deputy Investigator" sounded like a rookie ranking, but in reality, it wasn''t. It had the same privileges as a Deputy Head of County. So, if the Director-General of the police bureau decided to give her an instruction, she could take up different types of positions. This is to say that this petite little chick was actually a female police of a certain high rank?! Even if one were to guess her age to its maximum, including her four years in police school, where she graduated at the age of 22 and had since worked for a year or two... If she held such a prominent police rank in some remote county, her situation shouldn''t be too unacceptable, so long as her school was reputable enough and she had gathered robust connections. However, her workplace was situated in Zhonghai City, which carried the title of a "Globalized Metropolis, The Pearl of the Orient." One must not assume that her current position was as a nobody in Zhonghai City. If this title had landed in the counties below, that would at least fetch her a ranking of a Captain or a Deputy Director-General. If connections were solid, one could even hold the badge of a political commissary. However, this wasn''t impossible for her, since the State had been advocating for younger participation in the regime, and a handful of people in their twenties had managed to join the administrative body of a county. "This can''t be it" Chen Fan cried out. "Even such a lunatic like her could make it into the police bureau?! How can the people still rely on the police to punish criminals and glorify virtuous deeds now?" "Are you done staring?" It was unknown how long Zhang Bingbing had stood behind him. Wrapped in a blanket, she looked at Chen Fan emotionlessly. Apparently, she had overheard Chen Fan''s remarks that she was a lunatic. "D...done..." Chen Fan helplessly blushed, as if he was a harmful thief who was caught red-handed. He had been a named target of Zhongyun City''s police station, so now that he saw a police of that station, of course he would tremble. "Then what are you waiting for? Were you expecting me to buy you a meal in prison?" Zhang Bingbing held her booklet and softly tapped her temple. This gesture she made was utterly charming. It even made Chen Fan, whose mind had gone as far as Jawa, gasp in admiration. "I''ll go go now!" Chen Fan secretly gulped his saliva down twice, then swiftly buttoned up his shirt and left the door as silently as he could. "Oh right!" Chen Fan, who''d been thought to have left, stuck his head out and asked caringly, "I''d suggest you see a psychiatrist. I have a friend with a masters degree in psychology, specializing in analysis and consultancy of psychological and emotional issues. I can give you her number. The bill''s on me." "Get lost!" She turned livid, instantly grabbing a pillow and throwing it at Chen Fan. ...... Zhang Bingbing, who was lying on the bed, felt dazed as she stared at the already-cold sheets on the other half of the bed. She knew that she would never forget this night, this man, her first time. Sparkling and transparent tears silently filled her eyes. Born to a reputable family in Zhongyun City, she could have followed the pathway that her family had arranged for her. Upon graduation, she would have become the assistant of the finance department of her family''s company. After two years of training, she would then officially take over the jobs in the financial department to become a diamond collar, which was greatly admired by everyone. However, in her case, the "rebellious mentality" cast a heavier weight on her. Since her freshman years at middle school, she had already started to resist all the arrangements her parents had made for her. She wanted to embark on a pathway of her own choice with no restraints. She was a late born of her parents. By then, two of her elder brothers were already established in both their careers and families. Therefore, she was pampered by them like a princess. Seeing that she resented so much the managing of the company, they decided to release their grip and allowed her to do things to her own liking. After all, she was looked after by her family members, so there was no way she could go down the wrong path. As to why she had joined the police, it was purely out of coincidence. In high school, when they were supposed to fill in their university application forms, she asked her playmate, a best friend since elementary school named Hu Qian, "Which university are you planning to enter?" Her best friend, who shared everything with her, maybe with the exception of her husband, was a lively and crazy-spirited person. The trouble she had created from elementary school to high school was uncountable. During P.E., she hid a boy''s jacket in the ladies room, and was bold enough to have that guy address her as "Big Sister," only then would she return the jacket to him! So, when asked which university she had applied to, Hu Qian patted her chest with pride and said, I''m prepared to apply for the People''s Public Security University of China. Why don''t you apply there, too? Let''s join the police force together, that way we can wipe out all the criminals and scums of the society to restore the country''s peace and stability. Unable to resist her bestie''s artful persuasions, Zhang Bingbing decided to grit her teeth and change her university application to the People''s Public Security University at once. As the country''s best police school, the entry requirement of the People''s Public Security University was not any lower than Fudan University''s requirements. They were very strict on the selection of their students. Anyone who was too fat or too skinny, or who had a bad political track record would definitely not be enrolled. Regardless, this wasn''t an issue for the two girls, who both scored remarkable results and came from fairly distinguished families. Her resume during school now read quite impressively, in fact: Outstanding member of the Chinese Communist Party, Deputy Chairman of the students'' council, commended with a Second Grade Merit by the School thrice, and even allocated to the "elite model class," to which its composition was only constituted by a few number of First or Second Class model police, as an assistant lecturer. After graduating with outstanding results at the People''s Public Security University of China, the deputy director of Zhonghai City''s public security bureau, Chen Yalan, personally called to the university to persuade her to come back to her hometown for the public servant examination. True gold fears no fire it is said, so she returned to Zhongyun City, having not failed her superior''s ardent expectations. It only took her a short period of two years to be promoted from a normal investigative technical officer to Deputy Investigator. She had also been transferred to a few other provinces to participate in investigative operations. Just 10 days ago, in the case of the 213 Mega Drug Smuggling case, she relied on her own talents and caught the mastermind of the crime, Zhu Qiang, along with his five main accomplices. For this, she was awarded by the police bureau a "Second Class Model Police" medal. Also, she would be taking up the post of Captain in the second team of the investigative squad, which was a key position for young cadets in cultivation. Zhang Bingbing was 24 years old, 23 and a half if you wanted to get really technical, and she had already taken up the position of Captain. Within the entire jurisdiction of Tianhai City, she was the youngest three of those who held similar positions. According to usual circumstances, she should be proud of her achievements, but the reality was on the contrary. She was now in deep agony. If she could turn back time, she''d rather strip off her police uniform and back off from participating in the 123 Mega Drug Smuggling Case. "Qianqian...QianqianI''ve failed you, I''ve failed you" Zhang Bingbing curled up on her bed, covered her mouth, and broke down in tears. ............ "Ding dong...ding dong" I am an idle person on the virgin''s track. Which pretty maiden could come and invite me to exit the track three times Sitting in his grey Lamborghini, Chen Fan whistled a tune while he steered his car toward Zhongyun City! 244 A Sailboa It was early morning, when Chen Fan finally reached Zhongyuan City with a joyful heart. The "fight" on the bed just now, had not been any easier than finishing a triathlon. He now felt extremely hungry. After he drove to the city center, both of his eyes eagerly scanned the restaurants nearby. Although none of the upscale restaurants were open yet, there were many barbeque stalls that were still open for business. So, he pulled up to place his order. "Boss, give me two kilograms of lamb shashlik, three sizzling squid, and" "Ah" the barbeque stall owner was immediately dumbstruck, as witnessing a sports car that could only be seen in an auto show, parked right in front of his stall, was not an everyday sight! In fact, he kind of looked as if he had been struck dead by lightning! Even the noisy young customers were completely stunned at the scene. Aside from the sizzling sound that was coming from the grill, the place had fallen into a complete silence. "Pretentious!" The youngsters, who were dressed like hooligans, snickered in unison! While he waited for his food, Chen Fan received many rude stares from countless eyeballs. After receiving his food from the hawker, he did not even bother to collect the extra change. Instead, he quickly got in his car and drove away. It was now four in the morning, and Chen Fan was tossing and turning in his bed. He could not fall asleep. The event that happened a few hours ago was still playing in his mind, just like a movie. He simply couldn''t get rid of it. Chen Fan sighed, then got out of the stone-like bed. He switched on his laptop, figuring that he would try to kill some time by reading web fiction. ... The surface of the sea glimmered as the sun shone upon it. It appeared as if a layer of shattered silver was blanketed on it. It also looked like a crumpled piece of blue brocade. The soothing mist and the slightly fishy-smelling sea breeze felt somehow healing, like the fragrance from a maiden''s lips. The mixture of it made it irresistible, so much so, that everyone could not help but take an extra breath. The workmanship of the sloop yacht was extremely exquisite. The front of the hull and the shipboard were evenly covered in resin, and a layer of thorny flowers, which looked as it they were entwining the silver shell, were sculpted on it. It dazzled fascinatingly under the reflection of the sun. The white sail, which had been made from some sort of beast hide, fluttered along with the sea breeze, hanging on a column, which had a rhombus-shaped carving on it. If any scientists were to have witnessed the scene, they would definitely have rolled up their sleeves and dashed toward the sloop yacht. This was not because the workmanship of the sloop yacht had exceeded the limits of human technology, but rather that one of the two people now standing on the deck deserved to be dragged into the lab and sliced open for experimental purposes! The one standing at the left was an old man. He wore a purple brocade robe with a gorgeous crescent-shaped heraldry embedded on the chest. His jawline looked as if it had been chiseled with a knife, as it was extremely sharp and well-defined. His white hair and slightly wrinkled face made it rather difficult for others to guess his actual age. The guy standing beside him was the one who deserved to be dragged to a lab and sliced open for experimental purposes. He was extremely tall and had a black beast hide, which was wrapped around his waist. He had grayish-green skin, and his head looked hideous. His muscles looked just like reinforced iron, to the point that even Shaquille O''Neal would look inferior by comparison! "Argyll, what kind of rubbish nautical chart did you provide me with? It has been 12 days, and I still have not even seen a single drop of bird dung!" The green monster waved his hands desperately, roaring with an almost distorted expression. "We were lucky enough not be caught in the terrifying storm. What are you still hoping for?" The old man named Argyll took out a parchment scroll from his bosom, then squatted down and opened it up. "Look! According to the nautical chart and my calculations, we''re now close to Roanoke Island. As long as we wait patiently for a few more days, we will definitely be able to reach our destination." "Wait patiently for a few more days? Argyll, you sneaky old man! Why did you abduct me?" Barru''s eyes turned red. He held his casserole-sized fist in front the old man. "I''m fed up with the endless drifting. We have already eaten up our last breakfast. Do you intend to make soup out of your deer hide bed for the next following days?" Argyll touched his beard awkwardly. "Let me investigate on it a bit more!"As he finished his sentence, he drew from his pocket a little rounded silver box that looked like a pocket watch. After opening the box, he placed it on the parchment scroll, then fiddled with it with nonstop. "Tell me when your investigation results are out. I need to chug a few big bowls of cold water. Otherwise, my stomach is going to start trying to digest itself," said Barru, with a hint of sarcasm. He then dashed into the cabin. After half a day, Barru, whose stomach was now filled with cold water, ran to the deck, shouting, "Argyll, I have bad news! We have completely consumed all of the freshwater in our storage." "You glutton! You consume more than a bear!" Argyll, who had been investigating the nautical chart, lifted his head to reply. "Since we ran out of freshwater, we have no choice but to wait for our deaths. When that time comes, we shall compete. Let''s see who can last till the end." "You''re the dumb one! Can''t you just distill more freshwater, once it runs out? We are in the middle of the sea, after all! We will never run out of water." "Barru, your saliva is all over my face!" "Ah!" Barru, the monster, roared crazily. "I don''t care! I can''t stand being on this crappy wooden boat anymore! I want to kiss the land and touch the greeneries!" "Shut up! You have distracted my train of thought!" Sigh! Barru looked at the nautical chart with dull eyes. He then turned his head to stare at the bluish sea sluggishly. From afar, he looked like an old baboon. After a while, Argyll, who was dressed in a purple robe, stood up and stretched his cramped waist. "I have finished brainstorming. I think that we are very near Roanoke Island, as long as we have stayed on course!" "What if we are on the wrong track?" questioned Barru. "Hmm" Argyll thought to himself quietly for a while. "According to the nautical chart, Roanoke Island is the the only huge island in the east sea. If we are heading in the wrong direction, then we could only depend on our luck. If we are lucky enough to stumble upon an unknown island, we would still be able to replenish our food then. Otherwise, you might have to catch some fish from the sea!" "Argyll, tell me why I believed your nonsense in the first place, enough to follow you to Roanoke Island, just for the sake of finding the Hurricane Bird?" "That''s easy! You did so because the Hurricane Bird is so special, and also because we dreamed of a ride, which could allow us to travel for thousands of miles. And, most importantly, because you are an idiot!" "Enough! Now you''re insulting my intelligence, too?!" Barru took a step forward, intending to grab the collar of the old man in the purple robe. Unexpectedly, due to a slight misstep, he accidentally sent the silver compass, which was laying on the parchment scroll, flying into the air. Under the brute force of his accidental kick, the tiny silver compass was launched at full speed, then plopped into the sea. "Ah!" Without thinking too much, Barru immediately hopped over and jumped into the sea, going after the silver compass. The splatter drenched the purple-robed old man, making him look like a drowned rat. Barru dove in the sea for about half of a minute, before emerging from the waters with a dispirited look on his face. "Argyll, wait for me. I''m going to catch some fish for our lunch." 245 The Magic Caster "You know, Balu, we can only tell the direction by guessing, at least for now," Argyle said, while packing up the scroll. "There''s no need for you to climb up here. Besides, it''s useless to ask an idiot anyway." "Hehe, I can help you to catch some fish, as well as help with all the heavy labor on the boat. I can even help you to clear away all of your doubts and any obstacles, once we land on Rork Island." Balu, fully aware of his shortcomings, replied with an extremely innocent smile. Then, rubbing his bald head, just as he was getting ready to jump into the sea to catch some fish, he suddenly pointed and yelled at the sky, "Argyle, look at the sky! It''s a bridled tern!" Argyle heard the words and raised his head, looking excitedly at the grayish brown bird, which was gliding in from the West and heading towards the East at several meters above seawater. He then said, "It really is a bridled tern! This species cannot fly for long distances, which means that there must be an island nearby for it to land on! Also, it must be on its way home, as it was flying from West to East just now! So, what are you waiting for, Balu? Row the boat!" "Aha!" Balu shocked Argyle with his awfully loud voice. He had shouted out after seeing Balu moving to the side of the boat, turning over, and then jumping into the boat! Dong Dong. He then stomped into the cabin via a few huge steps. It had not even been five seconds since he had entered the cabin, when the middle of the wooden boat deck suddenly retracted, immediately being replaced by two lengthy wooden small boats. "HeYo... HeYo" Balu sat in the middle of the hull, rowing the wooden paddles quickly with his two hands, just like a windmill on a windy day. The boat, under Balu''s direction, unexpectedly burst out at a lightning speed, then began to closely tail the slowly-gliding bird. About half an hour later, Argyle, who was steering the rudder, said with extreme excitement, "Balu, the island can be seen from here already! I bet with my life, this land is certainly Rork Island! Oh Balu! We have reached Rork Island! It''s finally time to go aboard the Hurricane Bird!" "Didn''t you say that we needed to sail for a few more days to reach the island?" The sound of Balu''s dull growling could be heard, coming from below deck. "I''m no voyager, you idiot. How am I supposed to know?" Argyle lashed back. "Argyle, you shall address me as ''Sky Knight'' from today onward! Please don''t call me an idiot ever again!" Balu, who had just run out from the cabin, said this as he grinned, his mouth open wide. "Haha, very well then, Sky Knight! Then, you shall address me as "The Sky Magic Caster" from now on!" The sailboat, driven by the wind, slowly drifted toward the land. Balu, who had run out of patience, jumped right into the chest-high seawater, dragging the sailboat to the shore behind him, like a little toy. "Ah! At long last! I can smell the aroma of the earth once again!" Balu rushed to the shore like a maniac, then lay down on the ground, rolling over and over, until he finally got up after a total of 20 seconds! ...... "Argyle, please start a fire. I am going to get something to roast!" said Balu, who had finally calmed down from his initial excitement. Since their landing, he had already fixed the sailboat to a big tree and brought back two big armfuls of branches. "Try and get your hands on some delicious fruits for snacking, as well!" yelled Argyle, while opening up a rectangular red wooden box with a smiling face. The box was filled with all kinds of cutlery, which had been crafted out of pure silver. There was even a set of fancy goblets! "No problem. The forest is like my wife, as I can find out whether the fruit is tasty with my eyes closed!" Balu left, rushing into the forest. Argyle, who was in charge of starting the fire, first stacked the arm-thick branches in a square. Then, without any indication of any tools being used, he gently moved his hand over the top of the branches, which immediately lit up brightly, as if they had been soaked with gasoline! Having successfully started the fire, he then pulled out a silver goblet from the wooden box. He raised the goblet up it in front of him, as if he was toasting the moon. At that moment, a chemical reaction instantly took place in the air around him, as a huge mass of visible water vapor condensed together, forming a vortex, before squeezing itself into the goblet. "I can smell the activity of an adult wild boar!" said Balu, with his nostrils rapidly sniffing around and his eyes closed. He pursued the scent, taking large strides, until he stood in front of a boar. The boar was busy biting into some kind of plant. Balu''s loud noisy pursuit had alerted the wild boar, which had a mane that was harder than steel needles. Instantly on the offensive, the boar entered an attack position, followed by an angry grunt. Grooooin...grooooin.. Even with all this pomp and fanfare, Balu somehow totally ignored the boar. The plant, which was slightly taller than himself, was what had captured his attention instead. He selectively glanced at the plant, as there were many little red fruits hanging down from the plant. The wild boar, which was huge, flashed its decaying teeth at Balu, then started a barbaric charge towards him, accompanied by a fierce roar. Bang! A dull yet massive sound suddenly broke out between two of them, but Balu''s eyes were still fixated on the plant. When the boar crashed onto the ground, a pool of red blood slowly spread from the side of its face onto the ground. ... "Argyle, where are the Hurricane Birds? Let''s go get them, once we are done digesting the food in our stomachs!" Balu, now fully stuffed, was laying on the ground lazily, gazing up at the sky. "Let me check it out, then!" Argyle, who was sitting on a mattress made of buckskin, took out a yellowed pamphlet, which he then began flipping over and over, saliva on his lips. "Shzz" Balu, who was lazing around until just moments ago, abruptly changed his expression, putting his ear onto the ground with a focused and serious look. After five seconds, he jumped up from the beach and said with a serious face, "Argyle, a giant wild creature is approaching!" "What size is it?" Argyle packed up the pamphlet and asked calmly. Tracking and searching were natural talents of Balu, so his judgment on such things was never wrong. "It is very, very big!" said Balu, while arming himself with the black chrysanthemum broadsword. "It is coming in from the North West, so it would take about thirty breaths to get here." Bang Bang Bang Their faces were more tense than ever, as the sound of a giant creature''s steps were heard, getting closer and closer. Later, the sound grew so loud, the land under their feet even shook from the immense shockwaves. "Oh, Argyle, what in the world are we seeing? Is it a black scale monster that is ten times bigger than a land dragon?" "Dang it! This thing is too big to be taken on. It would be the end for both of us, should this be a special type of magical creature," said Argyle. "You never know what it really is, until you have fought it!" Balu pulled on his golden nose ring, his overly nervous finger nearly tearing it out of his nostril! Growl.... The black scale creature showed up thirty meters in front of them, accompanied with an ear-splitting growl. Its eyes looked like they despised all weaklings. Their gaze made Balu burst into a whim of near madness in his mind, as his eyes became cold and sharp, like a knife. 246 The First Encounter When faced with that bitter cold murderous aura, even a massive creature like the electric eel shuddered. The expression of a warrior was certainly different from that of a scoundrel''s. For example, if a warrior participated in horrible killings, then during a showdown, the ruthless violence in his eyes would be like an exceptional blade within a broken box. Regardless of the warrior''s attempts to conceal it, it would still seep through the cracks. This was a lapel badge, which was earned only from one''s witnessing countless deaths. Hence, it was a record of their glory days, a hymn composed with fresh blood and courage. "Barru, don''t be hasty!" Argyll, who stood behind him frowned, as he said softly, "Judging by its quick-witted eyes and expression, I strongly believe that the beast''s intelligence has been activated." "So, what if it has quick-witted eyes?" Barru waved his hand calmly, signalling Argyll to step back. "Did you see how clumsy it looked, while it was climbing over?" At this moment, there was a change in the atmosphere. The beast that they were talking about now observed them carefully, before slowly moving its massive body to curl into a crescent shape, stopping about 50 meters in front of them. Barru and Argyll had yet to decide if they wanted to make a preemptive strike. Beyond the coastline, a dark green armored personnel carrier, with digital camouflage coating, was being driven over. "What is that thing? How is it actually a few times faster than a carriage?" "Judging from the sound of it, it must be some type of mechanical carriage, but I''m not too sure about the source of its driving force." Barru hissed. "It is actually made out of metal!" When the armored vehicle got closer, Barru''s eyes almost popped out of their sockets. "Argyll, look at the craftsmanship of that carriage. It is absolutely perfect. Those edges and corners are cooler than my expensive big knife!" Without thinking about anything else, the both of them were completely mesmerized by the strength and finesse of this armored vehicle. The more they looked at it, the more they praised it! I want to steal it, even if it costs me my life!" Barru''s eyes were glued to the vehicle, for he could not tear his eyes away from its beauty. "Nonsense!" Argyll refused such silly talk squarely. "For a machine to be so perfect, possessing structures so complex, it could be considered a miracle. Can''t you tell how much energy the owner has put into it? If you steal it, it would be odd if they didn''t kill you! Look at the behavior of the beast again. Isn''t it unusual? It is probably the pet of the person who owns that very carriage!" Clank! Suddenly, a circular shaped crack opened up at the top plate of the mechanical carriage, which was initially sealed tight. As they stared intently at it, an odd-looking long black metal came reaching out, followed by the appearance of a short-haired young man, who stuck his head out and shouted at them in a strange language. "Honorable gentlemen, we have come from the distant West of China by boat, and were ready to catch two wind rider birds. However, if you do not wish for us to be here, we can leave right away." Argyll spread his hands out slowly, hoping to make an act of apology that they could understand. The anxious Barru directed a strong glare at him, before whispering in a voice that could only be heard by the two of them, "Are you still sleeping or what? This brat''s physique is obviously under-developed. With just one swing from your wind blade, followed by my warding them off for a short while, you could take out that snail-like creature easily! Wouldn''t we be able to successfully hijack the mechanical carriage that way?" "Idiot! What can you understand with that pea-sized brain of yours?" Argyll kicked him, yet he was still gazing at the young man warmly. The young man with the strange clothes was none other than Chen Fan. When he had gotten up from bed this morning and rode the electric eel to head towards the golden eagle Cloudracer, he had noticed a small black dot moving on the surface of the sea. As the electric eel pursued closer, only then did he realize that it was a wooden boat made out of the very finest workmanship. This discovering of humans, who had sailed their boats here, could only mean that this place was similar to earth, where human colonization exists. However, the level of technology of the people here appeared to be rather far behind, as they still relied on the primitive methods of wind sailing and manpower as their driving forces. What really surprised Chen Fan was Barru. This guy was almost a beast himself, for he appeared to be very tall and strong. In fact, he could even compete with those silverback gorillas in terms of size alone. In order to make contact with the both of them, Chen Fan gathered all of his courage and thought about it again and again. He felt that, as they were all intellectual beings, why not try to understand each other? Of course, one could have the intention to harm others, so one must also be vigilant, so as not to be harmed. Otherwise, Chen Fan would not have hid in his armoured personnel vehicle and greeted them with machine guns. Strictly speaking, however, these were still just minor issues. What would really require a one-hit kill would be the electric eel, which was dozens of meters away from them and 130 meters away from the armored car. Within this distance, only 70,000 volts of voltage was needed to puncture them, not to mention the fact that the electric eel could now emit 120,000 volts of voltage! "How do you do? Hello? Bonjour..." Chen Fan was racking his brain, trying to think of greetings in different languages. Unfortunately, the two people across from him were similar to him, whereby they also had confused gazes, as they were unable to understand what the opposite party was saying as well! "This won''t do. I''ve tried five different languages, including my own local dialect, but this mysterious young man still can''t understand me!" Argyll mumbled, while wiping off beads of sweat from his forehead. After all, he was not a linguist, so all he could do after now was to just stare. "I want to kill him!" Barru was continuously running his huge shifty eyes up and down the armored vehicle. "I think the probability of you getting killed is higher than you killing him!" Argyll shook his head, then walked towards the wooden boat. "Let''s get back to the boat first. Later tonight, we''ll go around to the other side of the island, capture a wind rider bird, then then decide what we''ll do after that." "Hey, old buddy, what''s so scary about that big worm? Just one spell of yours would be enough to pierce through its brain. Then, everything would be settled, right?" Argyll was frowning deeply, while leaning on a deer hide mattress. It was unclear whether he was mumbling to himself or answering Barru''s question. "At first, I was surprised as to why this magical beast, which is almost the weight of a giant dragon, would move so clumsily. But, when it positioned its body horizontally, allowing me to see its tail, I finally realized that it was actually a sea creature." "It would be odd for a sea creature to survive, once it got on land. But, what really made me nervous was that I could only faintly perceive the presence of the Thunder Element from the magical beast!" 247 Ice Empress "The Thunder element?" Barru asked, while looking bewildered. "I thought that the elements mandated in the natural law were only wind, fire, water and earth?" "Let me briefly explain this to you," Argyll said, as he caressed Barru''s bald head and spoke in a teacher''s demeanor. "To become a Law Commander, one must first polish their concentration and their ability to sense things. When you''re strong enough to manage these two capabilities, you can then try to sense the natural law, communicate with it, and steer it. Among these four laws, fire is the hardest to manage, as its powers are the strongest of the four." He then held out his middle finger, but there was no sign of him doing any other actions. With a woosh, a small azure blue flame appeared on his finger. "Say that I wished to command the flame... I would need to use my concentration to guide the fire element in the air, bringing it to myself. I would then need to resonate with it! It''s about the same regarding commanding the water element. The thunder element is actually one of the streams of the Natural Law, but these elements only exist far within dark clouds, or during the brief moments when lightning strikes. Only first-class Commanders can somewhat sense those moments. " As Argyll explained, he scattered the flames in his finger, then looked at the sky with a slightly lax gaze. "Because this type of element is too far from us, our concentration cannot extend to its great height. Therefore, the Law Commanders did not write this subject into any of the academic books. But, along the way, we have not given up in trying to sense this element, because its attack speed is faster than any of the laws on earth! This makes it more destructive than any of them, too!" Barru interjected, "We could always wait until we capture the Wind Steering Bird. By that time, you could ride on it and conquer the skies! Then, you''d finally be able to sense and control the thunder element, right?" "Not only would the Wind Steering Bird fly, which is an idea that even you, who''s so stupid, could think of, why in the world wouldn''t I be able to, also?" Argyll continued to look at him with disdain. "That element is too brutal, just like a lofty, immovable huge mountain. My concentration powers could not shake it. The long river of history has no shortage of precedents of Commanders, who reached the top of the mountain. They rode on birds to get near the realm of clouds, but due to their failure in commanding the thunder element, they were instead devoured by the element and burnt into charcoal!" "Oh, so what do you think about the background of the young man with black hair? Why would he appear on this big, wild island?" Apparently, Barru was rather disinterested in learning about natural laws. "I''m not sure. His clothes and carriage both looked very strange. I haven''t seen such things before. But, he probably didn''t come with malice as his intent. Thus, it''s best we just leave him alone, catch the Wind Steering Bird, and quickly go home. There are still tons of things left to attend to there!" Argyll said. "I want his mechanical car." Barru said, his voice trailing off. "Isn''t that just a running piece of steel?" Argyll knocked the table solemnly. "Wait till we''re back, and I''ll let the Empire''s blacksmith mold one for you. You can play around with that, go wherever you want, but any plans or schemed upon this man are out of question. Otherwise, I''ll dump you here all alone!" "It''s still uncertain whether or not we could even make it back. I misplaced the compass, so how are we going to find the direction?" asked Barru. "Hmm let me think about it." Argyll stood up and walked into the bedroom, then took out a book, the title of which read The Adventurers'' Discovery Volume. He then settled into a seat and started reading it. "Goddamn it, Argyll, that monster is heading toward our direction!" Barru''s loud voice came from outside the house. Startled, Argyll rushed out to the deck immediately. Boom. Boom. Boom. A black monster of an indiscernible species was tumbling toward the sailboat. Argyll had a sharp eye, so he soon discovered that the monster''s claws clasped a grayish-brown box. "What is it trying to do?" Barru was carrying a huge knife, as he kept a close watch on the electric eel. "I''m not sure. Let''s not be rash, as a monster that could emit thunder elements is definitely not one we could stand up against!" warned Argyll. Bang! In front of both of their astonished gazes, the electric eel threw the little box on the boat''s deck. It used its front claw to point at the box, then pointed back to itself, gesturing for them to do an exchange. After Argyll, who was completely bewildered, opened the box, he found that it contained about ten thin books, two packages of little red boxes that were made with some strong material, two exquisite-looking single-blade daggers and two items that looked like compasses. The books were made with fine craftsmanship. The silk paper used within them was thinner, whiter, and even more fine than those he had ever used before. The words on top were written with fairly unsophisticated strokes, along with an equal bit of neat handwriting and sleek formatting. It only took a single glance for him to see that this was a very fine item. "What metal has been used in making this small knife?" Barru, the weaponry fanatic, was completely shocked, when he saw a hole appear right after he had just taken the small knife and randomly poked the deck. How is that possible? This is a blackwood deck, which has been soaked with oil! Notwithstanding the fact that an ordinary person could not simply just chop it with an axe, how could it be easily pierced with just a dagger? As Barru recovered from his shock, he decided to take the dagger and chop at his precious curved sword. After he did so, the back of his curved sword had clear traces of abrasions, whereas the dagger had remained completely intact and unscathed! "This dagger is sharper than any daggers I have ever seen!" Argyll gasped. "The only negative thing is that the sheath and shank are too ugly looking! The former was made with hemp wood, and the latter was woven with a string. I will have to get the best blacksmith from the Empire to replace it with ivory carved with calico prints when I get back." The two of them did not manage to find out what the red hard paper box was. But, when Barru curiously removed the thin film and aluminium foil on its surface, they discovered that there were 20 sticks, each wrapped with a white paper, containing some thinly shredded powder that came from a yellow plant, which had a spicy scent. "This must be tobacco!" Argyll, who had once read about this stuff, lit up one stick immediately. He bit on the filter and inhaled the fumes into his lungs. An unprecedented relaxing sensation expanded throughout his entire brain. "The nobles liked to smoke these things back in the day," he said. "They''d dice a dried plant and put it into a silver-made pipe, but theirs tasted a hundred times more awful than this!" As for those two navy diving watches, Argyll looked at their mirror surfaces and saw that they were fully engraved with symbols. Initially, he thought they were tools to be used by a wizard in fortune-telling, but he later realized that they were to be used to measure time. ......... Looking at the items that the other party had sent over to exchange, Chen Fan didn''t know whether to laugh or cry. There were only two books and about ten rubies and sapphires. They probably did not have anything presentable to give away, which could explain why they had used hard currency for the exchange! When all was said and done, the exchange consisted of more than ten home appliance user manuals, two Stride diver''s knives, two boxes of Zhonghua cigarettes and two watches, traded for these gemstones, which were at least worth a few million. All in all, it is an exceptional bargain! The two books that the old man had given were written upon with some sort of oracle bone script and some letters, formatted in a geometrical rhomboid shape. Compared with the structure of a Chinese character, the script did not seem too complicated. However, it was still more aesthetically pleasing than Korean''s squarish and framy characters! One text was purely written in scripts, while the other was featured on a book with a cover made of brown packing paper, which was 15 centimeters long. It was a combination of illustrations and text. The pictures in the book were all depictions of feral-looking wild animals, and as Chen Fan flipped through almost half of the book, he spotted the Night Leopard. It was an eagle, whose body was fully golden in color, coupled with a giant python with snowy-white scales. Chen Fan carefully counted a piece of text in the illustrated book, and saw that there were a total of 530 words, of which only 40 of them was repeated. It did not look like phonemic characters, like those of the English language that contained a couple of alphabetical letters. Instead, its structure was somewhat like Chinese characters, as they were all pictograms. The next day, Chen Fan arose really early. He first looked for the white giant python, then grabbed a Chinese dictionary to teach it some pronunciation. As he taught it, he tried his very best to find things that were relatable to the python, so that it could better understand what any new words actually meant. The giant python''s language system was like a baby''s, meaning that it was as blank as a piece of white paper. In the process of learning a language, this had actually made the process easier than it was for most foreigners, who were learning Mandarin. This was because the foreigners were restrained by their mother tongue, making it extremely hard for them to master a brand new language. What''s more, the giant python did not have to get past the infant stage of learning how to speak. It could imitate every Chinese character precisely, so the only thing it really had to do was to learn a word''s meaning. "Red!" Sitting on a sunny beach, Chen Fan pointed to a piece of small red cloth, while pronouncing the word slowly and with great precision. He had cloths in seven or eight different colors by his side, all of which he was using to teach the giant python. "Red!" The giant python lay lazily repeated, while sitting next to Chen Fan. Not far from them where they were, a golden eagle that had already matured, flew up in the sky, chasing some clouds. It constantly spinned, thrust itself downward, and flew around above the surface of the sea, terrifying any fish that dared to come up to the surface to take a breath! At this time, the giant python, which was practicing the pronunciation of words, lifted its head to look around to the left side of the sea. The common theory that snakes are short-sighted obviously did not apply here! As for Mu Chen, all he could see was a moving little black dot. After waiting for two minutes, the little black dot gradually expanded, then slowly became deciperable as an image of an old man, who was wearing a purple robe. It was Argyll, here to purchase items. More precisely, he was here to look for this young man, so that he could buy a navigation compass from him! His compass had been misplaced by Barru at sea. And, without a compass, he could not imagine how he could possibly make it back to his home! He thought that surely the young man possessed such an item. This fact could be inferred from his sophisticatedly structured watch. In order to ensure the transaction was smooth, Argyll had consciously not brought Barru along, ensuring that the stupid fellow wouldn''t spoiling things! "Tsk It''s actually an adult Ice Empress?" After making a clear sighting of the white fortress, Argyll looked at the white giant python in disbelief, just as he had when Barru had managed to master the Natural Laws so quickly. However, as he neared the young man with black hair, who was teaching the python to speak, his expression of disbelief froze and his body trembled... 248 I’m Gonna Tear Off Your Dock Can a snake be related to the Queen? Yes! And, her name is the Ice Queen, whose story of ancestry is as follows. It''s not that this species does not have males, but rather that, among their ancestors, there was once an individual so powerful, she could kill off 95 percent of the world''s strongest warriors in an instant. She was the instigator, whose presence made people start to realize, for the first time, the terror of this species that was living in the distant ocean. Then, as early as 700 years ago, and long before Argyll was born, this humanoid monster was given the official title of The Ice Queen, and was given the role of Honorary Dean by 17 Royal Magic Caster Senates. She was then conferred as nobility in 21 countries, with extremely large feudal territories also granted to her. As there was no such thing as national and ethnic concepts in the mind of the wild Ice Queen, she was willing to accept any title, from whichever countries desired to confer them upon her. There were even several hostile countries that tried with luck, inviting her over. Every single one of them had succeeded, without any effort whatsoever. These countries, without exception, had her feudal dominion placed in territories that were disputed with other neighboring countries. Her lands were so wide and vast, they filled all of the princes with jealousy. Even the Gilnan Empire, which was the most powerful kingdom at the time, decided to tenure her with four territories! This is the real reason why everybody named her The Ice Queen, because when all of her territories were added up, the total area was even bigger than an entire kingdom, not to mention that no one would dare invade her territories. The root cause of her intimidating effect, which was far greater than the devil''s, happened back in the days of her unevolved form, when she liked to hunt for birds and their eggs. There was one time, when she was almost torn to pieces by the raging Firebird couple, after she had accidentally eaten the egg of the Firebird. She had barely managed to escape by hiding from their clutches by fleeing into the deep sea. Fast forward to two years after this incident, and the Ice Queen returned to find the Firebird couple. She told them that she would bury the hatchet, if they would either pluck off one of the two long, beautiful feathers on their tails by themselves, or allow her to do so. The outcome was obvious, as the Firebirds, who treasured their feathers more than anything, could never agree to such terms! The negotiation was broken, before the conversation could even get started. So, what would not be freely given, the Ice Queen determined to take. After a series of battles, the Firebird couple looked at the four bloody feathers on the ground, yelling and crying over their cruel misfortune. Once they were done yelling and crying, the Firebird couple decided to find helpers to seek their revenge. Unfortunately, the two helpers they found also ended up having their own feathers mercilessly plucked away. This incident had provoked the entire Firebird clan, which led to more than ten years of fighting between the two parties. When all was said and done, the entire conflict resulted in 83 Firebirds'' losing their two tail feathers, which were the sources of their pride and the symbols of their beauty. Adding to this terror, 17 of them were actually killed. After suffering such atrocities, the Firebirds panicked, hiding themselves among other social animals. The Firebird, which was a magical creature that could compete with even the Great Dragon, had been defeated. In fact, it was this war, which had lasted for more than a decade, that first set the terrific name of The Ice Queen in stone. Even the Great Dragons humbled themselves in front of her, lest their fangs be plucked away. What about this young man? He is apparently teaching The Ice Queen to speak? Doesn''t that mean that the Ice Queen then has opened up her ingenuity, and is not far from evolving into a higher level being? Should we nip this relationship in the bud, or try to build a good relationship with him as well? These thoughts appeared in Argyll''s mind, but when he thought of the Ice Queen, who had yet to evolve, and the mysterious young man, Argyll had to extinguish the ideas entirely. He did this because he honestly figured that the possibility of either was little to none. With the ability to randomly give out such a peerless weapon, not even that idiot Balu would believe that he was not awesome! Better not try anything, but just attempt to build a good relationship, then. Would the young man possibly be the son of the Goddess of Fortune? Otherwise, why did all the good things happened to be his? After thinking through a few indignant grievances, Argyll carefully walked toward the young man. It seemed like the reason that the giant white python had not launched an attack was because the old man had a similar look as Chen Fan. Hence, all the python did was keep an eye on him. Chen Fan was slightly surprised, when he finally came into contact with this old man, as he looked so energetic, even despite his gray hair. His gorgeous fine-crafted robes, along with the two dazzling gemstone rings on his hand, made him look like quite a pampered and privileged noble! In fact, Chen Fan thought that these two adjectives perfectly described him. He was, indeed, pampered and privileged. "Hey, do you like this ring?" Argyll quickly pulled out the two rings, insisting on giving one to Chen Fan. As he did so, his expression seemed to be signifying that Chen Fan would be looking down on him, if Chen Fan didn''t accept it. As the two seemed to be unable to communicate with each other clearly, Argyll took out some paper and quill pens, then outlined the shape of a sailing boat and a nautical compass. He used this drawing, along with his rich facial expressions and gesturing, which made it easy for Chen Fan to now understand what he meant. "You lost your nautical compass, and you would like to trade in order to get one from me?" Chen Fan nodded his head, which made Argyll feel instantly relieved. A nautical compass was sold everywhere, and even the most expensive ones only cost about a dozen dollars. After completing the compass trade, Argyll suddenly had an idea. Why couldn''t he just learn the language of this young man, along with The Ice Queen? Argyll had studied their texts, which were similar to the structure of the common language, except for the difference between the words and the pronunciations of the meanings. Those who were capable of becoming magic casters were no fools, so Argyll was confident that he would master the language faster than the Ice Queen! He decided that it didn''t matter if he had to pester them consistently and gradually. He was determined that, however possible, he must build a good relationship with the Ice Queen and this young man. This was vital, because his motherland, the Kingdom of Rhine, was a mere second-rate country. It still had a big gap, when compared to the great empires. But, if he could secure friendship with the Ice Queen... The more he thought about it, the more excited he was. Argyll decided to stay, and made Chen Fan understand his intention through sketching and gesturing, just as he had done before with the trade. After getting Chen Fan''s permission, he sat down on the beach, setting his every intention towards learning this new foreign language! ...... At 11:30, Chen Fan rubbed his sore bottom and got up from the beach. He planned to go back to Zhongyun to buy the compass for Argyll, as well as to get some delicacies from the hotel. He would like to let this guy try some Chinese delicacies, specifically! When returning to the dock, riding on the electric eel, Chen Fan discovered that, at the left side of the dock, on the beach that had always been unattended, seven to eight cars had showed up from out of nowhere, three of which were Mercedes, two that were BMWs, one Mercedes MPV, and one Honda MPV. In front of the cars, a large group of corpulent, middle-aged men looked as if they were commanding the world, as they were standing next to a few young men and women, all wearing business suits, and all of whom were obviously their subservient attendants. Most likely, the leaders had gotten bored again, and had come to inspect him, he guessed. The group was currently two to three hundred meters away from the dock, and had no way of spotting the electric eel, as it was still submerged below the surface. Therefore, Chen Fan did not care much about them. "Hey, Wang Bing! Get someone to help me buy a few nautical compasses, and have the hotel chef prepare some abalones, sea cucumbers, and what not. Then have Xiao Zhou send it to us! Also, tell Xiao Zhou to bring the seafood transport truck, as I''ve gotten my hands on some wild seafood!" After the phone call, Chen Fan leisurely laid on the sofa, waiting for his men to send things over. After about half an hour, the truck driver Xiao Zhou arrived with the Dongfeng extended box truck. He approached with a Ding Dong sound, then carefully handed the food box and the nautical compasses to Chen Fan. "Boss, do we load all this seafood onto the truck?" "Yep, just load all of them up! By the way, why is the guy called Wang, or something like it, not with you?" Chen Fan put the food box aside, then rolled up his sleeves to help him move the seafood crate. The task was usually done by two people, because one person would have a hard time carrying such heavy crates alone! "He left halfway to handle something urgent!" Xiao Zhou, the driver, saw that Chen Fan was trying to help, and immediately said anxiously, "It''s OK, I can do it myself!" "I am not that incompetent! Surely carrying a crate or two won''t hurt me!" Chen Fan insisted on helping, picking up the bottom of the tuck net and helping to place it on to the carriage. Dip Dip Dip Dip When the loading process of the seafood was about to be complete, a motorcade, consisting of eight cars, drove past the dock entrance. It was led by the Mercedes MPV, which had dark reflective glass, such that allowed no one to even be able to get a glance of the interior. The remaining Mercedes and BMWs also drove off the dock without stopping. The last one, which was a Honda Odyssey, however, stopped at the dock entrance with a screech. Then, a young man in a suit emerged from the vehicle. "What''s the phone number of the dock owner?" The tall young man wrinkled his nose, appearing as if the strong fishy odor made him uncomfortable. He walked, his eyes filled with pride, to the seafood transport truck. Once there, he took out a pack of YuXi brand cigarettes. He also took two for Chen Fan and Xiao Zhou, who were still carrying and loading the seafood. "What''s the matter?" Chen Fan subconsciously glanced around the dock. He saw that nothing shady was stored on the front. In fact, the dock was somehow empty, with only one diving cabin and a covered car in the distance, the Maybach 62S Zeppelin. "I simply would like to talk to your boss, so just tell me his phone number." The young man was about twenty-four to twenty-five years old. He had an obvious lack of both experience and good taste. Otherwise, he should''ve immediately recognized the value of Chen Fan''s outfit. "I am the owner of this dock. Spill it, and make it quick." Chen Fan did not accept the YuXi cigarette that the young man offered, as he felt that the class of such cigarettes, which was a brand worth no more than 20 yuan, was too low for his standards. Plus, the young man''s attitude had ticked him off. "You are the boss?" The young man''s attitude became slightly better. He took out a business card and said, "Let me introduce myself, I am the deputy manager of the engineering management department of Shentai Real Estate. My name is Jiang Ze, and the caravan that just drove past are the bosses of our company. Our company is planning to develop this sector, making it into a seaside villa resort area. Therefore, this dock must be removed. I am here to discuss with you the compensation." "You''re going to remove my dock? Well then, hmmmm, how much do you plan to compensate me?" said Chen Fan, squinting and leaning by the truck. If the price was suitable, he wouldn''t mind letting them dismantle it, then simply have someone get another one. After all, having to deal with these real estate developers was the utmost annoying task! Jiang Ze carefully looked around the dock and said, "Well, our standard of compensation towards warehouses includes the loss of production, as well as business suspension, a relocation subsidy, renovation expenses, equipment transportation expenses, and finally, the compensation according to the structure and the area of ??the factory. If you have ownership of the land, we will also compensate you for that." That sounds about right! Chen Fan nodded his head. This real estate company did not sound as dishonest as it first seemed, after all! Unlike some developers, who take over the houses of the residents and offer them an amount of compensation to where these people aren''t even able to purchase one-third of the original area, this company seemed pretty generous, or at the least, fair. According to the amount the young man had suggested, Chen Fan estimated that he could make a small profit from the deal. After all, the ship''s machinery and equipment were never used, and therefore, there was no such thing as a loss of business to begin with! "My dock has an area of 1600 square meters. It is 12 meters in height, is a fully steel structure, and cost seven million yuan, including the machinery. As you can see, this dock is brand new, and even the freshly painted anti-rust paint is specially made for marine-use. That alone cost me about five hundred thousand yuan. There are also two automatic gates, which cost another five hundred thousand..." Chen Fan pointed to the big iron gate next to him, while he spoke. "All you have to pay me is a total of eight million yuan, as well as handling a few demolition permits. Also, I would purchase a few villas, once you are ready for business." "Heh Hehwe may discuss that later, regarding the demolition permit" Jiang Ze gave a hollow smile and said, "Let''s see, I''ll have the company''s finance department drop by this afternoon, as they have the professional accountants on staff and could figure out the estimated compensation for the dock in no time." "OK!" Chen Fan had Xiao Zhou to first send the seafood back. Then, when Jiang Ze had left with his Honda Odyssey, Chen Fan drove his Maybach to another dock. He didn''t close the gate, since there was nothing worth stealing, thus making it even easier for the real estate company to come estimate the compensation that afternoon. The wild seafood that was served by the special first-class chefs was indeed extraordinary. Argyll, who was so used to palace cuisine, saw that Chen Fan was preparing to entertain him, and he wanted to deliberately refuse at first. But, once he saw those delicious and attractive seafood dishes, he could no longer decline. The abalone especially thrilled Argyll, who felt the indescribable taste that blasted on his taste buds. It almost felt like his tongue had died and gone to the heavens! Argyll, don''t forget that you have once eaten at a dinner party hosted by a king, so steady! Steady! Argyll quietly reassured himself in his mind. "This is the best food I have ever eaten in my life!" At last, Argyll could no longer hold himself back, and he yelled loudly. After the delicious meal, Chen Fan continued his Chinese language lessons with Argyll and the giant python until 4 p.m. He then returned to Zhongyun, riding the electric eel. The accountants from the real estate company should have the amount of compensation ready by now! He landed on a random reef near the dock, then walked towards the entrance. He saw that the Honda Odyssey was again parked there, and Jiang Ze and two other young men were busily discussing something. "Done with your calculations?" "Yes, we''re done." Jiang Ze again took out his YuXi cigarettes and handed one to Chen Fan. This time, Chen Fan did not decline his offer, but took the cigarette and promptly set it in his mouth. "With such a location, and the various compensation plans for the demolition, we would like to compensate you with 3.27 million for this dock, and offer a demolition permit for 500 square meters." Jiang Ze took out a handout filled will all sorts of data, then passed it to Chen Fan. There were no sign of awkwardness on his face, which showed that he was an old pro at making these kind of deals already. "Are you treating me like an idiot?" After he casually read through the first few lines of the contract, a wildfire was ignited in Chen Fan, running all the way from his soles to the top of his head. The compensation for the steel-plated room was calculated in terms of scrap metal, and as for the rest of the materials, such as the marine anti-rust paint, the top high-strength alloy bracket, the top sunshade steel plate, which cost more than 2,000 yuan per piece, they weren''t even freaking included! What was even more irritating, was that the big iron gates that Chen Fan knew were worth a small fortune, apparently were being counted as scrap metal! "I''m not gonna sell it, so you can go build your villa wherever the heck you want! But, it sure as heck won''t be here!" Chen Fan didn''t even feel like negotiating, so he immediately spat out the cigarette and said, "This YuXi is awfully bad! It tastes like straw." "You!" Jiang Ze''s self-esteem was crushed by Chen Fan''s bad temper. He tried his best to hold back his own emotions and said, "The amount we suggested is based on current market standards. The few other docks in this area received the same amount as well." "This dock was designed by the architectural design master De Meilong, the same guy who designed the Bird''s Nest National Stadium. Also, my dock was fully hand-built. Do you know how much that cost?!" Chen Fan calmly looked at him, being careful to pronounce each syllable clearly. "Eight million USD, not in Ren-Min-Bi! " As the situation grew more intense, the two accountants, who were working on the calculations with their calculators, quickly came closer, trying to help resolve the situation. Merchants only seek wealth, thus, they knew that it was best to not go against the owner, if at all possible. Although they were not afraid of the owner at all. "Mr. Chen, this is the best price we can offer, as it''s regulated by the company policies. If you are not satisfied, you may bring it to our boss. I believe he would definitely be willing to compensate you more." Jiang Ze took a deep breath, replying with a fairly fake smile. "Tell your boss that I''m not going to sell this dock! I won''t sell it, even if he is willing to pay 100 million upfront!" Chen Fan sat on the sofa with a disdainful expression, then said, "You may leave now, as you are not welcome here any longer. " "Mr. Chen, since we managed to take over the development rights of this land, you should know that we have the ability to develop this land. It is not good for both parties to be in a state of turmoil, so I hope you will cooperate." "Wow, are you threatening me now?" Chen Fan''s expression was filled with disbelief! "We are lawful businessmen, so how could we be threatening people? All I offered was some advice with good intentions, as there''s still room for negotiation for the compensation issue, but it''s absolute that this dock shall be demolished." "If that''s the case, then just come to dismantle it. No compensation will be needed. I would then just tear down the villa the second that you build one, just so we don''t owe each other!" 249 Argyll’s Dream "Crazy!" Jiang Zhe cursed internally, gesturing towards the two accountants behind her, who were both wearing the same expression. "We have a very tight construction schedule, so we don''t have time to waste on you! Just hurry up and find men to move away the machines! We''ve encountered many unreasonable people, but in the end, they all still faced demolition." "I''m being unreasonable?" Chen Fan looked like he''d just heard the funniest joke on earth. "My dock cost me seven million, and the refurbishment cost over one million! And then you tell me that you want to compensate me three million two hundred and seventy thousand?! You tell me who is the one being unreasonable!" "Let''s go!" Jiang Zhe arrogantly stalked off, leading the way for his colleagues. "Hmph!" Chen Fan exhaled heavily through his nostrils. "Tell your boss, if my dock is harmed in the slightest, he can kiss his villa goodbye! Driving a Mercedes-Benz MPV to inspect the land? Isn''t he worried its value would drop? I''m guessing you took out a bank loan? So, if you don''t finish construction in time, and the bank chases you for payment, you''re dead meat!" "Our boss usually drives a Bentley. He only drove the Mercedes to inspect this piece of land!" Jiang Zhe seemed to be trying to hedge, after being seen through. 95 percent of property developers play the interlocking chain game: the stages are all connected, so a problem arising at any one stage would have drastic consequences. First, they would borrow a huge sum of money from the bank for a short-term period. They would then use the money to acquire the right to develop the land. Then, using the land as mortgage, they would change their short-term bank loan into a long-term one. If they have a good relationship with the bank, they could even increase the sum of the loan. Those with money would develop the land themselves, while those without their own funds would subcontract the development of the land to a construction company, which they would only pay upon the completion of the main structure. Up until then, all the costs would be borne by the construction company. After all, even if the construction company refuses to work without payment, there are still plenty of other companies that are willing to do so. Everybody knows the real estate business is the most profitable business around, along with drug dealing and smuggling! Once the framework of the first phase is done, the developer would set up a sales office by the door to begin the pre-sales. When most of the houses have been sold off, the money earned would be enough to pay off the bank loan and the construction company''s fees. If the money isn''t enough to cover all of that, the investor would pay the loan interest first, as well as the construction company''s fees. Once the construction company is paid, they would begin construction of the second phase, omitting the framework and just laying out the foundation. At this point, people would be lining up to buy the property. The same goes for the third phase. And after all of that, investors with smaller financial resources may even organize a fourth phase. One more thing, the reason property developers love to buy new cars, with some changing their cars two or three times a year, is because cars are considered as being fixed assets, which can be used as mortgage for a loan from a private or mortgage company. The higher the car''s worth, the greater the loan amount. As for the loan interest, the tax bureau''s policy is that, if a car is bought in the company''s name, the car''s depreciation, fuel costs, repair fees and all sorts of miscellaneous fees, can be used to offset a portion of the taxable amount to the company. At the very least, the company would be able to reduce its tax by 20% of the price of the car. For instance, buying a car worth 100W would enable the company to reduce their taxes by 20W, which can then be used to pay off the car loan. (This is only limited to private companies!) Isn''t that great? This means that, as long as a property developer doesn''t mind being debt-riddled, he can drive a luxury car without technically spending a single cent. It''s awesome! But, the minute an issue arises at any stage, the huge pile of vicious debts that will amass could drive one to suicide! A human heart is just like a snake swallowing an elephant: a property developer with a billion dollars worth of assets still wants to play the interlocking chain game, just because he wants to get more money. "Manager Jiang, why do I get the feeling that this young man is not going to be easy to handle?" The bespectacled young accountant in the passenger seat of the Odyssey MPV took the cigarette that Jiang Zhe handed him and said, "These days even a fool knows the ruthlessness of the real estate business. Most property owners would, at most, protest a little, then use this opportunity to get more compensation from the company. But, this guy looks like he won''t budge! His is the confident sort of obstinacy, too. It isn''t the kind of blind hopelessness that people,l who are backed into a corner and are desperate, feel." "He''s just a guy transporting seafood, so how far can his pig-headedness go?" Jiang Zhe laughed mockingly, while pressing the car horn. "He''s just pretending to be a big-tailed wolf in front of me, as if the smell of Yuxi cigarettes could be the same as paper grass!" Although outwardly sneering at Chen Fan, Jiang Zhe got back to the office and still gave the boss a play-by-play of everything that had happened that day. After all, there''s no way they were going to recklessly bring the whole exclusive demolition team without getting the details straight! Chang Le sat on a swivel chair, the back of the chair tilted to the lowest height it could go. A pair of shiny leather shoes was placed on the writing desk. Under his sleeve, one could see tattooed skin and a neck that was accessorised with gold chains, thicker than a dog collar. He was obviously flaunting his status of being a gangster turned morally grey businessman. The truth is, going back in time to five years ago today, Chang Le would probably be prowling around some dark alley, leading a bunch of his followers to commit crimes. He was a Henan Thousand Buddha district man through and through, and a well-known menace in the region. He had around 20 followers, all fierce, strong, and fit, two of whom were municipal level wushu and free combat champions. Back when he ruled the casinos, offering protection in exchange for money and high interest loans, nobody dared owe him money, because those who did either lost their limbs or were forced to flee with their whole families! Five years ago, a foreign property developer asked him to settle a relocation issue on the east side of town. At first, Chang Le didn''t even bother with the guy. He found the job degrading, and was of the opinion that only a small fry, working for pay lower than that of an average man''s, would take such a job. "Three million dollars! Take care of those households needing to be relocated within a month, and the three million is yours!" What kind of temptation did three million pose to a guy who could only drive around in a Santana 2000? Chang Le surrendered after just one look into the bag containing five hundred thousand in cash. In order to get the money quicker, he even stopped his loan shark work and devoted his time to disturbing the residents day and night. Thanks to his hard work, all the residents left after only thirteen days! The foreign developer readily paid Chang Le in full, and even gave him all sorts of other odd construction jobs, as well as some tasks to handle involving the stubborn residents, who had been involved in robbery and causing disturbances. Only once he got involved in the property development business, did he understand why those businessmen were so willing to risk it all, even at the expense of offending others, and even not caring about people''s cursing behind their backs. When they invest five million on a project, with the potential of earning fifteen million, if raiding a few apartments is what it takes to see the project completed, then so be it! After doing this for five years, Chang Le''s accumulated fortune reached over the hundred million dollar mark. He went around borrowing money, claiming it was for investment purposes, then left for the seaside towns to earn even bigger money. It is true that seaside towns are very well-developed, but investments worth hundreds of millions of dollars are still rare. The government would naturally take good care of such investors, offering them good investment terms, and thus, making them the envy of all. Chang Le gathered all the money he could, mortgaging his land, his car, and even his house, before finally managing to gather five hundred million dollars to invest in this project. He had already hired people to make careful calculations for his master plan. He had figured that, after the first phase, he would be able to recoup half of his investment. After the second, he would be able to recoup all of his investment, with some money to spare. And, after the third, he''d be making a fortune! Then he could begin the construction of bathing beaches, fine dining restaurants, bowling alleys, cruise ship terminals "Who''s this Chen Yong Feng? I''ve never heard of this character before in Zhong Yun City." Chang Le rubbed the short prickly hair on his head. From the homeowners information that had been provided by the Land Office, he could see that the particular dock''s owner was a forty-something year old man called Chen Yong Feng. The guy they met at the docks was probably his son, though what he was called and what he did was none of Chang Le''s concern. He''s just a twenty-something year old cub, who thinks that he can fly, just because his father has a bit of money! "Jiang Zhe, you''re a local. Have you heard of him before?" "No boss. Capable locals mostly deal with cargo transport or international trade. Those involved in the seafood business are all small businessmen. No matter how rich they are, they''re still no match for us, who talk with fists, not reason." "Ask around to find out who this Chen Yong Feng is. If he''s just a small fry, compensate him the standard amount. If he refuses to leave, then use force. Many people are eyeing this project. If we don''t deal with them with a heavy hand, those land snakes, who don''t know how high the sky is, will think that I, Chang Le, am a fat sheep, just here for them to take a bite out of!" ............... "Argyll, why did you come here from so far away?" Sitting on the soft grass, Chen Fan used gestures to explain what he had said. Argyll shook his head to show that he did not understand what Chen Fan was saying. Argyll had only been trying to learn Chinese for a day or two, and with Chen Fan''s half-past-six method of teaching, no matter how smart he was, he still wouldn''t be able to learn it well. "The road to knowledge is long, but I shall persist in my quest!" Frustrated, Chen Fan put his head in his hands. Why doesn''t this old fellow know sorceries of the mind? Then, he could just cast a spell that would enable him to understand the language! Done with his grumbling, Chen Fan had no choice, but to use the traditional route to teach the fellow Chinese. He was almost done with explaining single characters, so he could now start teaching him double-character phrases. He bought a small magnetic drawing board especially for this purpose, then he used a metal pen to write down the Chinese characters on the board. A rat that was slightly larger than a cat emerged from the weeds. Its eyes were intensely focussed on Chen Fan.. Bang! A gunshot rang out. The large rat''s brains were suddenly blown apart. The bullet ran through the rat, then embedded itself on the ground, leaving a hole about 20 centimeters deep. Chen Fan blew away the smoke from the barrel of his Beretta M9, then said, "Let''s continue with the lesson!" Unexpectedly, the gun had attracted Argyll''s interest. Without a single shred of suspicion, he pointed towards the Beretta on Chen Fan''s waist, with an expression that clearly meant: "Can I have a look?" "Here." Chen Fan generously took out the gun and personally demonstrated its use by shooting a few times. Bang! Bang! Bang! Argyll looked like an old man with Alzheimer''s, staring at the tree trunk that looked like a beehive after being shot at repeatedly. The tree trunk had a girth of at least ten centimeters, yet it could be penetrated by a small metal bullet?! Imagine what that would do to a human body... Argyll recalled the rat with its brains blown out, and came to a conclusion: this toy was designed to kill! The metal bullet shot out faster than the eye could see, and a small metal box could contain fifteen of such metal bullets. Using these against normal soldiers would certainly guarantee victory! A scribe to the royal lawmaking senate at the age of forty, Argyll was not like those old scholars, who sought only to understand nature and control laws. Rather than researching laws, he preferred to research the ways to kill people on a large scale, and the ways to make his home country greater, so that it wouldn''t be bullied by other countries. To put it plainly, Argyll was a patriot from head to toe, with a slight Angry Young Man''s [1] disposition. "If I can obtain a huge amount of these weapons for the country, our military can immediately vanquish our enemies! If our military is armed thus, we can finally break free of the rule of the Gilnan Empire." This Angry Young Man, lost in his happy imaginings of the far-off future, became more excited as he spoke. "If every soldier''s pockets are filled with ''metal boxes'', which they can change the minute they finish shooting, then wouldn''t defeating Gilnan and becoming our own nation be something we could look forward to very soon? And, if that''s the case, wouldn''t I, Argyll, be considered the nation''s hero? And if that fella Lenid VII marries his daughter off to me, then I''d certainly be very willing!" Chen Fan stood at one side watching, stunned speechless and breaking out in a cold sweat. The more excited Argyll was, the harder it was for him to express himself. Argyll gesticulated and jabbered on for a long time. He even scribbled all over the magnetic blackboard, before Chen Fan understood that Argyll wanted to obtain a huge amount of these weapons. "I''m afraid that''s not possible." Chen Fan''s pouring cold water all over Argyll''s fantasies almost caused Argyll to keel over in despair. "I only have 20 to 30 of such weapons, but I do have other kinds of weapons, which are equally suitable for arming the military. Besides, they are much cheaper, too." Chen Fan rubbed off the tiny stick figures that were written on the blackboard, then slowly drew a very realistic drawing of a crossbow, before indicating that there was a virtually unlimited supply of these. "A crossbow?" Disappointed, Argyll shook his head. There are many crossbows in his kingdom. The more skilled of the Thistle Knights all carried a strong bow, and they could shoot a man off his horse from 30 meters away. "Hehe!" Chen Fan calmly smiled, then speedily drew a gun, as well as two dotted lines that represented the line of fire from the gun and the crossbow respectively. One could clearly see that the shooting range of a crossbow is clearly twice that of the gun, based on the depiction on the board. Modern crossbows are made of high quality carbon fibers. These crossbows certainly could not be compared to those old-fashioned wooden toys. Many countries, including China and the United States, equip their special task forces with these crossbows, which were the top killing weapon of all cold weapons! The Beretta M9''s effective shooting range is 50 meters, but the heavy duty crossbows on the market all have an effective shooting range of over 100 meters, and the ones used by the military have an effective shooting range of 150 meters. While the penetrating power and speed of an arrow are not as high as that of a bullet''s, an arrow can still shoot through a person. Also, its kinetic energy is higher than that of the bullet of a handgun. Paired with tri-edged arrows, the crossbow is matchless, and any god or ghost blocking its path would even be shot down! Its only weaknesses were its huge size, and the fact that it takes a long time to draw and load the crossbow. Forget it. It''s best to just buy one online, then let Argyll personally witness its power. [1] youths who hold extreme social and political views, and who are usually activists campaigning for change and justice. 250 I Have My Own Ways, of Course Jiang Ze had a cigarette in his mouth, as he stood by the entrance of the dock. Beside him, there were three tall men, who were impeccably dressed. All of them had hostile expressions on their faces, and the only thing lacking, were dark glasses and "I''m a bad guy" tattoos, written on their foreheads! It was clear from their stances, that they were far from being just your average ruffians or gangsters. "Later, when he arrives, if he doesn''t agree to receive the compensation and relocate, we''ll beat him until he conforms!" Jiang Ze said with high spirits, while resolutely flicking his cigarette butt away. The three people with him were the company''s top thugs. They were used to dealing with stubborn inhabitants like these. Hence, there was no need to bring a whole big group of them. As for the person called Chen Yongfeng, Jiang Ze had been asking around about him in Zhongyun City, but everyone claimed to never have heard of this person before... Right at this moment, the automatic metal gate in front of Jiang Ze went "Clank!", before opening up, like curtains on a stage. As it opened, Chen Fan''s emotionless face came into full view. Chen Fan was ready to go ashore and return to the hotel, when he unexpectedly saw four young men standing there. These men obviously harbored malicious intentions. The most sloppy one in front, was none other than that little jerk Jiang Ze, who almost caused his lungs to burst just a few days ago! "Hi, Mr. Chen, so we meet again!" As usual, Jiang Ze took a Yuxi cigarette out from it''s casing, before handing it to Chen Fan. "How about it? Have you thoroughly considered whether to accept the compensation or not?" "I choose the third option!" Chen Fan smiled, taking the cigarette. Then, in front of four pairs of startled eyes, he threw the cigarette onto the ground, then crushed it with his feet. "The third option is to not let you build the villa!" He must be insane, everyone thought, before staring at him as if they had seen a ghost. "You, you, you...." Jiang Ze was stuck in a trance, but managed to regain his composure after quite a while. His sharp face looked like a frostbitten pork liver, quickly turning from red to purple. "Damn you! Don''t refuse a toast, only to be forced to drink a forfeit! In the end, the compensation might not be enough to cover your hospital fees!" Chen Fan simply muttered something undecipherable under his breath, before immediately making a move that stunned Jiang Ze. Just as he was going to dodge the hit, a fist landed on his face, causing him to wail and fall to the ground. Chen Fan bent his knee to squat down, before patting his red and swollen face. "I happen to like drinking a forfeit, as well as going to the hospital. What are you going to do about that?" The three top notch thugs were extremely surprised by this absurd scene! Their mouths fell wide open, and their brains stopped working momentarily. "Shoot!" Once their thoughts came back to them, the three top thugs shouted at the same time, before raising their fists and legs to hit Chen Fan. "Wait!" Chen Fan took a step back suddenly. It was unclear whether it was intentional or not, but he had coincidentally stepped on Jiang Ze''s finger. "I would like to inform you that, once you take action, the consequences will be unimaginable! So, don''t blame me for not warning you!" "Hit him, quick!" Jiang Ze''s expression was twisted in pain, as he issued commands. "Ah! Attack him quickly!" The three top thugs were not easily intimidated. They paused for only a second, before rushing straight to Chen Fan with ferocious and terrifying faces. Chen Fan was spineless, as he took a few steps back and shouted, "Stupid Wang Bing, are you enjoying the view? Come and settle them!" The three men paused again, then turned their heads slightly in order to see where Chen Fan was looking. "Boss, obviously you can handle them yourself!" As if he had been wronged, Wang Bing whined bitterly, while walking out from behind the Odyssey. "Pooh!" Jiang Ze spat out blood and saliva. He was still stubborn, despite the fact that he was about to die. "If you want to call for help, then at least get more of them. But you brought this thin monkey instead, did you plan on going to the ICU together? Boom! Chen Fan did not continue to speak nonsense with him, but directly landed a kick on his abdomen. The intensely strong attack led Jiang Ze to wail, before he instantly became limp, like a wet noodle, gasping for air madly. "I''ll hand those three over to you!" Chen Fan clapped his hands, then stepped back to watch the show. "Take care of the one called Wang Bing first!" The three top thugs surrounded Wang Bing in the shape of a crescent moon. As long as they were willing to attack, it didn''t matter who got hit first. Anyhow, the both of them must be defeated, so it was just a matter of sequence. "Take care of me?" Wang Bing looked at him with an expression of disbelief. Then, he pretended to take his phone out. "I never thought that I would encounter violent gangsters on such a fine day. I''m going to call 120!" "Crazy guy, are you so scared that you''re brain stopped working? You should call 110!" The man in the middle doubled over in laughter. "Hehe, I was just concerned that you guys won''t even have the strength to call 120 later. Since you didn''t appreciate my efforts, so be it!" Wang Bing kept his phone and said, "Come on, all together then!" Following his words, the long-haired guy on the left suddenly lifted his feet in the air. He was precisely half a head taller than Wang Bing. After he raised his leg above Wang Bing''s head, he smashed it down with all his might. The whole action was clean, with him barely even moving his upper body. It seemed like he had put in a lot of effort to train his legs for just such moves. He''s fast! But, someone was faster than him. While his leg was smashing downwards, Wang Bing had already jabbed his liver with an elbow. This unfortunate thug instantly lost all his strength, and his face became so red, that it looked like it had caught fire! After falling onto the ground,he scratched and clawed wildly, wishing that he could take out his liver. Dong dong! With two dull thuds, the two remaining thugs, who had yet to even make their attacks, were sent flying with a kick from Wang Bing. One of them landed on the Honda Odyssey with a loud bang, making a big dent on the car. "Can you still call 120?" Wang Bing walked to the guy who had called him crazy. He casually picked up a pebble, arched his eyebrow, and said, "I''ll give you 20 seconds. If you manage to utter a single word, I''ll eat this pebble!" As if he had been drastically humiliated, his retina tore little by little, and his mouth opened mechanically, as he wanted to use any sort of action to refute his disdain. However, this small voice, which could normally go on for hours and hours, suddenly was hushed. His eyes were almost bulging out, but he could not make a single sound come out of his mouth! Have you ever experienced being punched below your ribs? That''s where the liver is. The pain experienced from this hit was suffocating. In fact, it was so painful, that it would make you drip in a cold sweat and find it difficult to even breathe! Moreover, the pain lasts for a very long time. He was currently enduring this type of sufferingl! ...... At 8 a.m. in the morning, the sunshine entered from the east window. Then, after passing through the screens, it was sieved into shadows. "Did that person really use only one move on each of you, to make you guys end up like this?" Chang Le stood by the wall with a scowl. He pulled on the tightly strapped gold necklace, then said in a stone-cold voice, "I''ve always told you guys not to waste time on women, but to spend time on training instead. But, everything I said goes in the left ear and out the right ear. Now, you can''t even beat him, but instead are beaten straight into the hospital! If those wolves had seen the situation, I wouldn''t be able to make any money with this project! At that point, all of you will have to roll up your sleeping bags and go home." "Don''t...don''tplease don''t...Boss...." The top thug, Xia Li, who was lying by the window, said weakly, before groaning like a woman. "We...will bring our brothers and try to get the factory back again. If all else fails, then we''ll bring the ''puncher''. If he dares to move a muscle, it''ll turn him into an iron sandbag!" He was severely wounded, as his soft tissue was damaged and his liver was quite swollen. Fortunately, there was no internal bleeding. But, this was still enough to turn him into ''Lin Daiyu'' for a month. This was because, if he accidentally raised his voice or was harsh with his movements, it would aggravate the pain in his liver. "Yes Boss!" Jiang Ze sat up on his bed animatedly. Due to the sudden movement, which affected the injury on his face, he grimaced in pain. "Aiyo....no matter how strong that brat is, he still won''t be able to stand a chance against a gun, right? If you put the barrel against his head and ask him to stab himself, even he would have to obey obediently." "To hell with your punch. Did you think that you were still bouncers, like before?" Chang Le was so angry, even his eyebrows were raised. "A bunch of idiots. We are now businessmen! Businessmen, you hear me? Anything on a small scale is acceptable. Demolishing someone''s house and not giving compensation, that''s alright too. But we can''t beat up anyone. Once people find out about this, then we''ve reached the government''s limit. The government will never tolerate real estate developers who threaten people with guns. With the current developments in information technology, once it''s on the web, the whole world will know about it. Then, god knows what would happen to us!" "It would be fine if we did it without leaving a single trace!" someone muttered. "Shut your mouth!" Chang Le said sternly. A brat with blond-dyed hair bit his tongue for quite a while. In the end, he just slapped himself in the face. "Boss, we can''t just let this go. Our opponent may be strong, but we shouldn''t be afraid of him!" Once he was out of the hospital, a middle age man with glasses opened the door for him and said with a doubtful tone. "F*ck, of course not!" Chang Le''s ferocious eyes were spitting venom in waves. "He started this feud. No matter how strong he is, I''m going to make him unable to stand on his own feet. Otherwise, when we start our construction work, we would be screwed if we have to delay our deadlines, due to his interrupting every few days." "So, how are we going to handle him? They fight so well! Iif we don''t use our weapons, I''m afraid we can''t hold them off." "You don''t always have to handle people with guns!" Chang Le glared intensely at the roof of the car. "Have all the other docks been demolished and relocated?" "It is all done. There were two uncooperative fishermen, but once they saw the malicious thugs standing at the entrance, they conformed immediately. Now, that''s the only dock that has not been demolished and relocated yet." "Okay, then go get a bulldozer from the engineering department!" "Boss, if we hastily demolish the house, without coming to an agreement on the compensation beforehand, won''t it drive him to do something desperate?" "I have my own ways, of course!" Chapter 251 Could This Be Bought Wholesale? It was four o''clock in the afternoon. The cloudy sky was darkening gradually. All of a sudden, the strong gusts of wind stilled, and it felt as if it was about to begin raining. A bright yellow XCMG wheel loader roared past, splashing up the muddy water from a pothole. This sort of large wheel loader was usually used in mines to cart stones, or even utilized as a bulldozer, since it could easily demolish a house due to its huge amount of horsepower. Only this one driver had been sent out this day. Rather than sending out a hundred people, just this one loader, with its beast-like level of expertise, was more than sufficient. "XCMG, the perfect companion to your success!" The bald youth in the cab of the loader excitedly rubbed his bald head, while he was driving the loader. He entered into the dock area, trespassing as if nobody was watching. It was simply thrilling to him to wreak havoc with this huge rig. To him, it was an unadulterated combination of steel and strength. In particular, the bamboo-like power that one felt when ramming the backhoe against the walls was especially thrilling. When the loader had charged to the front of the dock, Baldy honked several times. He was trying to see if he could intimidate any of the thieves, then force them to run. With a creak, the closed metal doors were pushed to the side, and a tall thief with a lean appearance came rushing out. The thief was wearing a placid smile and standing in a nonchalant manner. Despite having an air of nonchalance, his gaze was sharp as a knife, brimming with confidence and disdain. As such, Baldy could not bring himself to meet his piercingly sharp gaze. Beep beep! Baldy honked twice, aggressively. He was here to demolish the place, not to murder anyone. In order to do that, he had to chase away this thief first! It was as if the thief was deaf. He did not respond to the ear-piercing honks at all, but merely stood there, his nonchalant expression unchanging. "Hey, are you the fellow they call Wang Bing?" Grumbling, Baldy wound down his window and shouted across the iron railings, "Get out of my way, unless you want me to use this backhoe to mow you down." "Oh this guy''s got guts. You want to mow me down?" Wang Bing scratched an itch in his ear, then took a few purposeful steps to stop right in front of the loader. "Come on, let''s see if your guts are as strong as this loader." "You''re looking for death!" Baldy went crazy when he heard this challenge. Alright, I''ll show him that I''m no coward! Baldy''s right hand immediately pulled up the joystick, prepared to use the backhoe to flatten him like a piece of paper. In the five seconds it took for him to grab hold of the joystick and for the backhoe of the loader to ascend quickly, Wang Bing had climbed up to the threshold of the cab with a single whoosh. He was now quietly watching him with a small smile. Baldy was stunned for a moment, then roared into laughter. The very reason the rebars were welded on the outside of the loader was precisely to prevent situations such as these, where a man of exceptional agility might try to drag the driver out to beat him up. Hence, the car door was locked from the inside, unless the thief could use brute strength to tear off the rebars... "Hold tight, I want to see which is thicker, your skin or the dock!" Baldy let out a firecracker-like maniacal laugh, then released the clutch while stepping on the accelerator. He was preparing to change gears to ram the dock. But, before his right hand could even touch the gearbox, his loader stalled. "Idiot! Why don''t you just continue driving! I want to see which is thicker, your head or a copper-jacketed bullet!" Wang Bing used his finger to lightly release the safety catch of his Beretta M9. With a click, the bolt was ready to fire. While the rebars were bulletproof, they were set in a criss-crossing pattern, with gaps huge enough to fit a fist inside them. Thus, one certainly could not rely on glass alone, which could be shattered with a single punch, to stop a bullet. Baldy had some experience handling guns. The company that he worked for owned some guns, which were made in a workshop in the Guizhou Province Songtao County. However, he still never used the guns much. The government''s persecution of illegal gun use was very strict, so he always tried to only use guns when it was absolutely necessary. He had made all sorts of preparations, but he had never once expected that the guy would pull a gun on him. With his knowledge of guns, he could easily tell that this gun was the real deal. Even the click that he had heard just now was the sound that could only be made when the gun was loaded. Thus, it was obviously not a gun with an empty barrel. He shook, while he was retracting his hand. He then said mournfully, "Big brother, please let me go. I''ll leave right away." "No. Since you''re already here, how can you leave so soon?" Wang Bing nonchalantly whistled, while gesturing with his gun. "Go ahead and drive your loader into the dock." "Ah, okay okay!" Baldy was as docile as a kitten now. Once the loader was gradually driven into the dock, Wang Bing flicked a coin with his left finger, hitting the red switch that controlled the main gate. "Get out of the car!" "Ah okay, okay!" Baldy rolled down the car window, then squatted down automatically. "Stand in front of that pillar!" Wang Bing took out a bundle of rope and chased him to the pillar, as if he was herding cattle. Whether it was because Wang Bing was overly confident in his skills or he simply did not think Baldy would fight back, he just left his unloaded Beretta M9 tucked into the waistband at the back of his pants while he was cornering the thief. "Heh, heh, heh," Baldy still had an obsequious expression, but a calculating gleam shone in his eye. Using his clothes as a barrier, he used his left hand to sneakily take out a black box the size of a name card from his back pocket, holding it in his hand. The black box had two metal receptors at the top, and a red button on the side, with a lightning sign engraved on it. "Head high, chest out!" Wang Bing started tying him to the pillar with nylon rope. Crackle! The top of the black box in Baldy''s left hand suddenly erupted into a white arc of light, which he quickly thrust into Wang Bing''s stomach. That''s right, he was holding a taser, which would cause a person to collapse senseless onto the floor for a few seconds the minute it came into contact with his upper body. "Ouch!" Baldy cradled his palm and wailed, because Wang Bing had grabbed and twisted his wrist. "Aren''t you embarrassed, taking out that plaything of high school students?" Wang Bing toyed with the plastic taser. "Have you ever played with an electric taser? The kind that could set a newspaper on fire, and could cause a human''s nerve and muscle activity to be immediately paralyzed? Your little toy would only cause extreme pain and numbness to the body." Once Wang Bing had secured him to the pillar, he poked Baldy with the taser. He then turned on the switch! The funny thing was, the crackling sound of the taser''s electric arc vanished immediately after making contact with human skin. It then became utterly silent. "Ow!" Baldy gave out a loud wail, then started struggling violently. "So? Your toy isn''t that impressive after all!" His eyes rolled to the back of his skull like a beached carp. It was several seconds before he managed to open his eyes with much difficulty. He was vexed and fuming, but dared not say anything. A thought suddenly struck Wang Bing. "Do you remember how we used to play with tasers?" "I I don''t know" Baldy''s forehead was wet with cold sweat. "Let me show you. It''s really fun!" Wang Bing smiled placidly. "To start off, prepare some sewing needles, then stick the needles in randomly. Next, use the taser to electrify the needles, and the needles will then fly out of the flesh. Then, you''ll see strings of red shooting out from the hole that was poked by the needle. But don''t worry, that''s just blood! However, if the needle is poked into the belly button or the soles of the feet, then the effect would be that much more incredible!" "Brother, I''m begging you. I''m just a lackey that was hired to do the dirty work. I didn''t want to do this. I''d actually started despising Chang Le long ago" Seeing the iron nails that had just been brought out by Wang Bing from god knows where, Baldy''s eyeballs became bigger than balloons. Hiss. Watching the arrow, which was shot out by Chen Fan, Argyll''s eyeballs became bigger than balloons. Sniggering, Chen Fan walked towards the big tree, which was a hundred meters away, and pointed towards the arrow. He could clearly see that the arrow had a third of its hilt buried in the bark. He then said, "Apart from its slow shooting speed, the killing power and precision of the bow is not inferior to a handgun. Also, this type is called a chace moon crossbow, and it has an effective firing range of up to 150 or 160 meters. Thus, in a large scale battle, killing a person from 300 meters away would not be a problem." "Awesome" Argyll stared hungrily at the crossbow in Chen Fan''s hands, then stuttered several unintelligible Chinese words. After a few days of cramming, Argyll could just barely express himself in very basic Chinese, while that white python, which was called Snow Queen, was slightly dumber than Argyll. She could only catch the gist of Chen Fan''s words, and could not express herself at all yet. This killing range of 300 meters could only be achieved with a great horn composite crossbow. But, that sort of bow was extremely unwieldy, taking three people to lift it, as well as requiring a lot of effort just to load the bow. Also, its aim was surprisingly so bad, it missed its mark almost every time! Whereas, this so-called chace moon medium-sized crossbow, which was made of unknown materials, could be loaded quickly by stepping on the pedal in front. Moreover, the time between loading and firing the bow was not much slower than a bow-and-arrow, yet it covered five times the shooting range! If there were ten thousand soldiers, all of whom were equipped with this type of bow, they could easily shoot and kill 40,000 people. Moreover, the archers, who were defending the city from its walls, could even shoot down a hundred thousand people! Most importantly, this exceptionally convenient crossbow could be bought wholesale, so the only thing left to do was to ask its final price! 251 Could This Be Bought Wholesale? It was four o''clock in the afternoon. The cloudy sky was darkening gradually. All of a sudden, the strong gusts of wind stilled, and it felt as if it was about to begin raining. A bright yellow XCMG wheel loader roared past, splashing up the muddy water from a pothole. This sort of large wheel loader was usually used in mines to cart stones, or even utilized as a bulldozer, since it could easily demolish a house due to its huge amount of horsepower. Only this one driver had been sent out this day. Rather than sending out a hundred people, just this one loader, with its beast-like level of expertise, was more than sufficient. "XCMG, the perfect companion to your success!" The bald youth in the cab of the loader excitedly rubbed his bald head while he was driving the loader. He entered into the dock area, trespassing as if nobody was watching. It was simply thrilling to him to wreak havoc with this huge rig. To him, it was an unadulterated combination of steel and strength. In particular, the bamboo-like power that one felt when ramming the backhoe against the walls was especially thrilling. When the loader had charged to the front of the dock, Baldy honked several times. He was trying to see if he could intimidate any of the thieves, then force them to run. With a creak, the closed metal doors were pushed to the side, and a tall thief with a lean appearance came rushing out. The thief was wearing a placid smile and standing in a nonchalant manner. Despite having an air of nonchalance, his gaze was sharp as a knife, brimming with confidence and disdain. As such, Baldy could not bring himself to meet his piercingly sharp gaze. Beep beep! Baldy honked twice, aggressively. He was here to demolish the place, not to murder anyone. In order to do that, he had to chase away this thief first! It was as if the thief was deaf. He did not respond to the ear-piercing honks at all, but merely stood there, his nonchalant expression unchanging. "Hey, are you the fellow they call Wang Bing?" Grumbling, Baldy wound down his window and shouted across the iron railings, "Get out of my way, unless you want me to use this backhoe to mow you down." "Oh this guy''s got guts. You want to mow me down?" Wang Bing scratched an itch in his ear, then took a few purposeful steps to stop right in front of the loader. "Come on, let''s see if your guts are as strong as this loader." "You''re looking for death!" Baldy went crazy when he heard this challenge. Alright, I''ll show him that I''m no coward! Baldy''s right hand immediately pulled up the joystick, prepared to use the backhoe to flatten him like a piece of paper. In the five seconds it took for him to grab hold of the joystick and for the backhoe of the loader to ascend quickly, Wang Bing had climbed up to the threshold of the cab with a single whoosh. He was now quietly watching him with a small smile. Baldy was stunned for a moment, then roared in laughter. The very reason the rebars were welded on the outside of the loader was precisely to prevent situations such as these, where a man of exceptional agility might try to drag the driver out to beat him up. Hence, the car door was locked from the inside, unless the thief could use brute strength to tear off the rebars... "Hold tight, I want to see which is thicker, your skin or the dock!" Baldy let out a firecracker-like maniacal laugh, then released the clutch while stepping on the accelerator. He was preparing to change gears to ram the dock. But, before his right hand could even touch the gearbox, his loader stalled. "Idiot! Why don''t you just continue driving! I want to see which is thicker, your head or a copper-jacketed bullet!" Wang Bing used his finger to lightly release the safety catch of his Beretta M9. With a click, the bolt was ready to fire. While the rebars were bulletproof, they were set in a criss-crossing pattern, with gaps huge enough to fit a fist inside them. Thus, one certainly could not rely on glass alone, which could be shattered with a single punch, to stop a bullet. Baldy had some experience handling guns. The company that he worked for owned some guns, which were made in a workshop in the Guizhou Province Songtao County. However, he still never used the guns much. The government''s persecution of illegal gun use was very strict, so he always tried to only use guns when it was absolutely necessary. He had made all sorts of preparations, but he had never once expected that the guy would pull a gun on him. With his knowledge of guns, he could easily tell that this gun was the real deal. Even the click that he had heard just now was the sound that could only be made when the gun was loaded. Thus, it was obviously not a gun with an empty barrel. He shook, while he was retracting his hand. He then said mournfully, "Big brother, please let me go. I''ll leave right away." "No. Since you''re already here, how can you leave so soon?" Wang Bing nonchalantly whistled, while gesturing with his gun. "Go ahead and drive your loader into the dock." "Ah, okay okay!" Baldy was as docile as a kitten now. Once the loader was gradually driven into the dock, Wang Bing flicked a coin with his left finger, hitting the red switch that controlled the main gate. "Get out of the car!" "Ah okay, okay!" Baldy rolled down the car window, then squatted down automatically. "Stand in front of that pillar!" Wang Bing took out a bundle of rope and chased him to the pillar, as if he was herding cattle. Whether it was because Wang Bing was overly confident in his skills or he simply did not think Baldy would fight back, he just left his unloaded Beretta M9 tucked into the waistband at the back of his pants while he was cornering the thief. "Heh, heh, heh," Baldy still had an obsequious expression, but a calculating gleam shone in his eye. Using his clothes as a barrier, he used his left hand to sneakily take out a black box the size of a name card from his back pocket, holding it in his hand. The black box had two metal receptors at the top, and a red button on the side, with a lightning sign engraved on it. "Head high, chest out!" Wang Bing started tying him to the pillar with nylon rope. Crackle! The top of the black box in Baldy''s left hand suddenly erupted into a white arc of light, which he quickly thrust into Wang Bing''s stomach. That''s right, he was holding a taser, which would cause a person to collapse senseless onto the floor for a few seconds the minute it came into contact with his upper body. "Ouch!" Baldy cradled his palm and wailed, because Wang Bing had grabbed and twisted his wrist. "Aren''t you embarrassed, taking out that plaything of high school students?" Wang Bing toyed with the plastic taser. "Have you ever played with an electric taser? The kind that could set a newspaper on fire, and could cause a human''s nerve and muscle activity to be immediately paralyzed? Your little toy would only cause extreme pain and numbness to the body." Once Wang Bing had secured him to the pillar, he poked Baldy with the taser. He then turned on the switch! The funny thing was, the crackling sound of the taser''s electric arc vanished immediately after making contact with human skin. It then became utterly silent. "Ow!" Baldy gave out a loud wail, then started struggling violently. "So? Your toy isn''t that impressive after all!" His eyes rolled to the back of his skull like a beached carp. It was several seconds before he managed to open his eyes with much difficulty. He was vexed and fuming, but dared not say anything. A thought suddenly struck Wang Bing. "Do you remember how we used to play with tasers?" "I I don''t know" Baldy''s forehead was wet with cold sweat. "Let me show you. It''s really fun!" Wang Bing smiled placidly. "To start off, prepare some sewing needles, then stick the needles in randomly. Next, use the taser to electrify the needles, and the needles will then fly out of the flesh. Then, you''ll see strings of red shooting out from the hole that was poked by the needle. But don''t worry, that''s just blood! However, if the needle is poked into the belly button or the soles of the feet, then the effect would be that much more incredible!" "Brother, I''m begging you. I''m just a lackey that was hired to do the dirty work. I didn''t want to do this. I''d actually started despising Chang Le long ago" Seeing the iron nails that had just been brought out by Wang Bing from god knows where, Baldy''s eyeballs became bigger than balloons. Hiss. Watching the arrow, which was shot out by Chen Fan, Argyll''s eyeballs became bigger than balloons. Sniggering, Chen Fan walked towards the big tree, which was a hundred meters away, and pointed towards the arrow. He could clearly see that the arrow had a third of its hilt buried in the bark. He then said, "Apart from its slow shooting speed, the killing power and precision of the bow is not inferior to a handgun. Also, this type is called a chace moon crossbow, and it has an effective firing range of up to 150 or 160 meters. Thus, in a large scale battle, killing a person from 300 meters away would not be a problem." "Awesome" Argyll stared hungrily at the crossbow in Chen Fan''s hands, then stuttered several unintelligible Chinese words. After a few days of cramming, Argyll could just barely express himself in very basic Chinese, while that white python, which was called Snow Queen, was slightly dumber than Argyll. She could only catch the gist of Chen Fan''s words, and could not express herself at all yet. This killing range of 300 meters could only be achieved with a great horn composite crossbow. But, that sort of bow was extremely unwieldy, taking three people to lift it, as well as requiring a lot of effort just to load the bow. Also, its aim was surprisingly so bad, it missed its mark almost every time! Whereas, this so-called chace moon medium-sized crossbow, which was made of unknown materials, could be loaded quickly by stepping on the pedal in front. Moreover, the time between loading and firing the bow was not much slower than a bow-and-arrow, yet it covered five times the shooting range! If there were ten thousand soldiers, all of whom were equipped with this type of bow, they could easily shoot and kill 40,000 people. Moreover, the archers, who were defending the city from its walls, could even shoot down a hundred thousand people! Most importantly, this exceptionally convenient crossbow could be bought wholesale, so the only thing left to do was to ask its final price! 252 A Gentleman Is Obligated to His Vengeance "EmmMr. Chen Fan, what can I give you in exchange for this type of crossbow?" Argyll asked, drooling while he rubbed both of his hands together. Chen Fan scratched his head. "You know, a crossbow like this is extremely difficult to make, since its limb and bowstring can only be obtained from a special type of tree. Then, they need to be made via more than 20 complex procedures. Furthermore, a workman needs five days to produce just one crossbow. So, the price would be" "Please, take it easy on me!" Argyll pleaded, bracing himself. "What kind of money does your country use? I don''t accept bank notes!" "Bronze coins, silver coins, and gold coins, or high quality magic crystals!" "Then, let me have a look at some of your gold coins. I can consider an exchange for more than 10 gold coins, if they are of a high quality!" "Ah, more thanten" Argyll''s eyes were suddenly filled with anxiety. A gold coin was enough for a common family to cover two years at his place. For such a price for a crossbow, even the powerful Gilnan Empire could not afford it! It was much more reasonable for a single crossbow to be priced at around two gold coins. "Mr. Chen, I''ve placed all of the gold coins on the boat, and there''s also the coins of orcs and elves. Why don''t you have a look at them with me?" "Okay! Let me see if there is any valuable stuff!" Chen Fan followed Argyll. "Don''t worry, Mr. Chen. The purity of the gold coins is good, but the priceisn''t it possible to have it reduced? A dozen golden coins is way too much!" On the way to the sailboat, Argyll''s face was full of worried wrinkles, making him look like a bulldog. "Let me have a look first!" "Barru, where''re you? Come and make two cups of tea!" Once he stepped on the deck, Argyll shouted loudly, waking the sleeping Barru. "Are we going to catch the hurricane bird?" Barru, wearing pelt underwear, dashed on the deck. As he did so, his huge body and strength shook the sailboat. "Go and make two cups of tea first!" "What? You''re asking me to make tea?" Warm puffs of breath shot out from Barru''s nostrils. "Old man, we have been here for more than 10 days, when can we catch the hurricane bird?" "Tomorrow!" Argyll drew back his neck like a tortoise, as he replied, "Go make some tea first, and I''ll bring you to catch the hurricane bird tomorrow." After getting rid of the huge brat, Argyll led Chen Fan to the cabin. He took a sheepskin money pouch from a cabinet that was painted in glowing purple. Then, he spread the coins on the table, just like he was spilling beans from a jar. "Mr. Chen, these are the gold coins that we use." Argyll picked up a gold coin, which was as big as bottle cap. The front of the coin was stamped with a mighty old man wearing a crown, while it had thorny flowers on the back. The edge of the coin was serrated, and it weighed about 200 grams. Chen Fan didn''t know much about gold, so he just took one of the coins and bit it with his teeth. It was soft, and its color was a bright yellowish. "Mr.Chen, about the price" "What is this?" Chen Fan didn''t answer him, but instead picked up a silver coin that was brighter and shinier than the others. The coin was crafted in a simple manner. There was an orc stamped on its front and two crossing tomahawks on its back. The coin was obviously harder than silver, since he had bitten it with his teeth strongly, but could only make a light mark. "Oh, these are the silver coin that are used by orcs. They are not made from silver, but are still as valuable as silver coins." Argyll put the silver coin into the sheepskin money pouch with a smile, then pushed the pouch over to Chen Fan. "Since Mr. Chen Fan is interested in these, you can have them!" "Hehe" Chen Fan accepted the money pouch. He actually collected the coins as art, rather than desiring them for any monetary value. "Mr.Chen Fan, regarding the price" "Let me consider this first" He figired that a gold coin equals 200 grams of gold and is worth more about 60,000 dollars. But, a Sanlida Chace-Moon crossbow from Jiaozuo City only costs 2,500 dollars. By placing an order with the name of a foreign company, he could obtain a huge amount of crossbows! "Three gold coins! At least three! I will not sell it for less than this amount!" Chen Fan gave an inscrutable smile. "I can sell more powerful weapons to you, should we build up a long-term relationship." "What kind of weapons?" Argyll, the old ''angry youth'' had obviously been attracted by this offer. For him, Chen Fan was an incarnation of miracles and the unknown. For instance, to investigate how the hands in a watch were rotating, Barru smashed it and realized that there was equipment inside, which was formed by many gears, the smallest one being no bigger than a grain of rice! "Hmm" Chen Fan avoided his question, without feeling shameful. "Don''t worry! There is nothing that I can''t provide! You can''t even imagine the possibilities! If you can pay for the necessary weapons and such, it will not be a problem to conquer the whole mainland within half year!" "HeheThat''s wonderful!" Argyll replied, relieved. Both of them discussed the details for more than half a day. Then, when the sun set, Chen Fan went back to Yunzhong, riding the electric eel. Argyll had expressed that he would catch two young hurricane birds with Barru tomorrow, and that he would inform the king once they were back on the mainland. At that time, he would bring 6,000 kilograms of gold, which was worth about 1.8 billion Renminbi here. He wanted to purchase 10,000 strong crossbows. As for the arrows, Argyll decided to get the workmen to make their arrowheads from wood and steel. He was shocked when Chen Fan offered him the seemingly outrageous trade price of a hundred arrows for a gold coin! At 5 p.m., the serenity of the dusky sky was broken by a clap of thunder. The dust was also blowing and leaves were flying everywhere. The dark nimbus clouds were condensing, and the rain droplets, which were as big as nuts, penetrated through both the blue sea and the sands of the yellowish gray beach. "Sir, you''re here!" Inside the dock, Wang Bing greeted Chen Fan with a big grin. There was a bald youth, who was tied on a pillar, beside him. Fear was the only emotion in his eyes. "HmmWhy did only one person come?" Chen Fan asked. "They came again just now, a total of five people. Each of them was holding a machete. But, they were shocked when I took out my gun!" "Shoot! Run quickly!" Chen Fan looked around, alarmed at what he had just heard. "They have seen your gun, so they''ll either never come back again, or they''ll return, bringing along their own guns! Why aren''t you running? You want to get shot?" "Hmm, I guess they''re almost here!" Wang Bing was talking as if nothing had happened. "They said before leaving, ''Brat, you think you can lord any power over us with a gun? Don''t think that you''re omnipotent, and don''t run off. Let''s negotiate, once we get back our weapons!''" "My opinion is, we should run away now, instead of chatting here!" Chen Fan urged. "Sir, how about you leave first?" Wang Bing patted the Beretta M9 gun cover on his waist. "There''s 15 cartridges inside this gun, and there are two more on the holster. With a total of 45 cartridges, I can settle this easily, even if he brings 10 gunners back with him." "You''re a big talker, but it''s no fun if you die!" Chen Fan dragged Wang Bing away without explanation. "Don''t, sir! Let me settle this with them now, to avoid troubles in the future." Wang Bing''s strength was not comparable with Chen Fan, who was unusually strong. Thus, Wang Bing was staggering while being dragged. "Settle it with just with your gun?" Chen Fan questioned. "I am able to shoot three fast-moving chest silhouettes within 1.5 seconds, using a QSZ-92. And, if I just hide behind this six centimeters-thick alloy bucket, their bullets can''t penetrate that, even though they use the US army''s M16 model!" "What if they drive two bucket loaders here? You know that they work in construction, so they own many engineering vehicles. If a gunfight goes down, they''ll certainly drive their loaders here!" Chen Fan pointed out. "So, what are you waiting for? Run away quickly, as revenge is a dish that should be eaten cold." "Butbut" Wang Bing was obviously hoping for a stroke of luck, as he thought he could settle this via his ability alone. But, Chen Fan didn''t leave any time or space for him to think, but dragged him forcefully out from the dock. It rained heavily. Lightning would strike once in awhile, clearly illuminating their unfocused pupils. Thankfully, there weren''t any incoming bucket loaders for the time being. "I''ll clear their place tomorrow!" Wang Bing wiped the rain from his face mercilessly, as he drifted towards the road after starting his BMW. "Sir, where''re we going now?" "Drive along the beach for two kilometers. I''ll get out there." "Aren''t we going back to the hotel?" Wang Bing set the windshield wiper speed up to the highest speed. "It''s raining heavily, so let''s back to hotel and wait it out!" "It''s okay, I''m ready to go on the boat. Be careful when you return back to the hotel, as I''m worried that they might bring trouble, especially if they know that the hotel is connected to me." "Okay!" After getting out of the car, Chen Fan covered his head with his jacket, then rushed to the beach. When Wang Bing had disappeared in the car, he closed his eyes and projected his conscience onto the eel. Going on the boat was just an excuse. Chen Fan planned to settle these gangsters who obviously didn''t know their place. But, he knew that it needed to be done in secrecy, which was why he had found an excuse to send Wang Bing away! 253 Even Aircraft Carriers Would Tremble in Fear Chang Le sat in the XCMG loader, a dark look on his face. He was feeling claustrophobic, due to the narrow space of the cab. He violently tugged on the collar of his shirt, revealing his gold necklace, which was thicker than a dog''s collar. In front of him, there were two other XCMG loaders, both of which had their high beams turned on and their cabs packed to the brim with people. He had originally planned to dispatch a loader to demolish the dock, as he couldn''t postpone construction any longer. The vicious and greedy tiger that was the bank loan would gradually swallow him whole, should he allow much more time to pass! Chang Le had planned on demolishing the dock, then getting his underlings to round up those fellows, thus preventing them from buzzing around the workplace, like flies, and causing trouble! However, he had truly not expected that his opponent would like playing on the wrong side of the law as well, just like him! The driver of the loader, who he had sent out, was forced out of the loader at gunpoint. While this was happening, the four others, who had accompanied him, were scared away by the gun. So, Chang Le had no choice but to take six of his trusted followers to remedy the situation! It seems that even the weather mirrored the current circumstance, as the torrential rain fit Chang Le''s current mood to a tee. By the time he had relocated the battle to the inside of the dockyard, nobody would be able to hear any scuffle, even if he set off a bomb! "Hey hey hey!" Change Le shouted into his walkie-talkie earpiece, "Ma Zi, Wu Bao, Dan Dan, you guys need to move immediately to the front of the backhoe once you reach the entrance to the dock! You''re in charge of shooting and leading the way. The rest of you, drive the loaders in a straight line. When you''re in formation, the rest of you immediately get out and focus on shooting from both sides." "Yes, boss!" "Don''t you worry about a thing, boss!" The dark night and the mist that was pervading the air provided them the perfect cover. The three loadersm which were moving in a straight line, looked like a heavy and hard pike, unstoppable and invincible. However, sudden chaos soon erupted! Without waiting for the three loaders to come to a complete stop, Chang Le jumped out of the loader with his chief henchmen, then loaded his revolver with a clang. "Move forward!" Chang Le yelled a command, as he shot a dark gaze at the main door of the dock. Five years of peaceful living had not dulled his vicious and aggressive temperament in the least. He would still lead the charge in any important situation! Just as Chang Le was going to direct the loader to smash down the main door, it opened by itself with a creak. Ping! Without hesitation, Chang Le pulled the trigger. A plaintive wail rang out, accompanying firing of the red ammunition cases. This made his heart leap with joy. "Bo boss, I think that''s Baldy!" When the gun smoke had cleared, the person standing next to him, who was Wu Bao, poured cold water on him. Within the brightly lit dock, nothing else was moving, apart from the figure tied to the pillar, who was currently twitching, as he had two bullets in his chest! Chang Le''s jaw muscles spasmed, then he finally spat out a command through gritted teeth, "Charge in a horizontal line!" Upon receiving the instructions, the three loaders immediately changed formations skillfully, with the upraised backhoe protecting the people behind it and in the cab. Boom. Boom. The minute the three loaders charged into the dock, the main doors closed automatically, locking them inside. "Hmph, they''re trying to play cheap tricks with a remote-controlled door!" Chang Le''s expression was dismissive. "The one whose surname is Chen, I''m talking to you! We are all bad people here, so just hurry up and get your as** out here! Today, one of us will die!" "Beware of your language. You should be saying ''please,'' not ''get out!''" Chen Fan peeked his head out from behind a box-shaped object that was covered with a silvery-grey stiff canvas. He then said, "In order to thank you for coming all the way here, I''ve decided to treat you to your first and last trip to hell!" "You''ve got some balls!" Chang Le, who was hiding behind the backhoe of the loader, loaded his revolver with a clang, then aimed it towards Chen Fan''s head and said superciliously, "Don''t think your ghost face mask can protect you, as just a single shot to your brain from me would still turn you to pulp!" "No no, let me formally introduce my equipment. This grey mask is the ''Predator Facial Armor,'' manufactured by an American MTEK Weapons Systems company. Its impact absorption is exceptional, and not even an AK could penetrate this, let alone the revolver in your hand. Even when one were to be hit by a bullet, the shock would not be too great. Moreover, there would be no damage to one''s skull!" "I don''t care about your predator beast whatever! Had you just quietly taken the money back, then we wouldn''t even be having this feud today." "Mmm," Chen Fan said in a muffled voice, "Your words are reasonable. Had I taken your money, there would not be so much trouble. But, I was born petty, so I can''t take even the slightest loss!" "Stop talking nonsense. If you have the guts pick up your gun, then let''s have a shootout. Whoever is the unlucky one dies!" Chang Le provoked him, while looking around wildly to see if there was anybody hiding in a dark corner. An enemy out in the open was not scary, but it was those despicable people, lurking in ambush, who were the ones that posed the real threats. "Alright then, let''s have a shootout!" challenged Chen Fan. Several of his chief henchmen speedily aimed their guns at Chen Fan, prepared to pull the trigger the minute he made any sudden movements. "Wait!" Chen Fan suddenly shouted. "Let me first introduce the weapon that is about to make its grand entrance!" "Harping on like this, could you possibly be scared? If you are, just call that Wang Bing over to manhandle you, and we''ll call it quits!" "Have you heard of the Barrett M82?" Chen Fan digressed and sighed. "Unfortunately I have only one, and it''s loaded with ten armor-piercing shells." He actually dragged it out from underneath a sniper rifle, as he spoke. While this bunch of gangsters wouldn''t know the exact enormity of the power of this gun, it was not hard to come to the conclusion that the backhoe of the loaders in front of them would certainly not be able to withstand its attacks! Ping! When Chang Le saw that Chen Fan had already taken the gun out partly, he was so terrified that he subconsciously fired a shot. Ping! Ping! Ping! His underlings, who were hidden at the sides, also immediately started firing. Their tree Type 54 pistols and two revolvers began rapidly pumping out bullets. The clanging bullets flew, like shooting stars, towards the canvas. The canvas was almost torn to pieces from the assault! An unlucky fellow even hit his elbow from the recoil of the handgun, but the object hidden below the canvas was still in good condition. "Boss, that thing in front of that fellow is really sturdy. I reckon it''s a big box, welded from thick iron plates." "Cease firing!" Chang Le roared loudly. That thing that he used to shield himself from the bullets looked familiar. It appeared to be just like...an armored car! That is impossible impossible Such a thing only exists inside a television, right? So, how did it get transplanted into reality? "Are you done?" Chen Fan peeked out, then said in a slightly mocking tone, "Just like this, you want to goad others into killing people?" "Hng, let''s see how long you can hide there!" "I don''t even need two minutes, because I am now preparing to send you to hell!" Whoosh! Chen Fan violently tore off the sturdy canvas covering, revealing the wheeled armored personnel carrier hidden beneath it. Chang Le was holding two red ammunition shells in one hand, but before he could stuff them into the strip-like magazine, he suddenly froze, his mouth hanging open. The five or six chief henchmen around him were also stunned. They had thought that the object under the canvas was a metal box or something similar. They never expected it to be an armored car! They simultaneously rubbed their eyes, just to make sure they weren''t dreaming. Who even uses an armored car in a shootout, or a Barrett M82 for that matter?! Moreover, who actually wears a bulletproof facial armor, one that even an automatic rifle cannot penetrate? They all had the same thoughts Where did this young man come from? Was he the son of a commander-in-chief? If he was that great why would he split hairs over just one dock? "Don''t be shocked, this is just a small appetizer. My ultimate weapon of attack has yet to arrive!" Chen Fan was very satisfied with the absolute silence that had resulted from his big reveal. Then, after guffawing, he roared loudly, "Now, the time has come for you to witness a miracle! What you are about to witness, is something only you lucky fellows in this entire world will get to see. This weapon would make even an aircraft carrier tremble in fear. Using this against you, while simultaneously destroying all evidence and covering my tracks, is my perfect plan!" "Oh my god, how did we meet such a crazy fellow?" At this moment, everybody stared at him, stunned. "Hahahaha," Chang Le laughed loudly. "Come on, I want to see whether this miracle is even rarer than your brand of madness?" "All of you, open your eyes wide. Don''t even think about blinking!" With a cold harrumph, Chen Fan pressed a switch at the bottom with his left hand. Clang! A dull sound suddenly rang out from behind Chen Fan, and the doors, which were keeping the light in, gradually opened, revealing the dark stormy night outside. The roaring sea breeze blew into the dock with a booming sound. "You want us to look at this torrential downpour?" Even with his death approaching, Chang Le still refused to back down. "Did you not notice a different feeling to this rainy night?" Chen Fan said nonchalantly, while hugging his shoulders. "Almost like a horrifying odor was wafting over?" 254 Rapid Fall "Screw your sense of horror!" Chang Le''s reddish eyes opened wide, as if he was trying to spot something in the storm! "Hehe I wanted to blow you up with bombs, but unfortunately, the damage potential of that kind of stuff was too hard to manage. Also, it would be difficult to clean up the scene, so I deployed this ultimate weapon!" said Chen Fan calmly. Then, he clapped his hands, "Ladies and gentlemen, look over here carefully!" Clap Following the rhythmic applause, the rain outside seemed to be gently sliced open by an invisible giant hand. In the next instant, the men, who were apparently taking cover behind the tractor loader, suddenly felt as if something was staring at them. It was like having a barrel of Freon refrigerant poured right onto your skull, freezing you from top to toe in the dead of winter! Moments later, someone''s weapon slipped and slammed onto the steel plate of the tractor loader, making a crisp clacking sound, which eventually caused a chain reaction, as everyone''s weapons began slipping from their hands! Everyone''s eyes were open wide open, their expressions filled with horror. What they saw before them was a creature with a dark, ink-like skull. Its surface was covered with scales that glittered under the light. Its faintly white eyes were filled with nothing but an endless desire for killing. This monster, which had a head that was moderately bigger than an African elephant''s, twitched his mouth and squirted out a strong stream of hot air, followed by a sudden roar that tore through the sky. The roar then spread quickly and loudly throughout the entire dock. The roar was so loud, even the lightning and thunder of the storm were dwarfed by it. "Ah, a monster!" The elite fighter named Dan Dan gave out a blood-curdling scream. His fear had rendered him paralyzed on the cover of the tractor loader, as he covered his face with his hands. He trembled vigorously. "Is Is that a water dragon?" said Chang Le, who immediately turned into a scrawny terrified shrimp in an instant. He struggled to support himself by the bucket with a pale expression, his terror getting the better of him. He suspected that everything that had happened up to this point was just a dream. He had been living in a scientifically structured society for decades. So, when a monster showed up out of nowhere, his mind, which was fragmented like a broken mirror, had great difficulty in distinguishing between reality and illusion. In addition to that, the appearance of the monster was awfully similar to water dragons that existed only in myths. Everyone''s minds were crushed beyond repair. Some of them, especially those with particularly poor psychological states, even fell on the ground, lying motionless like dead pigs! "Ah, you must be a devil!" In the face of this unknown terror, how could Chang Le, who was so scared, remember his original intentions? He jumped off the tractor loader awkwardly, trying to make his escape. The terrified Chang Le, along with his handful of elite fighters, aimlessly searched for an exit for a long time, until one of them finally climbed into the cockpit of the tractor loader, pointing a way out for the rest, like a beacon of hope. "F**k you, get the heck out of my way!" Chang Le punched the elite fighter, who was scuffling for the seat beside the driver''s seat, then he kicked another one away from the vehicle. He then started the engine and rushed toward the wall on the side of the dock. The dock was constructed with steel plate, but it would still likely be torn through, like a flimsy and wet piece of paper, were it ever to be rammed by a tractor loader! It was obvious that Chen Fan wouldn''t let them escape at this point. The immensely absurd power of the electric eel told him that, in comparison, the three tractor loaders were nothing but toy cars, quite like the ones he played with when he was young, which could be wrecked with a mere kick! The eel''s front paws stretched and grabbed the tractor loader that was the farthest away. Immediately, a dazzling dark blue arc spread from its arm all the way to the poor tractor loader. BOOM! A huge amount of voltage instantly tore through all of the electronic components onboard the tractor loader. The powerful electric shock even detonated the hydraulic rod and the diesel tank! The explosion caused by the diesel was merely due to the pressure inside the fuel tank building up suddenly to unbearable levels, which caused the fuel tank to burst. Thus, the power wasn''t truly as terrifying as it first appeared to be. The elite fighters on the two remaining tractor loaders were so terrified, they screamed and yelled until their throats almost burst! Bang! One of the unlucky ones, who didn''t manage to get onto the car, took out his Type 54 pistol and pointed it against the electric eel''s chin. He then pulled the trigger. Yet, when the round closed up to the electric eel''s thick scaled armor, it lost all of its kinetic energy, completely stalling before it could even pierce through the armor! It would take an anti-tank rocket launcher to take out the electric eel! However, as long as the electric eel was aware of the situation, an extremely high voltage would be released at full power. The voltage, which was up to 120,000 volts, would form an impenetrable barrier that covered a radius of about ten meters. Any metallic object that dared come close would be hit by the arc at a speed that was a hundred times the speed of sound. This was true in the atmosphere, but it would be even more invincible in the water. Then, even the microbes in the two-kilometer range wouldn''t survive the shock! Apparently, the electric eel did not power up its defensive barrier, as Chen Fan was afraid that some undiscerning strong arc might even kill him! After all, the space at the dock was tight! While the poor elite fighter was still trying to shoot his way out, he was swept away like a broken kite by a slap from the electric eel. This occurred right at the moment when the second bullet hit the eel''s lower jaw. It may sound complex, but in fact, it all happened within five seconds. Then, the remaining two tractor loaders did not even manage to rush to the edge of the dock. "Hel Monster! " The already terrified Chang Le was scared to the point of tears when he saw his and another tractor loader were being captured and rounded up by the electric eel, just like little chicks! He tried to open the door and jump out of the vehicle, only to find that one of the monster''s jaws had wrapped around the door. He then tried to pull out his sidearm and shoot it through the glass, but was thwarted in that attempt, too. The two tractor loaders made a beautiful arc, as they glided through the air, then finally dropped into the sea with a splash. Chang Le vomited, due to the immense impact. He thought he could survive, since he knew how to swim. Yet, as he wrapped his finger on the door handle, the absurd speed of the rapidly sinking tractor loader, which defied the law of buoyancy, had once again crushed his hopes mercilessly. Bang! The windshield of the rapidly sinking tractor loader, which could no longer withstand the huge pressure of the deep sea, had cracked! 255 Metallic Palladium <p>Within just half a minute, three bucket loaders were all thrown into the deep sea by the electric eel. The mollusks and algae that could penetrate everything, coupled with the highly corrosive seawater, would easily turn the three loaders into unrecognizable pieces of coral within a short span of half a month.</p><p>After settling this trouble, Chen Fan stared at the torrential rain. Now that the leader was dead, his subordinates should not be able to cause any more trouble. It would be best if they could just run away with the money! Yet Chen Fan thought to himself that he simply couldn''t be bothered to worry at the moment.</p><p>I don''t care what tricks they are going to try to pull. Who has the free time to think about it, anyway? I will just handle the matter when the time comes.</p><p>...</p><p>It was eight in the morning, and the sky was slowly clearing up. When the sunlight shone and the wind blew past, the fog in the air dissipated, exposing the dock that had been covered up.</p><p>With a clack, the big gates of the dock opened up. Chen Fan walked out a bit to stretch his body. Then, he took out his phone to give Zhang Xueyang a call.</p><p>The last time Chen Fan had gotten a big amount of silver, it was Zhang who had helped contact those buyers. So, this time, Chen Fan thought of asking if it was possible to get in contact with someone who was willing to buy gold. </p><p>Business transactions with the old geezer Argyll could only be done with hard currency. And, gold was no doubt a harder currency than the globally recognized American dollar.</p><p>Thus, trading this way could even relieve the hassle of currency inflation. This is the reason why many people liked to use gold. It did not depreciate easily like cash, and even for gold that was obtained illegally, it never left any tracks behind once it had been melted.</p><p>"I''m fainting!" When Zhang Xueyang received the call, he complained, "Why does the busy man have time to call me today? I usually can''t even get through to your phone once!"</p><p>"You can always leave a message, right?" Chen Fan said laughingly. "Remember the friend you helped me to contact to buy my silver last time? I am looking to sell him some gold."</p><p>"Gold?" Zhang Xueyang was a little confused. "Unlike silver, gold is very easy to sell, as its price does not fluctuate as much. Couldn''t you just sell to anyone?"</p><p>"I came to you because this batch of gold is quite large, so I was planning to look for someone familiar to sell it to."</p><p>"Large? How much do you have?"</p><p>"It''s a really big amount. Around 10,000 or so!"</p><p>"Oh!" Zhang Xueyang first nodded his head, but then quickly caught on and shouted "What? 10 Thousand! Are you sure you are not talking about brass?!"</p><p>"It''s real gold. But,I still don''t know its exact purity level yet!" Chen Fan took out a piece of gold from his pocket as he spoke. He then played with it under the sun. It was bright and yellowish, so its purity level should not be too low.</p><p>After hearing Chen Fan''s strongly emphatic tone, Zhang Xueyang went silent for a moment. It was obvious that he was awestruck by the number.</p><p>Zhang Xueyang made a rough estimate in his heart and realized that the value of such an amount was beyond 1.5 billion Renminbi! With such a large amount of gold, not to mention whether that friend of his has the capability to purchase all of the coins, even if he were to call upon all if his friends, no one would be able to take out such a scary amount of cash to carry out this one transaction.</p><p>"You fella, where did you get so much gold? You didn''t rob someone, did you?"</p><p>"If I could do that, would I still be here right now?" Chen Fan said modestly. "10,000 is just a rough estimate. Lately, I have been making some big transactions with South Africa, which were all transactions that used gold. However, we still have not completed our transactions yet, so they might take a while. I was just wondering if that friend of yours can purchase this amount of gold right now?"</p><p>"Even 1,000 would cost his whole life savings, not to mention 10,000!" Zhang Xueyang complained. "If you are really thinking of selling them, I can only help you to get in contact with some of the larger gold jewelry companies. However, they have a high standard regarding the purity level of gold. They usually request for it to be 99.999 percent pure gold. Another option for you is to let him purchase a few hundred right now, then as time goes by, he would be able to purchase more."</p><p>"In that case, let''s take it slowly, since I am not in a hurry!" Chen Fan accepted his suggestion. "Then, could you ask him to come over to my place? I have a sample that he could use to measure the purity level of the gold."</p><p>...</p><p>It did not even take half an hour before an Audi A6 hurriedly stopped in front of Chen Fan.</p><p>"Brother Chen Fan, we meet again!" His legs had yet to even touch the ground, when Boss Zhao greeted Chen Fan from the driver''s seat with that trembling fat face of his. When he had received the call from Zhang Xueyang, he was so emotional, he felt like he was about to fly up to be made a saint!</p><p>It was such a large amount of gold! If he were to obtain it now, it would surely be lower than the market price. Then, he could earn a great profit from it!</p><p>As for the matter of the originating source of the gold, he didn''t care. After all, all he needed to do was to melt the coins into liquid gold. Then, not even the FBI could find its original owner, should they have been stolen!</p><p>"Brother Chen Fan, where is the gold? Quickly let me see about its purity level!" Boss Zhao could not stop but shake his fatty palms. His excitement was written all over his face.</p><p>"It''s a memorial coin!" Chen Fan took out a few coins from his pocket, then chose a specific golden coin to pass to Boss Zhao.</p><p>Zhang Xueyang took out an aluminium alloy box from the car, which contained all sorts of equipment, including a scrapper, a flame gun and a magnifying glass. He used these tools to measure the purity level of the gold.</p><p>Having received the gold coin, Boss Zhao first directed it at the sun to take a look. Then, he used a plier to hold it and a flame gun to burn it, until it turned red. He did this to observe if the external and internal material were the same, and to see if there was a change of color after it cooled down. Real gold would never be discolored by fire.</p><p>He did not once ask a single question about the source of this gold, because he felt that this was just an ordinary memorial coin. Even the moulding technique was pretty unrefined, not revealing any artistic value.</p><p>While Boss Zhao was experimenting with the purity level of the gold coin, Zhang Xueyang, who was standing to the side, had his gaze attracted by the other silver-colored coin that Chen Fan was playing with his hands.</p><p>After requesting the silver-colored coin from him, Zhang Xueyang placed it under the magnifying glass, then looked at it for a long time. Then, he suspiciously weighed it with his hands, before lightly scratching it with a sharp knife twice.</p><p>"Who would use such a pure Palladium to make a memorial coin?" Zhang Xueyang handed the coin back to Chen Fan, while he murmured to himself.</p><p>"Palladium? What''s that?" Chen Fan''s curiosity was piqued.</p><p>"Oh, it is a type of rare metal that belongs under the Platinum group. It is considered by many countries as being a strategic metal. This is because 80 percent of it originates from Russia and South Africa, while other countries have very little of such metals at their hands. Also, the purification process is very complicated. It is mainly used for aircrafts. Our family used to process these kinds of metallic components. We helped the Tian Hai Aircraft Manufacturing company to produce air filtration sheets for their aircraft engine. After a while, they complained that our processing rate was too slow, so they stopped commissioning us after the first batch of 500 components."</p><p>Zhang Xueyang put a cigarette in his mouth, then took a deep breath. "The most fascinating thing about this sort of metal, is that it can quickly expand when placed next inside hydrogen gas. Take the memorial coin, which is slightly bigger than a dollar, for example. If it were to come into contact with hydrogen gas, it would expand to about 900 times its current size!"</p><p>"Then, how about its price?"</p><p>"It is measured in terms of grams, like gold, depending on its purity level. Local production of one gram is around 150 bucks or so, whereas products from Russia and South Africa are slightly more expensive, costing around 180 bucks for one gram."</p><p>"Woah! Are you exaggerating? If not, based on what you just said, a piece of filtration sheet would cost over 100,000 bucks already!" Chen Fan exclaimed.</p><p>"Your calculation method is wrong. It is usually alloyed with other metals in production. The filtration sheets we used to produce only required about 5 percent of Palladium." The golden-haired Zhang Xueyang looked at Chen Fan with a smile. "Your Palladium''s purity level isn''t too shabby. If you could get your hands on a large amount of this, I am willing to purchase it at a high price!"</p><p>"What do you want it for? Are you thinking of building a plane for fun?"</p><p>"It is for speculation. You have no idea that, because our country restricts our exports, the western countries are also using the same trick by restricting exports and building up large stockpiles of goods. Now, the pricing of strategic metals in the whole international market has been inflating at a higher rate than even gold."</p><p>"You can even speculate strategic metals?" Chen Fan was stunned for a while. "Aren''t you afraid that the government will catch you?"</p><p>"It''s not that serious!" Zhang Xueyang simply shrugged. "You have to understand that strategic metals and embargoed-metals are two totally different things. Strategic metals refer to metals that are relatively important. Without them, many facilities and manufacturers would not be able to continue production. For instance, Palladium that is used in the production of medical facilities. Still, it does not mean that these metals must be strictly locked down like a strategic nuclear missile!"</p><p>He continued. "Palladium is very low in supply, which makes it expensive, but that doesn''t mean that it cannot be purchased. It is just hard to obtain a large quantity of it. Moreover, selling a large amount of Palladium to our country would be an act that would be commendable by our government, so why would we fear being caught?"</p><p>Hearing this reasoning, Chen Fan simply took out two other coins. "Help me to check out what metal these two coins are made of."</p><p>Receiving one dark golden and one silver white coin, Zhang Xueyang examined it for a very long time. Then, not knowing whether to cry or laugh, he said, "It is just your typical brass and silver. They aren''t worth much."</p> 256 Caiyi Stree <p>The boss, Mr. Zhao, who was analyzing the gold content, also came forward. He returned the coin to Chen Fan. Then, he said with a ruddy face, "Based on our analysis results, the coin''s purity is 98%, so it is still good in terms of quality. How about we settle it with the price of 275 yuan per gram?"</p><p>Since the price of 275 yuan per gram matched the current market price, Chen Fan agreed to sell the coin at the proposed price. After seeing the two people off, Chen Fan rode on the electric eel to Argyll''s world again, where he would look for him to renegotiate the deal regarding the crossbow.</p><p>After realizing the price and importance of palladium from Zhang Xueyang, Chen Fan thought that he should grab this opportunity to collect some. Chen Fan currently possessed five oil tankers, two freighters that were sailing in the sea, and one more intermediate shipyard. This was considered not to be a great deal, even if the metal business was included in the small company, which only handled finance and daily business.</p><p>While waiting for Chen Fan to drive the armored personnel carrier to the beach, Argyll, who was wearing a purple robe, was busy doing something on the deck with the muscular Barru. Argyll was focused on tidying up some glass bottles and tin cans. Barru, whose height could be compared with Yao Ming''s, carried a red bag, which held a steel javelin and a huge knife.</p><p>"What are you guys preparing for?" Chen Fan walked to the deck and saw the two heavily armed men. It looked like they were preparing for a war.</p><p>"We are going to capture the Hurricane Bird!" Argyll smiled gently, as he inserted a bottle of red powder into his pocket. "The Hurricane Bird is a rare species that is only found in Rork Island. Their wings are 20 meters in length and their feathers are a dusty brown color. They are expert in long-distance travelling and are able to fly for two days continuously, without resting! Barru and I are preparing to capture a fledgling, so that each of us can train them as flying mounts."</p><p>"Comparing the Hurricane Bird with my Golden Hawk, which is more powerful?" Chen Fan aimed to vet his own ride.</p><p>Argyll answered, "Excluding all of the intelligent animals, your Golden Hawk could be considered to be one of the three top mounts. It is also the biggest and fastest among all of the mounts. If it were to have intelligence, it could compete with even gigantic dragons!"</p><p>Argyll''s praise made Chen Fan feel embarrassed. "Then, why don''t you go and capture this Golden Hawk? Aren''t you always boasting that you''ve slayed dragons by yourself before? Based on what you have said, capturing a Golden Hawk wouldn''t be a problem for you!"</p><p>"ThatThat was an adult dragon, not a gigantic dragon!"</p><p>"Golden Hawks may not be born with magic casting talent, but with their gigantic size, I would have been long dead if I had not killed off their parents immediately. Besides, they build their nests on some extremely steep cliffs, so surely you aren''t expecting me to climb the mountains to get there!"</p><p>"Ok, right!" Chen Fan took out the palladium coin from his pocket, then swung it in front of him and said, "I feel this kind of coin, which is used by the orcs, is quite good. So, for this deal, let''s make it with half gold ingot and half silver ingot!"</p><p>"Well" Argyll looked down. He was rubbing his beard repeatedly, not making a sound. </p><p>Seeing his hesitation, Chen Fan then asked, "Aren''t you one of the six elders of the Royal Magic Caster Council? Even the king enjoys having conversation with you! Can''t this small request be fulfilled?"</p><p>"This is not the reason for my hesitation. Rather, it is because our kingdom is a small country, with a population of less than five million. Thus, we don''t have a big amount of silver coins on reserve."</p><p>"If that''s the case, then just cooperate with Barru!" Chen Fan snuck a glance at the big man. "Didn''t you say that he is the most outstanding genius in the War God Tribe? Since the patriarch of that tribe is his relative, exchanging even hundreds of millions of silver coins with the tribe shouldn''t be a problem, right?"</p><p>Hearing the mentioning of the orc Barru, Argyll mumbled and bantered, then felt that it was impossible to continue fooling around anymore. So, he replied, "The War God Tribe is just a small tribe. As such, they do not have much. Besides, exchanging two hundred tons of silver coins, isn''t that too much?"</p><p>"Then, I will get you a discount!" Chen Fan thought for a few seconds, "How far is your country from this island?"</p><p>"A whole thousand miles!"</p><p>"How about this? I will construct a 500-ton transport ship for you, which can travel for seven hundred miles and will take three days for a round trip. While you are operating the transport business, you can also assign someone to trade the silver coins in other countries."</p><p>"Well...Erm...Well..."</p><p>"That''s settled, then. I won''t sell it otherwise!" Chen Fan, who had monopolized the resources, fully utilized his style of conducting forceful business, then said, "I will send the transport ship here, once everything is completed!" After saying that, he blew a whistle, summoning Cloudracer out of nowhere. He then mounted his hawk and disappeared in front of the two envious people!</p><p>"How about we go and capture this Golden Hawk?" Barru gulped.</p><p>"One must be realistic!" Argyll said. "Let''s go! Let''s capture our Hurricane Bird!"</p><p>"Old man, where do you think this guy is from? He not only has many mysterious machines, but he even has stunning pets, including a Snow Queen and a black monster that is even stronger than the Snow Queen. He even has a Golden Hawk, which everyone desires!"</p><p>"He is a different type of person, who knows dimensional magic spells!" Argyll whispered while walking, "Dimensional magic casters only exist in theory, so that kid must really have something special!"</p><p>...</p><p>Under the sunlight, the white, delicate beach shone. A serpent, which had scales more reflective than any mirror, was lying lazily, enjoying the sunlight on the beach.</p><p>"Winterfrost, how old are you now?" Chen Fan asked leisurely, while lying on the fur mattress with a reed in his mouth.</p><p>After one month of attentive teaching, the white serpent was able to use words to express its own feelings. Chen Fan thought that, since it already had intelligence, it was now necessary to name it. After long hours of brainstorming, he realized that ''Winterfrost'' was a suitable name for it. </p><p>According to Argyll, the purple fruit that it ate last time, was a well-known fruit of wisdom. This fruit was extremely rare. Legend said that the fruit was crystalized in the bodies of dead moon elves. If creatures with moderate intelligences consumed it, they would become more intelligent, then be transformed into precious pets and mounts!</p><p>"I can''t remember. I started to have memories when my body was half the size it is now. My parents were besieged by many sea creatures, and I was escaping and fleeing. Later, I found a cave to hide within, and that''s where I lived until today!"</p><p>Winterfrost''s voice was very soft. Chen Fan felt that its voice sounded like a flute playing. While the tune was quite good, the words were still not yet clear, and were simple and repeatable.</p><p>"Was this the cave?"</p><p>"Yes!"</p><p>Poor you!" Chen Fan said. "Whoever bullies you again, just tell me next time. I will kill them for you!"</p><p>"Great!" Winterfrost agreed.</p><p>Time flew by quickly during their conversation. As the afternoon came, Chen Fan bid Winterfrost goodbye, then returned to the stone tower with his electric eel.</p><p>Reaching the third level of the stone tower, Chen Fan used a measuring cup to store 500ml of crystal powder, then sprinkled it evenly in the Ghost Moon Incense. Hundreds of blue crystals had already been used up.</p><p>And, although the electric eel had no significant changes in terms of size, its discharge intensity, physical quality, and venom concentration were becoming more and more powerful! Its current discharge intensity could reach up to 150,000 volts, while its swimming speed could reach up to 250 knots! Also, it shed its old skin three days ago. As a result, its skin became darker and shinier, just like obsidian from a volcanic eruption!</p><p>Buzz Buzz...</p><p>A brisk tone of notification stopped Chen Fan in the middle of what he was doing. He cleaned the powder off of his hands, sat in front of his computer, then saw a message that had just been sent by Zhang Xueyang.</p><p>"Brother Chen, there is good news! Call us back immediately!"</p><p>"Alright!"</p><p>After sending the confirmation message, using the account named ''White Limb Buffalo,'' he traveled across the sea with his electric eel.</p><p>"What''s the good news?" Chen Fan questioned upon his arrival.</p><p>Zhang Xueyang spoke excitedly. "There''s a good business opportunity for you! Come to meet me at Xing An Tea House on Caiyi Street. I will explain to you in detail!"</p><p>Chen Fan was confused by this. By the time he reached Caiyi Street on his Maybach, half an hour had passed. He saw Zhang Xueyang waiting at the entrance of the tea house from afar. Chen Fan couldn''t stop his head from spinning, while he stared at the various beautiful ladies, who were standing along the street.</p> 257 King Lacquy "What''s so urgent? Why is he calling me over now?" Chen Fan parked his car and walked up to Zhang Xueyang, who had yet to notice his presence. "Ha!" The hair on Zhang Xue Yang''s arms stood on end, as he was surprised by Chen Fan''s appearance. He stroked his chest exaggeratedly and said, "Come on, let''s go inside and have a chat!" The two walked by the bar counter and conveniently ordered the highest quality green tea. They then entered a private room. Even before the tea was served, Zhang Xueyang started chattering away. "Have you watched the news recently?" "News?" Chen Fan did not have time to watch the news. Zhang Xueyang suspiciously moved his face closer and said, "Yesterday, the European Union and the Republic of South Africa reached a $10 billion arms procurement agreement. It includes fifty Rafale jets, two corvettes, an armored car, a minesweeper vehicle and more. They also lifted three bans on technology that was previously restricted from exporting." "What does this have to do with me? You are not trying to incite me to rob the arms cargo ship, are you?" Chen Fan gave him a scornful glance. "I haven''t lived enough yet! I don''t want to die young!" "Let me finish." Zhang Xueyang popped a cigarette into his mouth. "These offers come with a cost. Just this morning, the European Union suddenly flipped out. They are now opposing the export of rare earths in China. Alongside South Africa, they adopted measures to set a quota on the five rare metals that our country imports. Metal iridium, osmium, chromium, cobalt and also metallic palladium. My old man purposely hit me up and told me to hoard the five rare metals from now on, in order to prevent our having a short supply in the future. After all, my family is involved in processing precision spare parts, which requires the use of rare metals often." "So, you were looking for me today because you want me to get you some metallic palladium from South Africa?" Chen Fan took a sip of tea. "Isn''t the relationship between South Africa and our country good? Why would they suddenly issue this export restriction?" "We''ll have to ask South Africa''s President Jacob about this. I guess they are probably not happy with China''s export of rare earths!" Zhang Xueyang thought aloud, "I think that, before this restriction to China is lifted, the domestic price of the metallic palladium will surely skyrocket. This is because it is different from the other metals that can be massively imported!" "Don''t you have a way to get metallic palladium? If so, bring back a few tons! I can guarantee that it will pay more than property speculation!" "Bring it back and sell it to you?" asked Chen Fan. "Yes! Yes!" Zhang Xueyang nodded his head eagerly, like a chick pecking at rice. "Unfortunately, I can only take 20 million from you. But, I can help you to contact other buyers. Moreover, I promise to promote the sale of it, as much as the amount you bring in!" "How about 50 tons?" "What did you say?" Zhang Xueyang blinked his eyes, suspecting that something was wrong with his hearing. "How. About. 50. Tons?!" Chen Fan yelled loudly, careful to emphasize every single word, even with pauses in between them! "Do you know what 50 tons means?" Zhang Xueyang''s facial muscles twitched unnaturally. He was filled with indignation and said, "Fifty tons represents 50,000 kilograms and 50 million grams. Let''s say we take 200 yuan per gram, that''s not too much, right? After two months, it would definitely rise up to this price, then 50 million grams would be equivalent to 10 billion yuan!" Chen Fan responded, excited. "Think of 10 billion, bro! If we roll out the list of wealthy people under the age of 30, do you think that we can find someone who is younger and richer than even you?" Zhang Xueyang muttered dispiritedly, "If you look at the richest people on the Hurun Rich List, which one of them did not work hard for half a lifetime and experience numerous hardships to get to where they are today? Now, look at yourself! You only have that small company that runs fixed production. You can''t even make it into the top one thousand list in China. But, the speed of banknotes entering your pocket is faster than the banknote printing factory can keep up with, even were they were working overtime!" "You are embarrassing me with your words!" Chen Fan put on an ''I am an honest guy'' look, then said, "You haven''t given me an answer yet. Can 50 tons of metallic palladium be sold?" "Of course! If you can bring back another 50 tons, I can confidently assure you that all will be sold out!" "Selling it at 10 yuan per catty?" asked Chen Fan, wanting further peace of mind and clarification. "Do I look like someone who brags emptily?" Faced with Chen Fan''s doubts, Zhang Xueyang said with his eyes squinted. "When the metallic palladiums are here, I can bring in the buyer and even guarantee that the payments are super quick!" "Li Jiacheng?" "Even Bill Gates is not as rich as him!" Zhang Xueyang smiled. Not caring about Zhang Xueyang''s being secretive about who the buyer was, Chen Fan returned to Rork Island the next day. There, he saw that Argyll and Barru had returned in triumph with their spoils of war. Their prey was a type of fledgling that resembled a sparrow but was the size of a sheep. It''s body was covered with thick and stubbly feathers. Barru tied it up like a sticky rice dumpling, then carried it on his shoulder. "I got the ship for you!" Chen Fan pointed to the black hovercraft behind him. "Can you see it? It is this big black thing. As long as there is enough fuel, it can sail for six days straight. When you return, I will refuel it again." "Six days?" The corner of Argyll''s mouth formed into a surprised circle, as he became lost in thought. Why does this strange looking ship not have a sail? Are we supposed to paddle it? "This is the charm of technology! Do you understand?" Chen Fan cast aside Barru, who was in a demented state, then brought Argyll into the cockpit. He guided Argyll to start the hovercraft, them showed him how to use the navigation instruments onboard. This hovercraft was stolen from a shipyard in Japan, when Chen Fan was in control of the electric eel. At first, he wanted to take a cargo ship from his shipyard, but the huge size of the electric eel made it impossible to carry. Hence, he had to change his target to a hovercraft, which was smaller and also conveniently foldable. This hovercraft was equipped with two high speed diesel engines and an open cargo. After it was folded up, to use it as normal again, one simply had to hoist it onto the sand beach and open the self-loading air pump. It could then be turned into a 300-ton ship in less than 20 minutes! "I can''t teach you anything that is too complicated, since I don''t think you can learn as well as most. So, I will only teach you some simple driving skills." Chen Fan pushed the red start button that was next to the rudder, then waited for the propeller engine at the tail to groan to life. He then shouted, "Pay attention to my position!" Vroom, Vroom, Vroom! Following Chen Fan''s hand movement, the hovercraft''s external propeller suddenly accelerated. The airflow that was generated by the propellers was moving at a rate of more than 70 rpm per second. In an instant, the sand on the beach was flying everywhere! ...... "Haha! You old geezer! I can''t find any vulgar words to describe my mood at the moment. This is God''s masterpiece! That kid must be a god!" Barru looked like a Pinocchio puppet that was attached to a coil spring. He was turning around and around at the same spot in the cockpit, going wild with joy. "One day! I can''t believe my eyes. In just one day, we have arrived at the royal capital!" Argyll, who had not slept the entire night, was still in great spirits. A near frenzied engine sound madly bombarded everyone''s ears, turning the bustling port into a chaotic scene. The porters, who were bustling about on the shore and aboard the boats, abruptly fled in disarray. "Guards! Guards!" The port''s tax official''s expression looked like he had been kicked by someone. He rolled and crawled up to the guards, who were patrolling in the distance, asking them for help. Clip-clop! Clip-clop! Crisp hoove steps could be heard coming from the distance. The eight high-powered guards ferociously rushed towards the hovercraft, each with a root-shaped spear in their hand. Argyll''s purple robe, as well as his crescent badge that was hanging from his chest, were the best proofs of his identity. He stood up on the deck, immediately causing the eight untamed horses to be halted by their sharp-eyed masters. "Respected elders, please forgive us for acting rashly!" The guards jumped off of their horses and said with utmost deference. "Well..." Argyll nodded with satisfaction. "Leave six people to guard the ship, and no one is allowed to have any contact with the ship! The remaining two people will inform the city''s defence officer, Birmande, and tell him to send more personnel to guard the ship. And, you there, loan me the horse!" Argyll finished talking and jumped onto the back of the horse. ... If some busybody were to ask the people about King Lacquy, most would say that he was a textbook example of an idiot! This characterization was not reflective of his character and actions. For example, Lacquy had actually stood out from the five princes with his decisive personality, when he was young. He was known for suppressing bandits and armed rebellions, even killing foreign enemies! Every time there was a big conflict in the kingdom, he always rushed to join in the fun, and rarely lost. Even when resisting the invasion of foreign enemies, his performance was remarkable. He led the king, who was already dim-sighted from old age at the time, in announcing that the kingdom had a successor. He was given the position of king, along with giving an oath that he would certainly double the territory of the kingdom. Regretfully, when he became king, the people gradually realized how muddle-headed the old king was, and worse, how stupid this new king really could be! He launched all of his efforts into preparing for war, doubling the salary, doubling the benefits, and doubling the training time of the men in his kingdom. He also made it his mission to rid the army of any unhealthy men and old men. He declared that only strong men must join the army, as this country must prepare for war! Three years later, when he felt that the army was strong enough, he sent an envoy to a neighboring country for a "friendly visit." When the envoy returned, he ordered someone to kill the envoy at the border, then forcibly point the finger at the neighboring country. No matter how the neighboring country tried to defend themselves against such false claims, the new king shamelessly insisted on war. "The dignity of the kingdom has been trampled on, so we must defend our dignity with our spears!" The vanguard of 100,000 elites, under the cover of this lie, were pushed to the border to fight! Once there, the strictly trained soldiers did not disappoint the country. The 100,000 man vanguard and the 3,000,000 of the army''s forces, which followed behind, were undefeatable. They were also as ruthless as a battering ram. In less than half a year, they colonized 15 large cities. By that time, for one to go around the entire territory, it would take a full day of horse riding. The whole country celebrated their victory and gains. "Great King, your glory intoxicates me..." The old duke endlessly flattered Lacquy. He then said, "The urgent tasks now are to rest and recuperate, firmly protect the current territory, and bring in people to open up the land. After a decade or so, the kingdom will indeed regain its strength. Then, we can restart the war!" At 25 years of age, Lacquy was at the height of his idiocy. "Kill, relax the enlistment order, and enlist another 300,000 for the army. We must finish them off with a clean sweep, and go out with a bang!" he said with a fanatical gaze. The result was clearly visible. The long war and the subsequent weak supplies led not only to the kingdom''s losing the war, but also to its completely losing all of the land that was snatched. In the end, the kingdom had to sign a 50-year truce treaty, aided by the mediation of the Gilnan Empire. Here was the warning that the Emperor of the Gilnan Empire gave to Lacquy... "If a country can''t be courageous enough to maintain its dignity at all costs, then this country will be worthless." Lacquy said shamelessly, "He killed the envoy representing our country, then trampled on our country''s dignity!" Now, after a full 20 years of rest, the pain caused by the war has basically been soothed. As for the young able-bodied people that were sacrificed, another generation has now grown to replace them! So, when King Lacquy received the news from Argyll, he shifted completely. His adrenal gland directly rose to its alert point, as he said, "Quick, quick, quick, I have to go see the magical ship in person, as well as that magical bow that you mentioned!" When Argyll personally drove the hovercraft to the Royal Naval Base and took King Lacquy to experience the charm of technology, the heart of King Lacquy was filled with acute happiness. Even Barru, who was as ugly as a monster, became pleasing to the eye. Then, Argyll ordered someone to prepare an archery target, placed a hundred meters away. He then handed a beautifully shaped bow to the king, asking him to pull the trigger! Lacquy, who was adept in archery and horsemanship, immediately fell in love with this frosted handguard, which was a crossbow made of carbon fiber material. He gently squatted for half a squat, then aimed his eye at the baseline. Swoosh! After the violent tearing sound of his whiff of the air, King Lacquy could not help but turn red. There was no arrow in the distant target, so he had obviously been quite off-target. "The archery skills of His Majesty the King are really amazing!" Argyll was being overly flattering and waited until he noticed the anger on the face of the king. The older he got, the more intelligent he became, so Argyll understood the beginning and end of the matter at once. As such, he deliberately raised his voice, then faced the little soldier beside him and shouted, "Didn''t you see that the target was shot through? You! Go pick up the arrow and bring it here. Let us appreciate the superb archery skills of His Majesty the king!" At this time, Lacquy came to realize and quickly put on a gentle and refined royal manner! "Argyll, I am now appointing you as a special envoy of my kingdom. You now have the power to utilize the national treasury. As to acquiring the orc tribal silver coin, I will leave this responsibility to the finance minister." 258 Fly This was definitely the spring of King Rachi, as well as Argyll''s big break! If Argyll made full use of this opportunity, he could soar to fame easily, just like the carp, which transformed into a dragon upon jumping over the dragon''s gate! Argyll, who had seized control of the finances, was like an athlete who had been injected with 50 amphetamines. The immediate unleashing of his potential was so great, even the lord would be astonished. Regarding any need for sleep, as a Magic Caster of great ability, Argyll thought he could pull three all-nighters without any problem. Gold ingots were readily available, but not silver ingots. As such, he could get the goldsmiths to immediately melt all the silver coins and command the local skilled trade caravans to go out and collect silver coins of other tribes. In just two days, Argyll re-entered the command center of the hovercraft transport ship. In the open-air warehouse behind him, there were already at least 203 tons of metal. ... Just as Zhang Xueyang had predicted, since the madness that was the European Union and South Africa alliance had occurred three days ago, the price of non-ferrous metals in the country changed by the day. As of this day, the price of palladium had inflated by 35 percent per gram. This caused much anxiety in the country, especially among the people in the metal processing line of work. Because of this, they desperately went around buying palladium. "Begging your pardon Professor Zhang, will the latest policy limiting the export of metals adversely affect our country''s high-technology industries?" Qin Qiaozi, the CCTV-2 news anchor, who was sitting upright before the interview desk, questioned Zhang according to the prompted script on the display screen. "Of course, the effect would be huge, but you can''t say it would necessarily be adverse!" The special guest, Professor Zhang, who had been involved in the research of precious metals at the Precious Metal Research Center of the Beijing General Research Institute for Nonferrous Metals for 20 years, pondered for two seconds before answering, "Our country is rich in resources, and of the five precious metals that are involved in the restriction of trade, palladium is the only one that we import from other countries the most, as its source is the most concentrated." "Currently, figures given by South Africa show that a hundred tons of palladium would be supplied every quarter year. This figure would not be at all sufficient for the use of our industries. Where there is demand, there will be an equal need of supply. In this era of globalization, the prospect of huge returns would surely cause the opening of alternative routes for palladium to be brought into our country." "Does this not mean that the price of precious metals would increase drastically, thus causing a drastic increase in the price of irrigation ditches, and thereby affecting the development of the entire industry?" "That is unavoidable, just like how the average price of rare earth elements drastically increased by six times the original price from the first half of last year until now, ever since our country limited the export of rare earth elements. This European Union-South Africa alliance to reduce the export of palladium occurred to protest our country''s limiting the export of rare earth elements." "Professor Zhang, you believe that this incident was in protest of our country''s rare earth element policy. I''m sure that all our viewers have one same question in mind. As rare earth elements are extremely valuable resources for our country, and limiting the exploitation of such rare earth elements is merely a measure to better protect these resources, why would this cause such a vehement backlash from other countries? Aren''t they perhaps overstepping their bounds?" "This backlash is because the importance of rare earth elements in the electronics industry is comparable to the importance of petroleum in the industries." The corners of Professor Zhang''s mouth curled up slightly, as he posed an extremely interesting question, "What would happen if the Middle East limited their export of petroleum?" "South Africa''s limiting the export of precious metals is the same as our country limiting the export of rare earth elements, as well as the Middle East''s Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)''s limiting the export of petroleum. They all use such resources as leverage, ensuring their international right to speak. For example, I''m sure you''ve all heard of last year''s incident, where Japanese authorities detained our country''s fishing boat. At the time, the Japanese authorities behaved rashly. Our Department of Foreign Affairs gave a statement warning Japan that, if they persisted in this course and added insult to injury, our country would have to take extreme measures and all consequences would be on Japan''s shoulders. This counterattack was not just empty words, as from that day forth, our country cut off all exports of rare earth elements to Japan. This immediately humbled Japan, who stopped their false bravado because rare earth elements are the heart of their electronics industry." He added, "The use of palladium in the industry is equally important, so we''ll have to see what kind of mentality South Africa holds in starting this ''war of metals'' with our country." "War of metals?" Sitting in front of his big screen TV, Chen Fan randomly switched the channel once the economy broadcast ended. Was South Africa so powerful, or were they just the figurehead of the various European countries? Just then, Chen Fan sensed a suppressed restlessness behind him. His vision darkened, as his eyes were covered by a slightly cold and soft object. The touch could only be attributed to a woman''s beautiful skin. Without a doubt, the hands covering Chen Fan''s vision were those of a delicate and magical being. "You''re back from school?" Chen Fan used both hands to lightly pinch the hands, which were as gentle as water. He knew it must be Yun Meng. "Yep!" Yun Meng replied cheerfully, as she circled the couch to sit down. "You haven''t been back in a while, leaving me alone at home everyday with no one to talk to!" "You''re no longer a child, yet you still want to be coaxed?" Chen Fan very naturally took her into his arms. In his arms, her gentle fragrance wafted towards him. Women could intoxicate men, and similarly, men could intoxicate women. For men, their broad, solid chests and their unique temperaments were their best catalysts. "Mmm," Yun Meng shook her head and cooed like a kitten. "Have you thought about which university you want to go to?" Chen Fan randomly asked. "As I recall, you have only about two months left before your college entrance exam." "My teacher recommended that I apply for the Chinese National Foreign Language Institution. She said that their teachers are highly qualified and that 60 percent of the teachers are foreigners." "Your teacher is definitely an advocate of foreign countries! What''s so great about foreign teachers, anyway?" Chen Fan solemnly patted her slim waist, which could be measured by a single handspan. "I''ve never even heard of that Chinese National Foreign Language or whatever. It must be a crappy school." "But There is a high entry requirement," Yun Meng protested gently. "Even if you get in, I don''t want you to go. I think that only Fudan University, Tsinghua University, Peking University and Nanjing University are good enough schools for you." Chen Fan pinched her beautiful and round cheeks hard. "You''ll apply for Fudan University. It''s the closest to home! If you don''t get in, we can use our money to bribe connections!" Yun Meng lifted her gaze to Chen Fan doubtfully, not believing that one could get into those legendary universities just through money and connections, as she thought that only third-rate private universities would allow such things. Yun Meng was just about to ask if he intended to buy her a place at the school, but before leaving her mouth, the words transformed into a shriek instead. Chen Fan had, at that moment, placed his hand into her woollen jacket, giving her a fright and making her blush. She was wearing a white cotton bra. Chen Fan''s palm now covered that piece of knitwear and lightly held her breasts. Hiccup! Panting, she was overcome with emotion. Her eyes glazed over, and she looked extremely seductive. Chen Fan stood up to lock the room door. It was 12:30 in the afternoon before they moved to the restaurant on the second floor to have their meal. With such a beauty at his side, he had a very enjoyable lunch. Since he had nothing to do after lunch, he took Yun Meng shopping around Yuanbao, the high street of Zhongyun. There, he bought clothes for the both of them. Argyll wouldn''t arrive until tomorrow, and the ten thousand crossbows, which Chen Fan had been ordered from San Li Da Crossbow Factory using an offshore company''s name, were already currently in his dock! An order of ten thousand crossbows was indeed a large one, especially for a single shipment, as modern crossbows were mostly only used as recreational exercise equipment. Foreign orders were mainly collective purchases from European or American clubs for hunting activities. Thus, Chen Fan''s huge foreign purchase order had overwhelmed the sales manager of San Li Da Crossbow Factory, who had even offered to go to Ethiopia to provide post-sales services. It was an offer which was politely declined by Chen Fan over the phone. Taking Yun Meng shopping had made Chen Fan feel like he was carrying a powerful flashlight, as it was too eye-catching. By the time he had parked his car and they had walked to the main street, both of them had immediately attracted countless gazes. In fact, if looks could kill, Chen Fan would already be lying dead on the street! Naturally, most men were able to control themselves, only taking quick glances at the two in admiration. Only a few thick-skinned men, who thought themselves to be extremely attractive metrosexuals, checked her out a few times. He could not stop many others from also assessing his girlfriend''s appearance. Besides, rather than bothering him, the looks made him feel a rush of pride. Chen Fan directly took her to the Hermes store to let her pick out a pretty little bag and several other small items, while he sat down and looked around. The service here was excellent! A lady had immediately run over to ask Chen Fan if he would like some hot water, the very second they had entered! "If it''s no trouble," Chen Fan gave a small smile in return to her wide smile, but his expression immediately froze, as he saw something outside of the window. Now was the least busy time in the afternoon, when customers were the fewest. In the entire store, there were only Yun Meng and five other sales assistants, who were currently standing at attention. A youth in his teens, who had an immature look, walked into the specialty store, then headed directly for Yun Meng, without even glancing around. 259 Do You Have This Card? This was a hipster in a casual trench coat. He had red lips and white teeth, and he even dyed his hair a foxy wine red color. Wearing a pair of black leather boots, he looked like a Korean artist, who was coming to China to stage a concert. Just like any normal teenager, Huang Xia, who was 17 years old, had more interest in romance than in his studies. He was one of the year''s worst examiners. But, his sweet lips and handsome face had won the hearts of many ladies. Being in the top three on the popularity list, he was also highly practiced in the art of dumping girls. Having feelings of desire for young and beautiful women is something that every teen had in common, especially when the person was handsome and had a rich family. Unfortunately, the pure and innocent Yun Meng was Huang Xia''s next target! The way the two knew each other was dramatic, cliche, and just right for an opening of a romance novel. It all started last week on a rainy spring night... Due to a heavy thunderstorm, the school leaders decided to let the third grade students go home, instead of having their usual night classes. This was what Huang Xia liked best, as his head was about to explode from studying all night. He jumped at this chance to have a holiday and went to the school gate with joy. However, as he went, his line of sight was blocked by the rain. When Huang Xia was running at the corner of building 5, he bumped into a few beautiful umbrellas that suddenly appeared in the front corridor. His rash act startled several girls. After recognizing him as the well-known womanizer, a series of merciless scoldings ensued. Yun Meng, who was among the startled victims, was almost knocked to the ground by his careening into the group. Thankfully, some of her friends, who were behind her, caught her. "Yun Meng, are you alright?" Ma Ruoxi quickly reopened her umbrella, then stared at him angrily. "Huang Xia, are your eyes blinded by the rain? Can''t you see that several living people are right here?" Huang Xia looked up, ready to flirt, but then, he became completely stunned. The girl who was standing in the rain right in front of him was the prettiest he had ever seen! Her oval face was pale and snowy. Her eyes were misty and exuded a light, sad expression, which hit him like a bullet to the heart. Huang Xia''s mouth immediately dried up, and his heart was beating quickly. From that day on, he was like a man possessed by a monster. His mind was full of her, as if he would lose his mind if he couldn''t chase her! Huang Xia, who had a wealth of experience in chasing women, knew that if he wanted to win this war, he must have a thorough knowledge of the enemy! So,he did everything possible to collect information about Yun Meng, then tried to analyze her character. He discovered that she was introverted, does not actively talk with boys, and gets along with several girls in her class. Also, she was social, not the kind to be alone all the time. For this type of girl, time was needed to get the best results. The more boldly he approached her, the more quickly he would crash and burn. This was the conclusion he made after several days of observation. More importantly, he did not hear any news of this delicate woman being with any other guys. Feeling that his skills that he used to get women were good, Huang Xia felt ready. Unfortunately, this boy had no patience. Once, while walking down a street, he met his crush, as she was out shopping with a man. He dastardly followed them, wanting to verify the dynamics and nature of their relationship. "Hi, Yun Meng, what a coincidence! You''re here to shop, too!" Huang Xia ran over to greet her recklessly, without even looking at Chen Fan. Hearing the gentle voice of Huang Xia, Yun Meng could not help but raise her eyebrows. In her usual judgments, the people who dyed their hair and wore such weird attire were directly classified as gangsters. These were exactly the kind of people she normally kept at a distance! And, she wasn''t alone, as in the eyes of many people, boys who dyed their hair were instantly stereotyped as being flirtatious and immature. While she kept her distance, she could not maintain a disgusted attitude when someone greeted her with a smile. She smiled back, then said, "Yes!" With that, she turned her eyes to Chen Fan, looking at him with some embarrassment. Since that collision in the rain, Huang Xia had been following her around, with very obvious intentions that even a fool could see through. "I''m also going to buy a bag for my younger sister. Her birthday is coming up! Yun Meng, can you help me pick one? I don''t know very much about these things!" Huang Xia felt his heart beating faster, and his hands were sweating at the sight of his crush''s warm smile, which could even melt stone. "I think this one is a good one for your sister!" Before Yun Meng could speak, Chen Fan came over from his seat and picked up a white purse. This kid was so inexperienced, he couldn''t even make up proper excuses! "Who is he, Yun Meng?" Seeing that her boyfriend was coming, the hostile Huang Xia immediately took a step forward and spoke with a firm voice, as if he was her childhood friend, there to protect her. "He...he" Yun Meng was shy. As she mumbled, her pink neck grew red. The blush soon spread to the tip of her forehead. "He...he''s my elder brother!" "Boooooom!" Huang Xia''s mind had been blown! His brain felt as if a few nuclear bombs had been dropped by a B2 Bomber on him. Brother? Bullsh*t! Looking at Yun Meng with her shy blush, Huang Xia swore that, if there was nothing between her and Chen Fan, he would ram through a glass wall with his head! "Say, kid, do you wanna buy it?" Chen Fan swayed the purse in his hand calmly. "It just happens to be around 3,000, making it just right for kids like you." Chen Fan''s statement implied that, since he was just a high school student, he shouldn''t hope to buy bags that cost tens of thousands. Instead, he should choose a cheaper one. Huang Xia, was angered by Chen Fan''s attitude, but he almost laughed when he heard this. If he wasn''t in public, with a beauty right beside him, Huang Xia would have taken off his clothes and shown him his Hugo Boss logos. Thanks to his father, who was a real estate developer, he could wear clothing worth a white collar''s salary of two months, replace five or six mobile phones a year, and use the latest cutting-edge electronics! His coming from a rich family was also an important criteria for Huang Xia''s success in winning the hearts of many girls. Handsome looks were well and good, but with money, even an ugly man could find a wife! As luck would have it, he was going to buy some clothes, armed with a huge sum of money. There was no way he wouldn''t show off in front of his crush. As for the economic power of his enemy? He wasn''t impressed. Yeah, it was a nice outfit that Chen Fan was wearing, but it''s not a big deal to purchase things at Hermes these days. Huang Xia knew that the truly rich would only order the limited-edition items from Barca''s flagship store. They would not buy mass produced products! This ensued that they would never be caught wearing the same outfit as other people at parties! "Hmph!" After swinging his bangs coolly, Huang Xia decided to deflate Chen Fan''s arrogance. "This purse? It''s too low class for me to buy! For your information, even a Bosideng jacket costs one or two thousand yuan. So, if I bought her this purse, my sister would get angry with me!" The staff on the side were secretly snickering. Men quarreling over a woman, and exaggerating themselves to impress her, was not a rare sight. What was rare, was that even a teenager was doing it! "I''m afraid that, if you buy it at a higher price, your father will get cross with you!" Chen Fan wrapped his arm around the blushing Yun Meng''s shoulder, then looked at him provokingly. Being exposed by Chen Fan instantly, Huang Xia was very angry, to the point that he completely forgot to even try to hide it. Hatefully, he drew a bank card from his pocket, demanding of Chen Fan, "Do you know what this is?" He took out a black card with a gray-yellow pattern. A golden ribbon was attached to the center of the card. The words "China Merchants Bank" could be seen inscribed on it. "An unlimited credit card!" a staff nearby whispered, startled. "I heard that kind of card costs 10,000 yuan a year! Where did this kid come from?" "His parents, I guess!" said the sharp-eyed staff, envy in his tone. "I heard the manager say that there are only 27 of those cards in our whole city!" The surprising look from the staff gave him satisfaction from his head to his toes. He looked at Chen Fan, not backing down. "I see! You were born with a golden spoon!" Chen Fan looked at him. "I heard that this card can be used to overdraw an account indefinitely, no?" "That depends on the credit limit. For this card of mine, 20 million is not a problem!" Huang Xia was proud, parading about like a cockerel now. "Do you know what this card is?" Chen fumbled in his pocket and whipped out a dark-blue card with a two-colored shield in the middle. On the upper corner of the card, were the words "China Construction Bank Alipay." "Pffttt." Even Yun Meng couldn''t help but laugh like a silver bell. Brother Chen Fan is way too funny. Isn''t this the kind of bank card that is used to buy things online? Most of the girls in their class had a similar card for such purposes. Even Jiang Ling, who was sitting in the back seat, had used a card like this to buy scarves. "Oh my god, Alipay?" Huang Xia''s eyes were filled with contempt. "Ninety percent of our class has this card. Are you serious?" 260 Checking the Balance "This is strange! It''s not some sinister thing Why can''t I take this out?" Chen Fan shook the bank card mysteriously. "Are you implying that this card is not worth a farthing, compared to yours?" He looked Chen Fan in the eyes, his look appearing to reply for him an adamant, Of course. Feeling that he had regained the advantage in the debate, he said, "What is a bank card? It is a symbol of identity. Take this card, for example, only customers who had reached a certain level of assets and received invitations to China Merchants Bank could apply for it. With this card, you can enjoy airport VIP services, global medical services, top party salons, golf clubs, etcetera. And, what about your card? All you really get is a measly 5 percent discount on QQ coins top-ups!" After listening to his words, the two staff members looked at him with admiration, to the point that they completely forgot to serve a middle-aged couple, who had just entered the store. Fortunately, there was more than one staff in the store. The foreman in front of the cashier rushed over to help, while glaring at the two staff members. He then put on a smile to serve the two customers. Frankly, to be a staff member in a luxury store like Hermes, one must meet a certain standard of beauty and temperament. In this age, when beauty is scarce, the number of men who pursue staff positions there was enough for a basketball match only, not enough for a football match. It is fair to wonder why the two staff members, who were already in their twenties, be so interested in a kid? There was an age gap of six or seven years between the latter and the pair, and such an age gap is way too large to form any real relationship. The middle-aged couple were undoubtedly super-rich. Their tastes were naturally much more refined than ordinary people. When he accidentally glanced at the bank card, the husband froze. Thinking her husband''s lewd nature was acting up again, the wife hit his arm maliciously, while her eyes moved back and forth between him and the staff members. Realizing that he had been wronged, the middle-aged man immediately whispered something in her ear. The expression in the wife''s eyes gradually changed from one of violence to surprise. She asked him what kind of child could bring an unlimited credit card for shopping! "How should I know?" The middle-aged man shrugged his shoulders. "How much trust must his parents have in him! If I gave this card to my son, he''d probably come home with a Porsche!" As most teens are not mature enough to adequately handle social circumstances, they tend to show off with all of their might. Even Yun Meng''s serious face was ignored by him. "Huang Xia, why are you so annoying?" Yun Meng was very angry, and she stared at him with a pair of watery eyes. Her fairy-like appearance caught the eyes of the middle-aged man. No matter how hard his wife hit his arm, she could not get his attention back. Yun Meng did not know how wealthy exactly Chen Fan was, but this did not hinder her from trusting in him. At least, with his having luxury cars that cost 40 million each, he was surely above anyone else. Then again, even if Chen Fan had no money at all, Huang Xia, who spoke glib words all the time, still had no right to sneer him. Huang Xia finally sensed that his crush was in a violent rage. This sent him into a panic. He ran to her with his mouth full of boastful words, "Yun Meng, which one do you like? I will buy it for you, as a gift for your helping me to choose a purse for my sister." Before Yun Meng could make a statement, he was preempted by a staffer with a nice body. She, with her enthusiasm and patience, relentlessly introduced Huang Xia to all kinds of leather bags. What''s more, in the process, she almost pushed her chest onto Huang Xia. Huang Xia was greatly flustered by this! In fact, he was a total mess! Chen Fan sighed helplessly. After seeing that Yun Meng had selected the purse, he suggested that she should pick a few clothes for spring, since the weather was getting warmer. There was a small interlude during the process. Yun Meng noticed a brown-yellow men''s casual leather jacket at this time. With a soft, tender voice, she affectionately asked Chen to try on the jacket. "This is the latest model of the year," said the smiling staffer. "If you don''t like it, we can measure your figure and make the cut in Paris. The fabric material is optional and completely your choice." Chen Fan did not have the time to wait for his outfit to be custom-made! He grabbed the jacket from Yun Meng''s hand and tried it on, without even asking about the price. This jacket was designed by top designers. As such, it was not ugly, of course. Yun Meng felt that his coolness had dramatically increased by 50 percent after wearing it. The middle-aged man was attracted to it too, and could not help but praise this choice of attire. "Try pulling the zipper up!" Like a wife helping her husband out with his tie, Yun Meng subconsciously stepped forward to help him with the zipper. Huang Xia was dispirited as he saw this. After all, taking care of the details of each other''s clothes is something that''s done by cohabiting couples usually. It''s a somewhat intimate thing! Bang! At that moment, a crisp sound that only metal could produce swayed on the white marble floor. Huang Xia refocused his dull eyes. Upon seeing the black card that had just dropped from the clothing between Yun Meng''s elbow, he was confused. Although he recognized the three silver safe keys on the card''s surface as being the UBS logo, the unique sound of the metal and the traditional Han cloud pattern were unfamiliar to him. Huang Xia didn''t know what it was. The staff thought it was a VIP card, launched by a club or a chain store. Only the middle-aged man felt that it was not just any ordinary card. The card had already been picked up by Yun Meng, who was putting it back in the pocket, but still, his forehead wrinkled, as if he was lost in deep thought. "Checkout!" Chen Fan swayed his Alipay card in front of the staffer. "Yes sir, please follow me!" Below that perfect professional smile, the staffer''s heart was a bit stirred up. This was their first time having seen someone pay using an ordinary bank card. How much money does he have? Wanting to make trouble, Huang Xia casually grabbed a purse that cost 5,000 yuan. He went to the payment counter to pass his card along first, so that Yun Meng and that guy could know how rich he was. After the password was entered into the computerized Union Pay machine, both the client and the shop could view the balance inside the card by default, which makes the process of checking out easier for both clients. Of course, the consumer could also call the bank customer service to disable this function, should they desire to do so. 261 Future Strategic Resources Oligarch The female manager, who was wearing a beautiful white shirt, was more knowledgeable than the other staff members. The manager''s wavering eyes were rapidly expanding, as she took the unlimited credit card from the hands of Huang Xia. Huang Xia enjoyed this kind of interaction, especially in front of a great beauty. Beep beep beep! After quickly typing in the password on the machine, Huang Xia looked to the side and talked to Chen Fan in a condescending tone, "Uncle Wang, who is the president of CCB, has a good relationship with my dad. If you want to change to a better card, I can help you get the CCB Gold Platinum Card or the Olympic Platinum Card, both of which offer VIP treatment at the airport, as long as your points are sufficient." Chen Fan rolled his eyes. "It''s okay, my memory is not that good. I might easily forget the passwords if I got too many cards." "You''ve spent 5,800 yuan. The balance on your card after the payment is now...18,369,700 yuan, please sign!" The female staffer handed the receipt to Huang Xia with trembling hands. The eight figure balance made her immediately jealous, as she wished that she could have that series of numbers in her own account! Usually those bosses, who were well-dressed and had big bellies, would come there and spend crazily, but the balance on their cards could be disappointing to look at upon their checking out. Some even had negative balances on their accounts! But, this dressed up guy in front of her was clearly a legitimate son of a wealthy family! "My dad only withdrew 30 million last week, and this is just his private account. Most of his money is kept in the company''s account!" Huang Xia bragged aloud, as he pretended to sign his father''s name. He wanted to see Chen Fan''s surprised expression. Unfortunately, the latter''s expression remained the same, as if the staffer had reported a balance amount of only a few cents, instead of more than 10 million! Seeing that his expected effect had not been achieved, Huang Xia hummed. He was waiting to see how much money Chen Fan had left on his card. Although the item that Huang Xia had bought was less expensive than Chen Fan''s, Huang Xia still believed that this guy couldn''t possibly be richer than his family. A raging fire rose in Huang Xia''s mind after having such thoughts. It was very difficult for him to understand why Yun Meng, a girl as wonderful as a fairy, would like this man. After all, he was not eye-catching, nor did he even dress well! If Chen Fan knew the exact thoughts of this little boy at the moment, he might have been thrown into a depression. This judgment was a direct reveal of the generation gap that was present as well. The younger generation always liked to be the focus, whereas the more mature generation were low-key. This was because they''d been raised with more scruples and discipline! Huang Xia stared at Chen Fan, who was pulling out the credit card from his pocket slowly. Chen Fan''s actions were naturally interpreted by Huang Xia as revealing Chen Fan''s lack of confidence, after hearing Huang Xia''s account balance. Thinking of this, Huang Xia''s face became even more smug. If Herms products were not made of leather, they might not be so pricey. For example, the two items of the brand that Huang Xia and Yun Meng possessed, were relatively reasonable. However, when it came to their leather products, the price would increase exponentially. For example, Chen Fan''s leather jacket was priced at 160,000 yuan! When she saw the price, Yun Meng''s small mouth opened in a surprised oval, and stayed that way for quite awhile! She wondered if the tag was over-reporting one or two zeros! After receiving the bank card, the female staffer skillfully slid it over the magnetic slot. After Chen Fan inserted his password on the machine, the female staffer quickly typed in her operator''s password. Tap tap tap. Then, she glanced at the balance at the bottom of the screen, preparing to report to Chen Fan his balance. "What!?" Several people at the scene were alerted by her sudden scream. They looked at her like she was a psycho! Ah, is something wrong with the computer? How am I getting a series of Arabic numbers? The staffer was feeling kind of dazed. She even wiped the screen twice, unsure of whether or not what she was seeing was true. "One...two...three..." The female staffer counted the numbers on the screen weirdly, her eyes getting bigger as she was counting. Her eyes were about to bulge out of their sockets, when she reached the ninth figure. When she finally counted to ten, her eyebrows and lips were squeezed into a weird geometric shape. "Oh!" With a savings balance of more than 1.3 billion yuan, it would not be a problem for Chen Fan to buy out all of the Herms stores in China! Everyone was confused, after hearing this number, which revealed Chen Fan''s assets to be over 100 million! Everyone wondered who exactly this man was! However, the person most affected by the ten-digit balance was Huang Xia. The series of numbers had completely smashed him! "Are you certain?" Huang Xia''s eyes were red. "That makes no sense! If you have so much, why is your bank card the most common one?" Chen Fan was feeling depressed, upon being challenged to explain. The money on this card was the oil transportation fund card, which he had opened in recent months, under the name of his father. He had indeed received a phone call from the bank to invite him to upgrade the savings card, but Chen Fan disliked the cumbersome procedure, so he had not agreed. Now, he was being bothered by this issue again, so of course he would feel upset. "Sir, could you kindly leave your contact information with us?" The staffer, who was still winking at Huang Xia, immediately changed her focus back to Chen Fan. She realized that she might have spoken too bluntly, so immediately explained her reasonings for the request in a polite and succinct manner. "If you make a total purchase of more than 100,000 yuan here, you can get a tailor-made loyalty card, which can be exchanged for some limited-edition products," she explained. "Ehhh, maybe next time!" Chen Fan was almost unable to resist the staffer''s persuasive enthusiasm. After taking the carbon pen from her and signing the cardholder''s name, he held Yun Meng''s hand, prepared to leave. Huang Xia tried to say something, but could not utter a single word in the end. There was an uneasy and panicked expression in his eyes. "Wait, I remember!" The middle-aged man, who was accompanying his wife to buy silk scarves, suddenly shouted. "The card that was dropped just now, wasn''t it an UBS A-level customer card?" "Why do you have to raise your voice?" his companion scolded. She felt that her man was out of his mind, so she immediately raised her head and glared at him. "Haha! Woman, what do you know?" the middle-aged man said with a low voice. "This card is more valuable than the Centurion card, which is issued by American Express. It is not an exaggeration to say that the card is the world''s top bank card!" The Centurion card? The woman knew that her favorite movie actor had one of those! She knew this because that guy used to be snapped by the paparazzi while using the centurion card to buy food at the market! After these images were picked up by the media, a lot of celebrities were envious and thought that he was putting up a show. But, a name like UBS''s A-level customer card, it just sounded so very common! However, the middle-aged man''s next sentence immediately made her lose her composure, enough to where she didn''t even notice that she had dropped the silk scarf that she had been holding in her hands! "Seventy percent of the world''s top 500 executives use the Centurion card. With this card, you are able to make any luxury store on Fifth Avenue open exclusively for you at night. But, if you take out a UBS A-level customer card, any luxury store would be willing to go even further, solely doing only business with you from now on! Moreover, the chief designer of the brand would also be happy to travel to New York to personally serve you! This is because, among the presidents of all of the Fortune 500 companies worldwide, there are only 27 people who own this card!" .... Rumble. A powerful sound suddenly broke the peaceful environment, as the turbulent airflow even tore the white mist out of a crack, which was several hundred meters long. The beginning of the crack was actually the shiny skull of the monster! "It''s nice to have a heavy fog!" The electric squirting mouth sucked in a white mist as it spoke, and the huge water molecules inside it made it cry. If the fog had not scattered, the electric raft would not have even needed to start the electrolysis process, as the water system could have supplemented its oxygen consumption. Today was the day of delivery for the old man Argyll. For this reason, Chen Fan controlled the electric eel to work all night, so that he could move all of the bows in the warehouse to the beach. If calculated according to the current price rate of two hundred for one gram of metal palladium, then the tens of millions of capital that he had at this time could be exchanged for billions in profits! Of course, this was still only a theoretical outcome. If he really wanted to get that much money, he would have to sell all of the metals. Therefore, Chen Fan was also preparing to establish a strategic international trading company offshore, under the name "Cruiser." As rice has to be eaten bit by bit, the road to this eventual outcome had to be walked step by step. If the transactional relationship with Argyll could be maintained, Chen Fan was determined to turn his new offshore company into an absolutely monopolized strategic metal export enterprise. In the meantime, he would keep developing the business of oil transportation, too! These lofty goals were not signs of his arrogance, but rather, they were the results of his self-confidence. He knew that, due to the current level of technology that was available here, any modern item could be considered a miracle in Argyll''s country. Thus, it would be no problem to lure those citizens into purchasing his goods! In the real world, Chen Fan had a powerful electric eel at hs disposal, so it was no problem for him to occupy the sea. After all, the ocean was the economic lifeline of all mankind, as two-thirds of the global circulation of goods depended on the ocean! Chen Fan was really very brilliant indeed in his business strategies, as metal and oil were the cornerstones that support the development of the entire industry. So, in theory, the industry, and even the entire world, would have nothing left without these two priceless commodities! Chen Fan had the right timing and the right place for the meeting, so all he must do now was wait. Suddenly, a burst of propellers interrupted Chen Fan''s thoughts. Without a doubt, he knew that it must be Argyll coming! 262 Armored Giant Jellyfish The high-speed diesel engine''s hum was getting nearer. Hearing its sound, Chen Fan quickly controlled the electric eel to roar, then directed the navigation to head towards the other party. Thirty seconds later, the thick fog was gradually pushed aside, and the hovercraft transportation ship that broke through the waves rushed in front of the electric eel. Rubbing both of his hands together, Chen Fan wanted to go over to show his concern. But, the hovercraft transportation ship rushed to the beach, its airflow from its bottom forming a small sandstorm on the beach. "The God of war has come! Am I even able to encounter the armored giant jellyfish here?" The hovercraft had yet to be turned off, when Barru jumped down from the deck, brandishing the broadsword in his hand. Before anyone could figure out what Barru was doing, an explosive BOOM, comparable to the sound of a fighter jet breaking through the sound barrier, reached Chen Fan''s ears. A huge cluster of dazzling fireballs! Then, the fire disappeared out of his sight in a rush! Before the vibration of Chen Fan''s eardrums had time to silence, a louder and more violent fireball exploded, once again devastating his eardrums. The exaggerated heat wave cleared the thick fog within a hundred meters! Chen Fan finally understood why Argyll, with his monkey-like flexibility, had jumped out from the pilot interior and blasted out a huge fireball. "Wow!" Chen Fan said, as he stared at the back of the hovercraft with a ghostly expression. He saw a white-grey crustacean monster that was surrounded by hard armor, which had an upper body that was covered with sharp horns and a belly with densely packed, clawed limbs. It also had a tail very similar to that of a lobster. Unfortunately, its size was more than 30 meters long, which made it impossible to associate it with any species on the planet! The damage caused by Argyll''s fireball was unfortunately not much. There was no damage to the armor, and the heat had only seemed to provoke the creature''s anger, as it kept waving its tentacles around crazily. "HAAAA!" At this time, Barru burst out a loud roar. He then threw a javelin out from his back pouch with a swoosh. This was the best interpretation of absolute power. The one-meter-long pure steel javelin thrust into the monster''s abdomen directly, yet only left behind a bowl-sized mark. "Brother Chen, send your pet to kill this iron giant jellyfish, as it would be bad if it breaks the hovercraft!" Argyll shouted, as he condensed another fireball, firing one after another. The great kinetic energy produced by the fireball explosion hit the abdomen of the iron giant jellyfish. "Get out of the way, so I can kill this guy!" Chen Fan, who had no time to think, slammed the palm of his hand on the electric eel''s scales. The electric eel suddenly opened his eyes, proudly staring at the iron giant jellyfish. Its magnificent aura shocked Barru, who was a few meters away. Although its energy current could not be released at such a close distance, the electric eel had more attack methods up its sleeve. When the electric sizzling teeth were wide open, a thick green venom was squeezed from its poison sac. Chen Fan had originally wanted to force the eel to drive the creature into the water with its venom, and then use a powerful current to kill the creature. But, Argyll unexpectedly threw out a fireball from the deck, which hit squarely on the venom with a swoop. What kind of chain reaction would the flammable liquid cause in an open flame? The scene at this time revealed clearly that, when too much flammable liquids are ignited, the large amount of flames released will consume all of the air and cause a vacuum in a very short amount of time. Then, there will be a lot of air coming in from other places, and the incoming air will produce a immense pressure and an increased temperature field, causing the flames to expand, thus increasing their impact! "Ah, the god of war is here!" The long waves of the air seemed like magma spreading out. After Barru screamed, even the broadsword in his hand flew out, and he rushed to the back of the electric eel. As for Argyll, his tongue was extended, and his stunned eyeballs almost broke away from the tip of their nerves. One can only see the true will of a person, when they are caught in a bad environment or at a critical moment of life and death! Argyll, who was experienced in combat, was able to comfortably gather some water vapor to resist the front, even amid the horror. The most unfortunate one was the armored giant jellyfish, as its whole abdomen was being thoroughly roasted due to the high temperature. Chen Fan did not give it the opportunity to climb up. Instead, he made the electric eel dive into the water with a roar, then directly seize the creature''s abdomen with its steel claws, quickly dragging it into the deep sea. As the monster was more than 30 meters long, it did not have any room to struggle. After the armored giant jellyfish was dragged offshore, three or five kilometers away, the electric eel flashed its body, spewing out 100,000 volts from its body. With a slam, the armored giant jellyfish fell into a dyeing bucket. Its originally white-gray armor turned red. The terrible electric arc was still whipping, and even drew ripples in the water. "Where did you find this strange thing?" after dealing with the monster, Chen Fan jumped on the hovercraft and asked Argyll. Argyll looked at the hovercraft for a long time, finally determining that it was not damaged. He then said, "When we sailed to the beach, we saw that the sea in front of it was tumbling like boiling hot water. Barru asked me what it was. The fog was too thick. I only thought that a whale was spraying water. I didn''t expect that, when the hovercraft got closer, it would actually be an adult armored giant jellyfish that was eating.We think that the hovercraft was too loud and provoked it, causing it to chase us crazily. I have to sail, so I was not able to deal with it. Even Barru couldn''t jump into the water and fight it." "Gosh..." Chen Fan was at a loss for words. He could only helplessly swing his hand and express deep sympathy for these two unlucky guys. "Brother Chen, are the crossbows inside the boxes?" Argyll shouted, while pointing to them. "Yes!" Chen Fan pulled out a dagger from his lower back and cut the hemp rope of one of the boxes in the warehouse. The rough wooden box was neatly covered with pieces of dazzling gold bricks. There were a lot of them. "Brother Chen, don''t you want to count them?" Argyll approached him with a smiling face. "It''s okay, I trust you!" Chen Fan waved his hand. "Go, everything is brand new and can be used after assembly!" 263 The Deputy Minister Argyll, who didn''t have the right to speak, definitely wouldn''t say anything about this batch of crossbows. Moreover, the quality of these crossbows was too good to raise any doubts from the public. "Brother Chen, my buddy, I have requested the Commerce of Chamber of the Kingdom to buy us a lot of silver coins from the orcs. It is expected that these valuable metals will be carried back again in five days. Do you think it is" "What are you trying to say?" Chen Fan turned around doubtfully, and gave him a glance. "Please say it to me directly!" "Oh, haha" Argyll showed a moment of rare hesitation. "I remembered that you once said that you could get more powerful weapons to sell. But now, do you think it is" "This.um.yes, I did say that before!" said Chen Fan,while pinching his forehead between his eyebrows and making the eel unload the last batch of metals from the boat. "Every step is a process, so keep in mind that you must go step by step very carefully. The reason why I don''t sell powerful weapons here, is because there is this restriction in my city. Moreover, these weapons are extremely rare, meaning that I will need a lot of time for to find a proper market for it." Argyll smiled reluctantly at Chen Fan''s words, despite his doubts regarding the honesty held within them. The loading and unloading continued until 2 o''clock in the afternoon. As soon as they agreed to hold the second transaction here in five days, Argyll hopped into his hovercraft and left in a hurry. Looking at the pile of shiny silver in the cave, Chen Fan laughed like a thief who had successfully committed a heist. There was no more profitable trade in this world than this trade! What made it even more ridiculous, was that this trade could only be done by Chen Fan himself! Now that the valuable palladium and gold had been acquired, the next stage was to trade them for money. Upon getting the items, Chen Fan gave Zhang Xueyang a call, as he was the person who had ordered Chen Fan to retrieve the palladium in the first place. ''Wow! How did you manage to make it in this short while? Are you coming by aircraft?'' Zhang Xueyang was shocked, when he picked up the call and heard the news from Chen Fan. "It is a thousand miles away from South Africa to his place, and then it takes ten and a half days for an average cargo ship to reach here! I''ll contact the customer for you first. Please go to the tea house, where we met last time. I''ll tell you the overall situation once I get there!" Half an hour later, Chen Fan arrived at the tea house in Caiyi Street with his Maybach 62s Zeppelin. He then ordered the most expensive tea available from the waiter, while he was waiting for the arrival of Zhang Xueyang. "Wow, buddy! You really do know how to enjoy yourself here," said Zhang Xueyang, as he caught the fragrant smell of the tea as he entered the room. He sniffed a few nosefuls of the fragrant air, then took a cup of tea from Chen Fan''s table and drank it. "Buddy! Can''t we just drink a bit, while having this conversation here?" said Zhang Xueyang, looking horribly drunk. Chen Fan quickly grabbed the tea pot and held it to his chest. "Chen, my buddy! Do you know how much the price a gram of palladium has risen recently in the market?" said Zhang Xueyang, as he sat down. "It takes only five days for the price to rise from two hundred to two hundred and thirty, which means that its price is rising even faster than petroleum''s! If this situation continues, it would be impossible for us to survive the days." "It''s not possible for the price to keep on rising like this, right?" "Well, it is not possible on paper, because the country will not simply look on and do nothing, at least not when the entire high-tech industry is being disrupted, since it is the very root of the country!" Zhang Xueyang took a sip of the sweet tea, then turned his face to Chen Fan. "Have you settled your previous case with the police?" "Nope!" said Chen Fan, as he pinched his eyebrows. "It has been a long while since they last came to me. As long as I do not go to the airport or register for a hotel using my name, I should be fine." For Chen Fan''s case, it was possible to write it off the books. Ma Rongtao had a conversation with him about this all before. As long as he surrendered himself to the Public Security Bureau, he would be able to apply for a release for medical treatment. Zhang Xueyang deepened his voice and spoke mysteriously, "The client that I introduced to you could help you in settling the case in the Public Security Bureau, which is a piece of cake for them." "How simple is that for them?" "As simple as reciting your ABC''s! You don''t even need to go to the Public Security Bureau!" Chen Fan blinked his eyes, showing his doubt. Even Ma Rongtao, who was the richest man, had some difficulties in settling his affairs. Is this Zhang Xueyang a secretary of the municipal party committee, who could somehow get it done with only a few words? "Actually, this customer that I''ve contacted is from the military!" Zhang Xueyang whispered to Chen Fan. "Do you remember the last time, when I told you that my family took over the parts of the TianHai Aircraft Manufacturing? It was with help from the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Military Supplies department of the TianHai Naval District. This person had some relative relationships with my family. He often brought in some military parts for our foundry. A few days ago, I requested that my father make a call to him to ask if he could get in touch with any supplier, who could provide a large amount of metal palladium. He told us that, if the price offered was reasonable, he was definitely up for this deal, and that he would supply us with as much palladium as we want." "No way" Chen Fan shook his head upon hearing this. "If the military found out that I am the one who is supplying them with such a huge amount of palladium, they would definitely suspect my identity. Instead of helping me solve my case, they would probably have me arrested or brought to jail!" "Do you think that the military is like a landlord from the old society? Or have you just been reading too much sci-fi?" said Zhang Xueyang, rolling his eyes. "Apart from the harsh requirement of the products itself, the Military Procurement department is the best customer you could have. They will pay us the money right after the products pass the inspection. Have you ever noticed that all of the military regions are building their own supplement bidding websites? A lot of companies were trying to squeeze into this business, because once they manage to enter the market, it symbolizes that their company provides the best products among the competitors in the same industry." He continued, excited. "As for the investigation or imprisonment you mentioned, it is simply nonsense. It is not even illegal to import military supplies from an overseas country. Therefore, do you think that there is a need for some James Bond to exist in this business? It is a direct harmony internationally, as within the Military Procurement Department,no idiots are allowed! They understand that nothing done forcibly is going to be agreeable. They see it simply that, you can provide the items they need, therefore, there is no reason for them to ruin their channel of obtaining strategic metals by arresting you!" "Furthermore, whether your background is clean or not, they wouldn''t care about it. You tell me, how many rich man are actually clean? Also, how many officials nowadays are innocent? They only recognize or care about their political achievements and strategic metals. If you could manage to provide a huge amount of strategic metals for them abroad, they would treat you like a king." Chen Fan was somewhat satisfied by this reasoning. "I can somehow agree with that, but when you talk about dealing with the military, I am still in a slight state of turmoil. After all, there are more than a hundred tons of palladium in my hands, and if they were to be transferred into cash, it is enough to build a freeway!" "The holding assets, which are owned by the King of Beverage, Zong Qinghou, are more than enough to build ten freeways, and he is still living well" said Zhang Xueyang, while slamming his forehead with his palm. "How about we take it slowly? Let''s try to sell them a few tons first, just to test the waters." 264 Let’s Get Ourselves an Island and Have Some Fun "Test the water? Do you think that you are playing the slot machines?" Chen Fan smiled and said, "According to what I remember, the military usually orders finished goods. Do you think that they would want these?" "The Material Reserve Bureau and the Supply Department are about the same. They are both owned by our party!" said Zhang Xueyang, while he was playing with the teacup in his hand. "The deputy minister is currently engaging in a research project in other places. It will take two days for him to get back. Then, when the time comes, we''ll go to Tian Hai City together and talk to him about this." "In that case, what''s the rush in calling me here?" "Of course, I had to inform you about this issue in advance!" said Zhang Xueyang, while showing a ridiculous expression to Chen Fan. "Rest assured, this is not a drug dealing business. There is no need to worry about this. Furthermore, I didn''t even tell him the specific amount of palladium we have." Chen Fan was finally satisfied by his colleagues assurances. Then, after saying goodbye to Zhang Xueyang, Chen Fan drove alone to the dock and gazed at the sea. Ever since the evil real estate owner was buried into the sea, the construction site that was located not far away from the dock had became a dead area. Rumors said that the developer''s capital chain had been broken, thus, he was forced to escape from the business, carrying a huge amount of bank loans. However, the truth of the matter was, the head of the company vanished without a trace. Therefore, the workers were then forced to salvage what was left of the company and head off to seek a new life. However, these were not the things that most disturbed Chen Fan at the moment. What really bothered him was the crossbow business. Currently, the domestic restriction on crossbows was not too strict. As long as you had the money, you could buy them. The last ten thousand crossbows ordered were under the name of foreign trade, but almost all of the Chace-Moon models were taken during the order, leaving none left in the international warehouse. Therefore, it was impossible to continue ordering from them. Most of the high-end crossbows were made of carbon fiber composite resin, and the critical factor that determined the shooting range of the arrow was derived from the length and thickness of the crossbow arm. Theoretically, as long as the user had enough strength to pull the string of the crossbow, then the range of the arrow''s shot could be increased. Although the weight of carbon fiber composite resin was less than a quarter of steel''s weight, its elasticity could reach seven to nine times that of steel! Assuming the crossbow arm was two meters long and twenty centimeters thick, the power of the arrow shot from the crossbow could penetrate a strong man from two kilometers away. Moreover, winding back the crossbow required extraordinary strength, such that perhaps only a gorilla could handle it! A crossbow and arrow with a shooting range of two kilometers shooting range would be too lofty of a goal. However, creating a crossbow and arrow with a shooting range of two or three hundred meters was still possible. The physical quality of outsiders was generally much higher than of those on earth. So, it was certainly not an issue to decide to double the winding force of the crossbow and arrow. "Why don''t I build a crossbow factory myself?" After thinking for a while, Chen Fan slapped his forehead, realizing he was a multi-billionaire! Rather than finding an already crossbow factory, he had more than enough money to build a cannon factory! Foreseeing a future cooperation with Argyll and huge amounts of arms trading, it was unsustainable to continue relying on different suppliers. A self-production base was necessary for them to create all kinds of products on their own terms. This thought was like a virus, immediately spreading to his entire brain, pushing him to execute the plan as soon as possible. This "virus" was extremely powerful, allowing Chen Fan to start his preparations immediately! First, he would need to search for a few experienced technicians. He decided that it would be best to take them from an already existing crossbow factory. Next, as carbon fiber composites belonged to the world of high-tech materials, if he wanted to produce them on a large scale, he would need to import a complete set of carbon fiber materials from the United States, Japan, and Germany. Finally, the most important question to decide was that of the location of the factory. Are we going to build it domestically? To obtain the license for the factory would be difficult, especially if they would only be creating crossbows. However, what Chen Fan really wanted to build was firearms, even though it would be best if he could build cannons. After all, how much could they expect to earn from selling only crossbows? Locally, it was a dead end for anyone to even think of conducting an arms manufacturing business. Therefore, Chen Fan planned to place the production base abroad, preferably in those island countries with weak military strengths. There are many island countries in the world that are selling the ownership of their island. Why don''t I just buy an island from them, then build an arms production base there instead? Chen Fan thought. When it comes to buying islands, most people would think of Greece and Italy, which are both in financial crisis. This financial crunch has forced them to start selling a large number of their islands to pay off their debts. One of the largest islands that Chen Fan was currently looking at had a surface area of 1,235 acres! How much is an island that size worth?! He wondered. In his opinion, the starting price was cheap, beginning at only fifteen million euros. As such, it was eventually auctioned off by the Arab Royal Family at a price of seventy-five million euros. It could be hard to imagine the price per square meter of an island being only worth fifteen euros, or one hundred and thirty-two dollars. In fact, this price was considered by some to be expensive. In the Philippine Islands, a few square kilometers of island land costs only three to five million dollars. The reason for this horrible price of the island was simple. There were no valuable large scale mineral resources on the islands, as it was dozens of nautical miles away from the continental shelf. Mostly importantly, there was no proper supply network for water and electricity to be set up. To transform an island into a paradise that is suitable for humans to live, more than ten times the price of the island would need to be spent, and that would just cover the expenses of building basic living facilities. For example, the expenses of building a dock to facilitate the transportation of reinforced concrete materials from the land to the private island, then making a construction contract, would be almost 500,000 dollars. Most of the rich people stepped away from the deal because of this huge renovation cost. They realized that, with that amount of money, they could just as easily stay and build in touristy islands that were already under the development of government. But, as for our hero, Chen Fan, he had always been rich. Since he had so much money, the amount of money needed to transform the island into a modern production base was nothing to him. Plus, the location of the island was also important. Only those islands that were some distance away from any international political center were preferred. Thus, any islands located within central European countries were prohibited. "Dang Lang Li Dang Dang Lang Li Dang..." Chen Fan sang cheerfully, as he ran towards the dock. He couldn''t wait to check to see if there are any countries selling off their islands online. Fiji, Solomon, and the Philippine Islands, all of these typical oceanic countries were skipped by Chen Fan. Eventually, his sights rested on the Seychelles, which were located in the Indian Ocean. 265 Thatched House Restauran Located at 4.42 degrees south latitude and 55.27 degrees east longitude, the island nation was made up of 115 islands, which were all totally dependent on tourism and fishing. Also, the entire nation''s annual gross national product was worth only $80 million. As one of the top ten most beautiful countries in the world, the Seychelles was undoubtedly a great place to live. If Chen Fan bought an island there, which he would then reform into a production company, it might very well be the best possible company working environment. According to official data, 17 islands were currently available for sale in the Seychelles, the largest of which was an oval-shaped island called Siluet. Siluet was six kilometers long and five kilometers wide. "That''s it!" Chen fan stared enthusiastically at the monitor. His expression looked as if he had found a purse full of cash by the roadside. The island was priced at $130 million, and another $7 million would be needed for the extradition of 21 of the island''s aboriginal inhabitants. Coming up with the money was no problem for Chen Fan, whose thoughts were only focused on the aerial photo on the screen. His eyes took in visions of the rich forest, the white snow-like beach and the two long-waved clear lakes on the island. How wonderful would it be, if its beauty was portrayed in an ink painting? With the UBS A-level customer card and dozen of dollars in pocket change, Chen Fan happily embarked on his journey to the Seychelles at 8 p.m. Traveling via the sea, Zhong Yun began his journey at exactly 5,000 nautical miles from the Seychelles. He was sailing in the Indian Ocean, and with electric eel''s current speed of 350 nautical miles per hour, it would take him a total of 14 hours to reach his destination. "Too slow, too slow!" Sitting in that luxury, unaccelerated submarine, Chen Fan was complaining. This journey would take a whole day, and time would be wasted. The Cloudracer was fast, but unfortunately, it was in another world at the moment. Thus, Chen Fan had no other transport option. Like a chum salmon, swimming in a rapid current, the electric eel, which was at a depth of 200 meters, was swimming at a speed that even the U.S. Navy would not have dared to imagine. The most amazing thing was that the electric eel was advancing so fast, the water around them seemed to have been frozen in time. There were no air bubbles being produced at all.The electric eel''s speed was currently as fast as 180 meters per second, which was even faster than a crossbow! At the same time, one could see that the eel was loitering and not doing its best. According to the ratio of the advancing speed of a fish, it was only doing aerobic exercise. This was because, for a 5,000-mile journey, if it were to sprint rapidly, it would be too exhausting! Departing in the evening, it reached its destination in the morning. When the thin and distant sky was lined with a pale red, the electric eel finally arrived in Victoria, which was the capital of the Seychelles. There, natural harbors could be found everywhere. Chen Fan did not have to worry about landing points at all, so he could go ashore at any random deserted corner. Moreover, in such a small country, which did not have an army, the eel was in no danger of being found. Climbing onto the land along the rocky and grotesque rocks, Chen Fan looked around. The palm trees, which were scattered all over the place, made him completely lose his sense of direction. Thus, he could only use GPS to identify the coordinates. The first thing Chen Fan had to do was to find a restaurant to fill his stomach. He would then need to find a Chinese-speaking translator to take him to the local resource management bureau, so that he could negotiate the island''s purchase. As for visas, the Seychelles adopted a very loose visa policy for foreigners upon arrival, which was virtually non-existent. They did not care where you came from, as long as you had plenty of money in your pocket. Of course, if you do not mind extra work, you can also go to the border inspector and stamp your passport with a seal of a sea coconut. Tourism accounted for 70% of the Seychelles'' gross domestic product. In fact, the country was specifically built for tourism. As such, Chen Fan was very comfortable, walking along the way. When he had finally passed through the dense palm trees, he found a local-style, thatched-roofed, wall-less building. Inside, there were numerous foreigners with blond hair and blue eyes, who were dining on brown wooden tables and chairs. Here, the price of vegetables was so high, even Chen Fan was secretly screaming. But, seafood products, such as lobsters, grouper, and tuna, were so cheap! During the meal, Chen Fan paid special attention to the crowd around him, observing that most of his fellow diners were young people, who were about the same age as him. Many of them were couples, and there were even five Asian faces among them. Chen Fan had come here with the electric eel, so there was no way to bring a translator. As such, he could only search for one locally. With his little knowledge of English and Creole, he was thinking that the smartest choice would be to find an Asian guide and translator. Two young Asian lovers, in their early twenties, were sitting across from him at that very moment. They were whispering and looking at each other adoringly. Chen Fan was listening to their voices, trying to find out if either of the pair was from the same country as him. The gorgeous girl immediately made an unwilling face, after answering her phone. She then muttered something to her male companion, pouting all the while. The slightly feminine man, who was sitting beside her, looked as cool as as a movie star, as he spread his hands and made a rather melancholy shrug. The male companion''s melancholy look, which was comparable to the male leading role of an idol drama, made this girl''s stare linger all of a sudden. With a few reluctant comments, she then turned her momentary affection into a kiss on the "male leading role''s" lips. This entire scene almost made Chen Fan throw up. If this man was tall and well-built, Chen Fan would be happy to see a real life version of such a movie scene. But, that man was feminine enough to put a woman''s dress on in to seduce another man! After he had been immersed in watching the two people for five whole minutes, the pair of lovers parted. The girl hurried out of the restaurant, and the man continued to wear the necessary sad look of the star in any idol drama. Chen Fan then went to the front desk to pay the bill. He was walking quickly, but the gloomy "actor''s" muttering still stopped him in his tracks. "Jingde Town?" He was pinching a cute bone china mug and repeating the chinese words in blue on it. "Slowly...becoming white...with you?" Chen Fan was overjoyed at first, but then was at a loss for whether to cry or laugh. What was written on the mug was "slowly getting old," not "slowly becoming white." Did this moron even graduate from elementary school? "Are you from Hong Kong and Macao?" Chen Fan asked, a little confused, as the word "old" was the same in both traditional and simplified chinese. "I am a citizen of the Republic of Korea!" Annoyed by Chen Fan''s rash and ignorant words regarding his nationality, the young man''s melancholy eyes then revealed a flash of anger. "A Korean?" Chen Fan said the words, but his brain did not respond for a moment. Then, after a few seconds, he asked, "Do you have some time now? I want to hire you to translate for me. If you''d be willing, please give me a ballpark figure for what you would charge." "You? Hire me for translation?" Yim Pak-Seon was silent at first, then said, "Ha ha, that''s the funniest joke I''ve heard this year! I''m a graduate student in history at the University of Seoul. You know, even the best universities in your country are far behind in rankings versus us." His tone of contempt and sarcasm was obvious, as he continued. "I''m a graduate student at an institution of higher learning, so who are you to hire me?" "You''re crazy." Chen Fan pouted and turned away. The Koreans had been rumored to be arrogant, but he never would have thought that he would meet one today! "What did you say?" Yim Pak-Seon raised his eyebrows and stood up, glaring at Chen Fan. "C-r-a-z-y!" Chen Fan turned his face and stared at Yim Pak-Seon in a rather defiant way. As Chen Fan was showing his well-defined muscles, Yim Pak-Seon, who wasn''t tall and weighed less than 120 pounds, dared not even speak. "You must apologize to me, since you are not qualified to evaluate Koreans!." "I think I am!" Chen Fan rebutted, then looked around with a poker face. He reached into his pocket to take out a few dozen bills, totaling around 50,000 dollars. "I''ll give you 50,000 dollars to hire you for an hour. Is that sufficient?" Being a certain nationality could give people a sense of superiority, but they could not change their existing characters. Yim Pak-Seon was obviously a greedy man, filled with many desires, and such an amount of bank notes would allow him to buy a BMW! The thought of such a windfall made him speechless for a moment. Then, juggling between dignity and money in his mind, he finally chose the latter. "You. You want to" Yim Pak-Seon''s face was changing from pale to red, as he stuttered. "Just follow me!" Chen Fan threw the promised U.S. dollars into his arms, like they were garbage, then marched toward the door with his head held high. Once he was out of the gate of the thatched house restaurant, Chen Fan raised his eyebrows. Then, he headed down a cobblestone path that ran across some palm trees to the left. Yim Pak-Seon followed him. "I just want to let you know in advance, I can only translate for you for three hours at most. My girlfriend went to the plant collection that was organized by the college, and she will come back soon," Yim Pak-Seon said, after catching up with Chen Fan. "Oh, your job can be done in five minutes!" Chen Fan felt that the location was adequately hidden, so he stopped and sneered at him. Yim Pak-Seon was confused, as he stood there waiting for Chen Fan''s words. "F**k your Koryo stick!" With a bang, Chen Fan lifted his foot and slammed on Yim Pak-Seon''s belly, the huge impact of which directly made him fly backwards. The look on Yim Pak-Seon''s face was one of pure shock! Chapter 266 Purchase Complete Violence was not a good thing, but it did the best job of soothing negative emotions. Yim Pak-Seon, who was kicked, then hit a palm tree after a few rolls, looked at Chen Fan with a fuzzy look in his eyes. Perhaps it was hard for him to understand that the young man, who had been still calm a moment ago, had turned into a completely different person, without warning. Three golden-haired foreigners approached them from a distance, holding digital cameras. They were snapping photos by the nearby palm and coconut trees. Hence, Chen Fan, who wanted to give his companion another two kicks, had to stop. He glared at Yim Pak-Seon before turning away. With his would-be translator gone, Chen Fan had to find another one. He walked to the street, taking three turns and asking several Asian tourists in a row, with no luck, before hiring a Malaysian, who could speak Chinese and English and Creole. This thin Malaysian looked like he was in his thirties. He could not speak Mandarin fluently, but he spoke Cantonese pretty well. He brought Chen Fan to the Local Resource Management Bureau of the Seychelles. The staff, as soon as they heard that he was going to buy the island, immediately put on their most welcoming smiles. Chen Fan could barely stand the intimate warmth of their attitudes. "Excuse me, how can the problem of water, electric, and telecommunication on this island be solved?" Chen Fan''s eyes flickered over the plastic models on the long table. The island of Siluet was 22 kilometers away from the main island and capital. As such, it was unrealistic for him to build a factory there all by himself. "Dear sir, submarine cables were set up on this island five years ago. There are two large lakes on this island, where the water quality is absolutely up to par regarding the drinking standard. Moreover, you only need to prepare a satellite internet device to enjoy the beautiful sunshine and the beach of the Seychelles." As he spoke, Bernadine, who was the head of the Bureau of resources, put on what he thought was the most appropriate smile to serve Chen Fan a cup of coffee. "Let me tell you some very interesting news. For Lake Island, which is 10 kilometers away from West Lute Island, we just signed a contract with a buyer yesterday. Guess who the buyer is?" "Obama!" Chen Fan replied immediately, without even turning his head. This was a stupid question. There were so many people in the world, so he obviously could not guess correctly, even if he guessed until his hair turned white! "It''s the royal princess, who is also known as being the jewel of Dubai," said Bernadine in a high-pitched voice. He continued, more excitedly. "She''s so beautiful. Her face is like a crescent moon in the dark. You can''t help but be attracted to her." "The royal family of Dubai is indeed very rich, but they are close to the sea themselves, so why do they need to come to you?" "Dear Sir, the climate in Dubai is terrible. Half of the time, it is very very hot, and it is also frequented by sandstorms. Can you imagine what threat such a harsh climate poses for travel?" Bernadine continued to disparage Dubai, comparing its climate with the climate of the Seychelles. "After all, what''s so great about Dubai except for its money? We have the most complete variety of tropical fruits, unique flowers, and exotic trees in the world. Dubai only has sand! What''s more, the living conditions here are way better!" "Can we go now to the Silhouette Island and see for ourselves?" Chen Fan requested, interrupting Bernadine''s endless bragging. "It would be my great honor to take you there, Sir. I will get a speedboat, so I can show you the whole island!" As soon as he said this, Bernadine picked up the phone on his desk. With a lean crew for economic efficiency, Bernadine took Chen Fan on foot through the tree-lined main street, then boarded a speedboat and headed to the Silhouette Island. It only took twenty minutes for a twenty-two kilometers journey! Floating in the blue sky and sea, the entire way there, all Chen Fan could do was look at the snow white beach, the rugged rocks, and the countless coconut trees. Even from hundreds of meters away, Chen Fan could still feel smell a pleasant and refreshing scent, wafting from the island itself. "Sir, there are now 21 aboriginal people on this island. Our government has already negotiated their relocation with them. Within seven days of your purchase, the this issue will be completely resolved." "What about the docks? Why aren''t there any docks here?" Chen Fan put his fingers together and looked for an arbor. Unfortunately, when he was looking around, he only saw the white sandy beach and green trees, not any modernities at all. "A kilometer to the left, there lies a deep-water quay with a shaggy cliff, which has a maximum capacity of 5,000 tons. In the middle of the island, there is also a large natural cave, which was once used as a base by Creole pirates, who were roaming the Indian Ocean. Then, in the 18th century, they were eliminated by the Royal Navy. Half of the aboriginal people here today are descendants of those pirates." "Very good, I think I''ve come the right place!" Chen Fan stood on the bow of the boat and looked forward with a smile. "Let''s go to the island and see if everything goes well. The sooner the handover is completed, the better!" "You...You are so" Bernadine, who was blushing, searched his mind for a long time, but did not find any words to describe Chen Fan''s opulence, much less his own inner excitement. He could only introduce Chen Fan to the customs and practices of the island. When the boat reached the shore, he even pulled a young Creole girl from a local family to serve as a guide, hoping to draw himself closer to Chen Fan. "Beware, the stones here are washed in by the tide year round. It''s like stepping on glass. Bernadine ran to take Chen Fan''s arm, like he was helping an old man across the street. Chen Fan cut him off, having no idea whether to laugh or cry at his strange behavior. The whole island felt like a mooncake, which had been made by highly abstract workmanship. In the middle of this mooncake, a knot could be seen, which was the highest peak of Silhouette Island, the 660 meter-high Mount Moon! Generally speaking, Silhouette Island was a very favorable site to transform into a weapons processing plant, and Chen Fan already had his eyes on the exact plot of land he would use for his future factory site. The site was located in the west, facing the sea on one side. The other three sides were surrounded by mountains of different heights, which could be hollowed out to build underground warehouses, or they could act as natural barriers. After a round trip around the island, when the sun had set and the blue sea was rendered a pure gold by the afterglow, Chen Fan swung his hand and led the translator and Bernadine back to the speedboat. The island had nothing that he saw to quibble about, so all he had to do now was pay $137 million to the Seychelles. The huge amount of money was equivalent to one-sixth of the annual average output value of the entire Seychelles nation! To handle such a large transaction, even the President of the Seychelles personally came, holding a glass of wine, while issuing one convenience policy after another to Chen Fan. From the payment to the final signature, everything was going so smoothly. The information registered on the document was Chen Fan''s passport in China. As for the authenticity of this thing and the file records, no one really cared. After all, the population of the Seychelles was still less than 20 times the population of a small county town in China! When all the documents were signed, Chen Fan scratched his head and walked up to the President, who was dressed in a casual summer suit. He quietly told him that he was going to build a large sports equipment factory, then asked him whether any special approval was needed for the documents. "No, No," the President assured him. When Alex Michelle heard that the rich man was coming to invest and set up a factory, she immediately thought of many words, such as "population employment,""increased taxation,""trade pulling," and so forth, before quickly agreeing to everything. Patting her chest with a confident posture, she said, "The weak industrial base has always been our shortcoming. Even the equipment for simple sporting goods, such as volleyball and kayaking, we have to buy from Yemen and Singapore. With you opening a sport equipment processing plant here, I guarantee that all of the relevant facilities'' procurement plans in this country will be handed over to you. As for taxation, yours will be duty-free for a maximum of two years." What a joke! If you could spend more than $100 million to buy an island to set up a factory, you would have to be the top dog in the industry, like Adidas or Nike! Alex Michelle was prepared to spread the good news to the whole country and all of the citizens, if Chen Fan was not in a rush. If she knew that Chen Fan was carrying the banner of making sports equipment, but in actuality, he was really preparing to produce weapons, she might not be able to laugh! The dinner and signing ceremony lasted until ten o''clock. Chen Fan, after a day on the run, bitterly rejected Alex''s kind invitation to stay longer, instead sneaking into the streets, then plunging himself into the dense palm trees. By the time he got back to Zhongyun City, it was two o''clock in the afternoon the next day. Chen Fan was so tired from the long journey, he could not even lift his hands and went to sleep immediately. After a long time of sleeping hazily, Chen Fan heard a sudden crisp sound. Slightly opening his eyes, Chen Fan got up and looked around a few times. He found that the source of the sound was the computer speakers. To be precise, it was the message ringtone from QQ! Zhang Xueyang sent a message to tell him that the Deputy Minister of Military Materials and Oils had returned to Tianhai, and asked him to go there as soon as possible. Rubbing his sleepy eyes, Chen Fan put on his coat and walked out of the stone tower. He then took the electric eel to the blue sea. He was ready to call Zhang Xueyang to see if he could get in touch with the whole carbon fiber production line. The island had already been bought, and their building the factory appeared to pose no technical difficulties, so they could go ahead and recruit the locals. As for the CNC machine tools, which were used to make the metal parts, they could be bought from Anhui or Shenyang. 266 Huai Yang Mansion "A carbon fiber material production line?" Zhang Xueyang gave his first reaction, upon listening to what Chen Fan had on his mind. Chen Fan started to toss around ideas again, saying that carbon fiber acts as an enhancing material, so it was seldom used alone, and also that it was usually mixed with other materials, according to specific scales. Hence, if they wanted to build anything that had the need of carbon fiber, they could just buy it all from the production factory, which specialized in producing carbon fiber, instead of acquiring an entire set of carbon fiber products from an outer source, because it could end up costing more than thirty million dollars annually! He told Chen Fan his thoughts about the plan, but Chen Fan turned him down with a tone like a bear. "Relax. Are you worried that I won''t be able to return your money? If we could get in touch with a supplier that offers a higher price for the carbon fiber, we''ll take that offer instead of the lower ones. Once you have obtained the price offered, report it to me, then I''ll transfer the payment to you." "Wait, why me?" The words stuck in Zhang Xueyang''s mouth, as he tried to speak. Even he knew that It was unreasonable to spend the money this kind of way, even if one was rich. After hanging up the phone, Chen Fan continued driving to the town, where he made an order for 50 HTC1608 dual-axis linkage CNC(Computer Numerical Control) machines, a few metal thermal processors, and a surface grinding machine. All of the machines were made by the top Shenyang machine production factory. These tools could be used to make the various parts of the crossbows, and some of them could be used to build guns, too. Of course, manufacturing modern guns nowadays was complex. These CNC machines would not be enough. Other machines would also be required, including twisting machines, pickling machines, chrome plating machines and even polishing equipment. The process of making a gun barrel was troublesome enough, so imagine manufacturing an entire gun! The ultimate plan to manufacture guns would be further discussed in the future, however. As for right now, they could start with the semi-automatic weapon, which has a lower technological requirement. Thus, they would put away worries about the advanced finishing process, focusing instead on whether the guns they would build could shoot bullets! Sustainability, precision, and stability were the factors that Argyll''s army would consider. On the other hand, even if Argyll''s army were given inferior weapons, which were made by earth workshops, they would still be considered as "divine weapons" to them! Before these trading ideas came into his head, Chen Fan had got nothing to do but enjoy his life. But now, he was too busy for that! He wished he could take the time machine away from Doraemon and use it for himself, then create more time to make his plans happen! Chen Fan took a glance at the time on his watch, realizing that he needed to go to Tian Hai City tomorrow, since the day after tomorrow was the day when Argyll would be bringing a shipload of gold and palladium to trade with him. What made things even worse was that there were still issues regarding the construction of the factory, the recruitment of employees, and other annoying things to be settled at the moment! Chen Fan and Zhang Xueyang started heading towards Tian Hai City in the Maybach at 8 o''clock in the morning. Upon entering Tian Hai City, the car went into the New Wu Ning of Pu Tuo District, which was the base camp of the Hua Dong district and Tian Hai Military Supply Department. Although they had arrived in Tian Hai City at 10:30 am, they took two hours to get to the Huai Yang Mansion, which was the restaurant where they were to have a meeting with the Deputy Minister of Supply and Oil Department. It was located two miles away from the Military Supply Department, as the meeting was being treated by the Deputy Minister as official, since he would be paying for the meal with public funds. People described the Huai Yang Mansion as a square peg in a round hole, as it was aesthetically incompatible with its surroundings. With the building''s heavy but antique looking eaves, and the small bridges and running creeks on its lawn, having a meal here felt decadent. Rosewood tables and chairs were placed under well-manicured willows. A total of eight willow trees, forming a circle, were scattered around an artificial pond. A few wooden chairs, a square table, and a pot of the finest green tea sat on top the table. Sitting near the pond was a middle-aged man, wearing a navy blue outdoor windproof jacket. He had a good figure and looked like a typical businessman, as he was gentle and polite. But, through his eyebrows, he exuded a rigid aura. Standing behind him was a young man, who was about twenty-five years old, with an upright waist and an extremely stiff expression. He looked like a soldier. "Zhou, please go to the door and see if Zhang Xueyang has arrived," said Tao Qing, while waving his hand to signal the young man standing behind him. Indeed, at the door were the Deputy Minister, the Colonel, and also the Disciplinary Inspection Committee Deputy Secretary of the Materials and Oils Department of the Tian Hai Military District. The Deputy Minister was quite close to the father of Zhang Xueyang. Every year during the ancestry worships or at relatives'' and friends'' gatherings, he would definitely join them. Regarding the palladium trades by his son, Zhang Xueyang, Tao Qing straight away accepted the deal without any doubts. By selling the metal to this military joint service personnel, the amount received would not be shabby. Although Zhang Xueyang wasn''t sure about the profit he would get in the conversation by phone, at least Tao Qing would think that at least seven or eight hundred pounds were ready! Seven to eight hundred pounds.That''s seventy to eighty million dollars! Due to the lack of palladium in the country, the Minister of the Military Joint Logistics Department, Major General Gu Peiguang, would definitely offer a bunch of compliments regarding it. Furthermore, this could also help in accessing alternatives in the business, and thereby getting rid of any excessive trouble, which would smooth out the business process. With a profit portion of seventy to eighty million, Tao Qing would definitely be quick to respond to the deal. One started to wonder if the booking was even made early yesterday in this little-known restaurant... "Yes, Sir!" Zhou, who was in a black suit, saluted, then walked towards the garden with a glance. Knowing they were to enjoy a meal in such a luxurious restaurant, our hero, Chen Fan, and Zhang Xueyang, had changed their clothes to blend in. After Zhou had only gone two steps forward, he got called back by Tao Qing, who had waved his hand. Zhou turned around and looked at Tao Qing, only then realizing the few young men, who were walking out from the antique door. Due to the distance, the appearance of those young men were unclear. However, most of the people who came there to eat were middle-aged and successful. They seemed to match the bill, so Zhou was trying to walk towards them to say hello, as he thought Zhang Xueyang had arrived. There were a total of three young men, each dressed luxuriously, their eyes shining with confidence and pride. Even their boots were making the tapping sounds on the cobblestone path, which could normally only be made on an exquisite marble floor. Tao Qing smiled and stood up, preparing to meet the nephew of his relatives! "Sir, I don''t think it is them." whispered Zhou, after looking at them with wide eyes for five seconds at least. Those who were qualified enough to dine with the General, were usually people with outstanding intelligences and eyesights. By looking at these young men, dressed in luxurious clothing, Zhou instantly realized that not one of them was Zhang Xueyang. "Ouh." Tao Qing mumbled, while returning to his chair. He then continued to enjoy the birds in the pond, while Zhou walked on towards the gate. "Hey, Fu, Hong Kong was not a fun place to visit. I brought my lady there for a shopping trip last week, but that place ended up providing only three days of straight rain and two days of typhoons! The wind was strong enough to blow people away!" The guy named Fu laughed, and replied in pure Mandarin. "Did you go to the entertainment club that I told you about?" "Duh, of course I did!" said the guy to his left. He spoke with a frivolous and lazy tone, as he turned around. "Heh, there were two black girls with big buttocks and chests there, too! The girl who did a hula dance even stunned my lady!" He had deliberately stressed the words "hula dance," as one with any social experience would definitely understand their true meaning! Tao Qing''s expression was wrinkled as he heard their conversation. The difference in their family backgrounds, as well as his time served in the conservative and reserved military, made him feel disgusted with the loose behavior of the three young men. "Hello Uncle Tao." A familiar voice entered his ears, interrupting his thoughts. Tao Qing was stunned for a moment, then stood up and smiled at Zhang Xueyang. "Did you come here by riding a snail?" "Not much better than a snail!" Zhang Xueyang smirked, then touched his head while pointing to Chen Fan. "This is the person that I''ve told you about before. This is Chen Fan, the one who does overseas trading. Even us rich folks in Zhong Yun are far behind him!" "Heh...Heh...this young man seems quite capable at doing business!" Tao Qing took out a pack of cigarettes, sizing Chen Fan up silently. "Hello, Uncle Tao" Chen Fan sat down with a sense of restraint. He said the words the same way a MC talked in ceremonies. He was a bit nervous, which was what generally happened when anyone addressed Tao Qing, as he was the General of his party. Also, due to the great generation gaps between him and Chen Fan, it was normal for the younger Chen Fan to feel a bit intimidated. "Zhou, go and tell the waiter to serve the food." Perhaps he was trying to prevent others from interrupting them, but, after giving orders to Zhou, Tao Qing spoke with a sense of uncertainty, "That friend of yours, the one standing behind you..He used to serve in the army for a while, am I right?" That "friend" he spoke of was the guy who stood behind Chen Fan, Wang Bing, who had a slovenly look about him. Regardless, an old soldier could easily recognize his own kind. For example, an old soldier would place their hand in a knife shape, instead of the casual and comfortable look we always see when they are standing still or walking. This was not because they were alert all the time, and able to take out the knife and act accordingly to the emergency, but was more because they had been trained for such a long time to have put these actions into their subconscious minds. As such, things like their standing positions, marching steps, and every way they carried themselves, were uniquely obvious, if one looked closely. "After two years of serving as an obligatory military service, I''ve spent more money to stay in for another three years!" said Wang Bing, while shrugging his shoulders. Tao Qing lit a cigarette. Wang Bing was trying to tell them some of his signature quotes, but, he swallowed them back before the words even reached his throat. Tao Qing scolded himself in his heart, for spending half a day to only talk nonsense with young idiots. Dealing with businessmen too frequently had made him overly-sensitive towards the art of the deal, much less small talk of any sort. He then straight away moved on to the main topic. Of course, this topic was regarding how much palladium Chen Fan could bring to the deal. For the price, he planned to follow the market''s current rate. Chapter 268 Let''s Talk Outside "Chen, May I ask how you obtained the palladium that you own? From what I know, 90% of the world''s current palladium production is controlled by the world''s largest mining company, De Beers. Besides an acquisition of two hundred million USD by the three British-American mining giants some years ago, I understand that it rarely supplies any mineral ore to private purchasers," Tao Qing hesitated for a while, before spilling his doubts. What some called the "Mineral War" had been increasingly intense. During that time, the government had almost ceased all mineral trade activity with South Africa. Both parties could not come to an agreement on issues regarding rare earth and minerals, and neither of them were willing to compromise. As such, Tao Chen had all the reasons in the world to doubt anyone, who knocked on his door and offered a large amount minerals, especially at times like this! However, his doubts did not mean lead him to immediately tie Chen Fan up and interrogate him about the source of these minerals roughly! Such things would only happen in medieval times or sadistic novels! Instead, Tao Qing merely wanted to ensure that his sources were solid and safe. In other words, he needed assurance that he could rely on this supply of mineral for the long-term. Knowing this, Chen Fan had come prepared. He proudly declared that he had come in contact with a mineral oligarch from Tanzania, due to his frequent trips to Africa for delivering petroleum. Currently, this oligarch was preparing to involve himself in the military arms production business. However, the local technology was still lagging far behind the rest, so there was no suitable machinery to support his production, thus making it extremely costly to use Euro-American products. In light of this issue, Chen Fan offered to help him purchase the machinery, and even granted him a generous loan! As a sign of gratitude, he promised a great amount of metal Palladium to Chen Fan, selling it to him at a much lower price than the usual market rate. Tao Qing was more than delighted to hear this news from Chen Fan. Although Tanzania itself did not produce Palladium, the relationship between Tanzania and South Africa was as close as brothers would be! Not only were they heavily invested in by South African businessmen, but many South African businessmen also held majority shares of its national airport. As such, if a local mining business wished to get its hand on some South African Palladium, it would be as easy as China getting some local specialties from Pakistan! Tao Qing did not even bother to ask for any further details, but grinned from ear to ear as he ordered Zhou to open a bottle and fill up everyone''s wine glasses! As one working in a position of leadership in the military, he often came across special offers of rare items. The two bottles of Mao Tai that Zhou took out from under the table were one of those special offerings. If there was any awkwardness in the air from before, it had now been completely wiped clean away, especially as the aromatic wine flowed smoothly down their throats. Tao Qing took two sips of wine, then said to Chen Fan, " Brother Chen, as for strategic materials like these minerals, you can just go ahead and get as much as you can. I will arrange for my men from the material reservation department at the dock to collect it from you when it arrives. And, the best part is, you will receive the payment within that same day!" "Oh yes, before I forget," Tao Qing added, trying his best to sound casual, "could you give me an estimate of the quantity, so that the material reservation department can make the necessary preparations?" Chen Fan did not answer him immediately, but remained silent for a long while, toying with his wine glass. "What about five hundred kilos?" Tao Qing kept flicking the cigarette, nervously sitting at the edge of his chair, as if awaiting a verdict from a judge. "Well.well" Chen Fan scratched his head. "I believe we can raise our trade unit to tons." "Tons!?" Tao Qing stared back, looking confused. "I don''t understand." Zhou, the guard who stood at the side, was the first one to come to an enlightened realization of the meaning of Chen Fan''s words. He started to tremble, then said, "Chair...Chairman" Wham! A chair fell on the ground loudly, interrupting Xiao Chou. Tao Qing sprung up from his seat violently, shouting, "You are saying that you have a ton?" His excited voice startled the people around the table. Everyone stared at Tao Qing as if he was a lunatic. "Is it...Is it true? A ton?" Tao Qing''s senses were overwhelmed with joy. He couldn''t even be bothered by the eyes staring at him, as he grabbed Chen Fan by his shoulders and shook him violently. "Yes...yes!" Chen Fan felt worse than a spy blowing his cover, hoping he wouldn''t get himself killed for divulging this information. "Chen, are you certain that you can get your hands on a ton of Palladium?" Tao Qing took a deep breath, telling himself to keep calm. After Chen Fan nodded, Tao Qing trembled a little more, then said, "Did you know? If a ton of Palladium were sold to the military material reserve, it would mean that, for the next two months, the naval troops would not have to struggle to fight for that little amount of Palladium that is available in the market for civil commercial technology. Parts manufacturers within Tian Hai city could also rid themselves of the worry regarding the lack of palladium!" "I am just an ordinary opportunistic business person, and even if it were not for the good of the Palladium market within our country, I would still do the same for my own profit! Rest your mind, as I will put in all I have to ensure that this amount be delivered!" Chen Fan exhaled heavily, his focus returning to the dining table. Tao Qing could not be bothered with any more formalities at this point. He decided that he would exchange his money for Chan Fan''s efforts, mutually benefiting the both of them. "Alright then!" Tao Qing gave Chen Fan a good pat on his back, then raised his voice to get the attention of the pretty waitresses around. "Get us a few more large wine glasses!" "Peasants," one of the diners around them muttered in disdain. "Ah Jie, peasants don''t dine here!" Fu Lu Long chuckled." You see that young man sitting over there? His Hermes jacket costs more than your rent payment!" The person speaking right now was one of the few that had walked passed Tao Qing just a while ago. "Si Shu, aren''t you just an old fart? Do you even know anything about that young chap right there?" Ah Jie asked curiously. "Why would I need to? After all, who cares about rascals?" "Hold on!" Fu Lu Long suddenly put down his chopsticks, starting to study Chen Fan. The face slowly matched up to a certain memory in his head, and the more he looked at Chen Fan, the more he felt a surge of anger rising within him. "I know that kid!" Fu Lu Long slammed the table angrily. "Last time I saw him, he had slipped away from a Zhong Yun airport, and then I saw him again in the hotel! Nothing good happens when I meet him! I can''t believe I''m bumping into him here again!" "This kid crossed you?" Si Shu stood up abruptly, asking. He reached into his pocket and felt for his mobile phone, without even waiting for an answer. "I will handle this for you!" "Hold your horses," Fu Lu Long said, as he grabbed Si Shu by his arm. He made a signal to him, while eyeing Wang Bin, who stood behind them. "That bodyguard behind him looks pretty tough!" "Here in Tian Hai, what fear could that guy bring? It would be a meaningless struggle for him, even if he was the Hulk!" Si Shu said harshly, as he licked the alcohol from the corner of his mouth. On Fu Lu Long''s side, one could almost smell the explosion that was about to happen. While on Chen Fan''s side, the air was filled only with cigarette smoke and the stench of alcohol. Tao Qing, who had just discovered his own golden goose, was getting himself drunk, yet still raising his glass and cheering everyone on, asking for more drinks. As opposed to Tao Qing, who just had laid his heart open and bare, Chen Fan and Zhang Xueyang happened to be a little more slick and secretive. After their third glass of spirits, they started to play tricks on their own glasses. As such, their half-filled glasses did not seem to ever reduce their amounts, even after they took several sips. "Chairman, we still have another meeting later this afternoon, so how about we slow down on the drinks?" Zhou glanced at his watch, concerned. "Hmm..." Tao Qing burped mumbled, then burped loudly. "I got this. This isn''t going to delay our meeting. Come, Xiao Chen, Xueyang, we have to continue drinking!" Wanting to end this meal, Zhang Xueyang became like a naggy old woman, as he tried to persuade Tao Qing to put down his wine glass. While he did this, he also was trying to signal Zhou, in order to remind him how important the meeting would be. "I am so glad today! Xiao Chen, you must be my lucky star!" Tao Qing stood up, babbling. He was still grabbing Chen Fan by his arm as he spoke. At that moment, Si Shu walked over, his arms crossed at his waist. He came in arrogantly. "Who are you?" Zhou stepped up, his face serious and challenging. "I am Si Shu!" Si Shu extended his right arm, smiling from ear to ear. "I have a little something to discuss with you all. Shall we take this outside or settle it right here?" Chen Fan, Wang Bin, Zhang Xueyang, Zhou and the rest''s faces became more and more green as the moments passed. Everyone wanted to tear this annoying nuisance into pieces. "Kiddo, did your parents not teach you how to talk politely?" Zhang Xueyang''s blood was boiling, as he was trying to resist the urge to roll up his sleeves and punch this guy! "Alright, let''s take this outside, shall we?" Chen Fan let out a small chuckle, despite his anger, then escorted this nuisance out of the door with the others. The angry few were caught by surprise, as then they came face to face with a gang of big muscular men at the doorstep, who were waiting for and staring down at them. Chen Fan took a quick glance, seeing that the gang consisted of roughly five or six men. Although they were dressed in decent attire and did not hold any weapons, Chen Fan still sensed an aura of intense danger about them. Such a menacing vibe didn''t exist around normal civilians! Chapter 269 You Can''t Run from Me! The men aligned themselves into a fan formation, as they saw Si Shu approaching them with a gunny sack. They rolled up their sleeves, as if they were ready to pull something out from their waists at anytime. "Kiddo, why don''t you tell us what your problem is. I don''t really fancy sending people to the emergency room for no reason." Chen Fan gave Si Shu a serious pat on his shoulder. Si Shu outnumbered them in muscle, but Chen Fan''s current tone sounded like a parent educating a naughty child. "Haha, that''s sounds like a great suggestion. I will remember to call 911 for you guys later!" Si Shu swept Chen Fan''s hand off of his shoulder, then signaled for him to look at the person behind his back. "Remember me?" Fu Lu Long emerged between two of the big men, a smirk on his face. "Who would have thought that we would meet again. What a coincidence!" "Who are you?" Chen Fan gave Fu Lu Long a confused stare. "Haha... We met once in the Zhong Yun airport. I believe you must have some sort of recollection?" "Oh, it''s you!" Chen Fan finally remembered. He chuckled as he looked around. "Can''t you have more confidence in yourself? All of these clowns you have following you around, all so you can feel safe?" "Da*n you!" One of the bald men stormed up angrily, pulling out a grey dagger that was engraved with chrysanthemum flowers from his belt. "I could dig this into your lungs right now, and you will be struggling to breathe for the rest of your life!" They were fearless, even when pulling out weapons under the bright daylight, and in such a busy town street! These types of people were always either out of their minds or fearless scoundrels! The way they stared, as well as their well-practiced gestures, seemed to indicate that they were the latter. Two giggling girls with pink bags passed by, cheerfully chattering away. The moment they saw the gang of men, it was as if they had been cursed with fearful spirits by an evil wizard. They stared blankly in terror, then idled for five seconds before hastily screaming and running away. Chen Fan frowned a little, hardly believing that he had somehow gotten himself associated with these fools. "What a courageous kid, eh?" Tao Qing flipped his neck to both sides, his hand gesture signaling Wang Bin to hold his horses. His breath reeked of alcohol, as he blabbered, "I got good lungs, just waiting for you to stab. You''re going to regret it, if you don''t do it today!" "Old man, you seem to have gotten yourself some cheap imitation booze on the table just now! You talk like you have a pool of methanol up in your skull!" Si Shu grinned, as he insulted Tao Qing. Tao Qing''s eyes widened, his face flushing red with anger. Now, what were the lyrics in the military tune that they always sung? We all must abide the three main disciplinary rules! We always keep the eight awarenesses in your head! Firstly, we will speak with manners! Respect the people, and do not be arrogant! Of course, Tao Qing would never be bothered to care about such honorable traditions as the three main discipline rules and the eight awarenesses. It was really too bad that this wonderful day had turned so sour, thanks to these rascals! It just got his blood boiling by thinking about it. On top of that, these rascals had even come after Chen Fan! "Alright alright. Uncle Tao, please don''t get all flustered." Zhang Xue Yang said. It was unclear whether he was trying to cool down the tension or was hatching some sort of sneaky plan. "Hey, let''s take this discussion to the alley, shall we? I am pretty sure we can talk this all out there." Everyone seem to agree with his suggestion. Wang Bin sped up his steps, rushing to the alley, as if some beautiful lady was waiting for him there. Naturally, this gang of angry looking muscle men would not be heading to an alley to preach the virtue of love and peace. So, when two old men, who were enjoying their chinese chess game in the alley, spotted them approaching, they hurried into the shop nearby. A young lady, riding an electronic bike, who was on her way out of the shops, then found herself having to go through the narrow alley, which was now congested by the group of big men. She gulped and swallowed hard. "Excuse me, please make way," she politely requested, leaning her body as close to the wall as she could, anxiously allowing them to pass beside her. "AH!" As one of those rascals gave her butt a hard pinch, she let out a yelp. The jerk only chuckled loudly after that. Soon, his laughter came to an abrupt stop, as a few of the five men, who he had thought of as being mere softie marshmallows before, let out sinister laughs that sent chills down his spine. Although they kept silent, their facial expressions shouted, "You are so dead!" "Kill them!" Si Shu suddenly said, breaking the silence. He then lit a cigarette, looked up to the sky, then leaned back against the peeling red brick wall. He then moved his gaze from the sky to eye level. Immediately, his cigarette fell to the ground from his gaping mouth. A shiny black pistol had suddenly appeared in his sight. The man holding the pistol was Zhou, who had remained silent all this while! "Oh! A 92 Pistol!" Si Shu had had some experience in a militarized civilian shooting range, thanks to his contacts. So, his eyes were wide open in shock, as he recognized that such a weapon meant serious business! This kind of pistol was from the first batch of stationary forces from the year 1997. Very few were manufactured of its kind. "You...You think you can scare us with a pistol, huh?" a big man said weakly, as he hid himself behind Si Shu. He wasn''t foolish enough to believe that the pistol was fake, but he also didn''t believe that the other person would actually fire a bullet. Of course, this was under the assumption that all of them could cooperate... Six of these big muscular jokers lost their bearings, standing idly like logs of wood. It''s one thing to be brave and put up a fight, but it is another matter entirely to seek out death! "This gun isn''t for show, kiddos!" Tao Qing snorted. "Be patient! We will take you somewhere fun, I promise! And, it will be something you''ll never forget!" "Do you know who my father is?" Sweat started to drip down Si Shu''s forehead. Tao Qing couldn''t be bothered with this fool. He pulled out a cell phone from his pocket, instructing his subordinates to make their ways there. "Kiddo, is that fear that I smell coming from you?" Wang Bin walked forward and straightened Si Shu''s collar teasingly. "Don''t be scared! We ain''t the bad guys." Si Shu, A Jie, and even Fu Lu Long regretted everything badly now. They were cursing themselves for finding trouble with the wrong guys. What if this costs our lives? They could see now that, if they were to be taken away by them, they would have to suffer badly, if they even made it out alive! "God, where are the police when we need them?" Si Shu even started to miss the police officers now! Time was ticking, but the pistol did not move an inch, as it was kept pointing straight at them. Zhou moved its angle a little, bringing it closer to himself, then covering the pistol with his jacket. Beepboo! Beepboo! Beepboo! A police siren screamed in the distance, its echo falling like a training weight amid the group of people. It was then followed by an ear-piercing screech of a halting tire and a loud bang of a closing car door. "Did someone call the police?" Tao Qing looked around. Zhou calmly placed his pistol back into his jacket. The men were still trembling from being held at gunpoint, and were left feeling uneasy about the whole experience. Si Shu and his gang were relieved. They had wanted to call the police early on, and now that they have arrived, it meant that they could finally escape this situation. "Shoot! Who called the cops?" The bald man was almost crying. Getting caught by the police could be a hundred times worse than being taken away by these guys! His involvement in robbery and physical assaults alone would buy him at least ten years behind bars! Three sedans with ''POLICE'' slapped on the car doors stopped in front of the alley. All of a sudden, pedestrians became blood thirsty sharks, swarming around the group of men, while chattering and pointing fingers. "Police, finally!" The old man, who had been playing chess just now, dashed out of the crowd, pointing towards the alley as he spoke, as if to collect some kind of badge of honor. "In there! In there! These people went in there, and I have not seen them come out yet. This is a dead end, so they are surely still inside!" "You said that you saw them carrying daggers. Can you confirm that?" A uniformed lady cop, who was wearing a badge on her shoulder, walked up to him. No one could miss her beautiful face under that round-tipped police hat. "I''m positive, ma''am. They were holding a foot-long dagger." The old man swallowed hardly, afraid his own eyes might betray his filthy thoughts about the pretty cop and get himself in trouble. He lowered his gaze, but was immediately caught off guard by the curves of her beautiful legs that even the uniform couldn''t hide. "Captain Zhang, please wait in the vehicle. I will go in and bring those guys out," a square-faced officer volunteered. He pulled out a pistol from his strap as he spoke, waiting to receive the order from her. "Haha, I wonder what are the possibilities that you might be a fugitive?" Wang Bin brutally teased the bald man, who gradually sank into his own anxiety. "So, what if I am?" The bald man tried his best to control his fear, but the bullets of sweat on his forehead kept falling down his face. "Run! What are you waiting for?" His companions were ready to escape. "Run?" Wang Bin stared fiercely ahead of him. "It is every citizen''s responsibility to maintain the security of the society. None of you are getting away!" But, the fact was...Chen Fan wanted to run, too! Chapter 270 Designing the Production Base The case of Chen Fan''s assault on a police officer had yet to be settled, and moreover, this was not within the area of Zhongyun. Hence, it was likely that his identity would be a major issue, should he be brought to the police station. "It''s OK!" Tao Qing gave him a "don''t worry" look. Zhang Xueyang has already told Tao Qing about Chen Fan''s situation. By looking at the hesitation reflected in Chen Fan''s face, Tao Qing clearly understood the thing he was worrying about. "Excuse me, Mr. Si!" The bald guy clasped his fist in front of him. The bald guy had already leapt up the red brick wall, as agile as a wild cat, before Si Shu had time to react. The bald guy looked happy. On the other side of the wall, there was a huge parking lot, filled with luxury vehicles. By hopping off the wall, he could steal one of them and escape from the police quite easily. Planning to save as much energy as possible, the bald guy locked his sights on a black Mercedes Maybach Pullman. Its curved hood would fully absorb the landing force of his feet! Decided that this was a good plan, the bald guy made his leap. However, before he even completely left the wall, his neckline suddenly tightened up, causing him to fall backwards. This sudden pulling force was Wang Bing, who had grabbed him. The bald man felt as if he were being pulled by a bull! His body was pulled into a bow shape, left hanging on the wall horizontally. As soon as Wang Bing leapt to grab the bald guy''s neckline, the bald guy''s pals had rushed towards him. A huge shadow suddenly appeared. Its raised feet hung over the people, then it slammed to the ground. Bang! Bang! One of the bald guy''s partners got knocked down. Zhou then waved his fist with the speed of lightning, showing off his martial arts skills in front of Si Shu and his people. "Freeze!" A dignified warning suddenly rang out. Chen Fan leaned forward and saw five police officers in dark blue uniforms coming from out of nowhere. Three of the officers were holding telescopic sticks, and the other two had pistols, which they were pointing in their direction! "Police officers! You guys came!" said Si Shu, who was terrified by the violent fighting scene. He ran towards the police officers, looking like a lost child who had just been found by his family. He then pointed to Chen Fan and his pals, trying to flip the truth upside down. "They...They are the criminals! They threatened us with guns, just because we had a quarrel in the restaurant! You have to put them in jail!" he said. Fu Lu Long passed them a gold-foiled name card with a slightly pale face. The title of "Hong Kong and Taiwan cross-country investor" written on the card quickly convinced the police to lower their guns down and start to take this case seriously. The rest of the followers lay on the ground trembling, their cold sweats dropping down from their foreheads and their twitching adam''s apples reflecting their fears. Tao Qing spread his hands out, telling them to calm down, as he slowly took out a red notebook from this pocket. A golden People''s Liberation Army badge then caught everyone''s attention. Five of the police officers immediately dropped their weapons, politely taking the notebook to check its authenticity. There are two kinds of military identity cards. One has a dark green cover and is a soldier''s card, while the other one has a red cover and is a military officer''s card! . Those who owned a red notebook were at least at the position of platoon leader or higher. With such a position, the police officers had to treat him well! "Sorry for bringing trouble to you guys!" Tao Qing started the conversation with courteous words, then went on to explain the incident, adding some spice to it. Moreover, he even pointed out the few people that he claimed could probably be wanted fugitives. The few of them realized that they could not escape from these experienced officers. Therefore, they immediately pulled out six blades from their backs. Shrushh. The five police officers took out the handcuffs from behind their backs in response. One of them instantly got smashed in the chest by the police officer with the telescopic stick. "You, you, and you! Identity cards, please!" "Officers! It was just a misunderstanding!" Fu Lu Long and Si Shu quickly took out their identity cards, as they realized how serious this incident really was. However, their identity cards were not as useful as Tao Qing''s red notebook had been. Fu Lu Long''s passport didn''t rate any reverence, or even a smiling face, from the officer. Chen Fan was asked to show the relevant documents as well, but Tao Qing whispered to them with a soft cough, "These people were my colleagues. Their nature of work is special, and therefore, their identity information is classified." Chen Fan suddenly drew a blank in his head. He quickly straightened his body to show a cool and calm look, as soon as he understood what Tao Qing''s idea was to escape from this problem. The five police officers did not raise any doubt towards them, as they could feel the shrewdness within Chen Fan and Wang Bing. These two men were obviously not normal citizens. "Understood, understood.." The police officers did not ask any more questions. After all, they all worked for the government. Therefore, there was no reason to identify the background of their own kind. Furthermore, it was not their responsibility to check their background, as that task was supposed to be the shore patrol''s job. "Zhou, please accompany the officers to the police station to make a statement." Tao Qing patted his shoulder. "We still have stuff to deal with here." "Take care!" The police officers smiled, then said goodbye. It was an unexpected act for them to send their guy to make a statement in the police station, as all of the military guys they had dealt with in the past were arrogant, which tended to irk them! Chen Fan took a relieved breath, calming himself down such a terrifying experience. He walked towards the entrance of the ally, whistling. As he was taking out his car key and bidding farewell to Tao Qing, he was suddenly stunned and stopped. Three police officers had surrounded the harbor in a fan-shape. The first thing that came into his mind was that they were searching for criminals that had escaped from the net. As it turned out, it was actually nothing to be worried about. The officers in the harbor had already reported to them about the situation using their walkie-talkies. Therefore, the three police officers did not make any moves when Chen Fan and his friends were walking out. Instead, they simply nodded and smiled to them. Zhang Bingbing looked at Chen Fan in disbelief. Although they had run into each other only once in the past, Zhang Bingbing could still recognize him easily. Her cheeks immediately flushed red! Zhang Bingbing was excited. However, Chen Fan felt a sudden awkwardness, and he did not know what to do about it. What happened the night that they first met was like a movie, replaying in his mind. Is this what they call destiny? "Are you crazy?" Zhang Xueyang shook him a few times to bring him back from his daydream. "We have to go now. Do you want them to take you to the police station?" "Alright ...alright!" Chen Fan slightly turned his head, pretending he hadn''t seen anything...or anyone. But, deep in his mind, he felt conflicted. An officer wearing glasses walked towards Zhang Xueyang and gave her a nudge. He asked, "Are you alright, Miss Zhang? Those men over there were not even handsome at all, but you lost your soul looking at them, like a fan who just saw her Hollywood idol!" "What did you learn from the investigation and interrogation training class?" said his partner, while rolling his eyes. "Have you not seen the young man in the middle? His face showed an unnatural look, which reflected that there was a huge fluctuation. And, by looking at her expression, you could have easily figured out what she was thinking, right?" Miss Zhang looked calm. However, she was angry deep inside. Yet, there was nothing that she could do. Back at the parking lot, Chen Fan declined the invitation from Tao Qing. He then ordered Wang Bing to bring him the car. Once it arrived, he went straight home. Zhang Xueyang did not go with him, but went to Tao Qing''s house for a visit with some gifts instead. "Wang Bing! I''ll give you a mission." Chen Fan said, as the vehicle turned on to the freeway. "What kind of mission, boss?" "Go to Cangzhou in the Hebei Province. There, you will find a factory named Aobo, which produces sports equipment. Order 10,000 of the bows with the greatest tension. If they ask about what you will use them for, tell them that they are to be exported to Tanzania." "Crossbows?" Wang Bing scratched his head. "Boss, what are you going to do with so many crossbows? Those things could be bought anywhere overseas, so we couldn''t earn much if we exported them!" "I''m going to deliver them to a tribe in Africa, giving the natives some weapons, so that they can take over the government." "Boss, the natives nowadays are using AK47s already. You will be badly beaten, if you only have crossbows!" "This is an order! With all of the wisdom that I have, do you think that you could possibly know better than me?" Chen Fan took two bottles from the cold storage on his right and threw Wang Bing one of them. "Start doing it as soon as you send me back." Seconds, then minutes trickled away. The speed of the Maybach was greatly limited by the crowded traffic. It had taken two hours just to reach the freeway. Chen Fan let out a huge sigh, as he looked outside the window. This was the same route that he had used to ride with Zhang Bingbing last time. It was already five o''clock in the evening by the time they reached Zhongyun. Chen Fan asked Wang Bing to drive him to the town, then had him drop him off at an architectural design company. After leaving Wang Bing, Chen Fan walked into this company, which was called Xiyun Construction Design and Planning Company, and asked them to make a design for his factory base in the Seychelles. After all, when one was building one''s own factory, a complete design plan was a must. Being such a small country, with very limited resources, the Seychelles couldn''t fulfill Chen Fan''s expectations. Therefore, he had decided to have the design by this firm, and then only hire the local people in the Seychelles to proceed with the construction. "Building a factory in an overseas country? You would need to send a specialized technician to do the measurements of the land itself. We can only proceed in designing the factory if we first have the geological information and adequate images!" said the receptionist, after hearing Chen Fan''s plan. He then smiled, as he passed Chen Fan a freshly served hot tea. "Alright. In that case, I''ll get my people to send the proper information to you. I will need you to include a complete set of living facilities in the design mockup. Most importantly, I want my building to be the most sturdy in all of the Seychelles!" Chen Fan did not want them to go to his island, as he was trying to build a private base for himself alone. The less people know about this endeavor, the better! Chapter 271 Construction with a Ridiculous Budget "Hello. You would need to provide us with the total available surface area of the land and the outline of the local soil composition. However, I do suggest that you hire someone to do a mapping figure of the land, using a ratio of 1 to 1,000. You will then need to make an inquiry with the local Geological Bureau, to evaluate the meteorological data that is specific to the land," explained the receptionist. "Woah.Wait!" said Chen Fan, who suffered from information overload upon listening to the words the receptionist had just said. "All I need to know is the type of measurements that are required in a form format, and I need them to be translated in both Chinese and English!" "Alright, Sir!" The receptionist replied, as he smiled and walked to the computer. He then opened the document and skillfully edited the content. After waiting for half an hour on the sofa, Chen Fan finally received the document that he needed, with an electronic file inserted into a USB attached to it. Chen Fan soon realized the disadvantage of his never having learned English. Even if he wanted to make a call to the Seychelles Resource Management Bureau, he would not be able to communicate with them in Chinese. Therefore, Chen Fan ran all the way to the port and found a small-scale commercial foreign language translation company to handle this issue, paying a few hundred bucks for an hour of translation services. The Seychelles were four hours behind Beijing. The Chief of the Resource Management Bureau, Bernardine, had just arrived to work when Chen Fan contacted him. After receiving the call from such a great financier, Bernardine quickly responded to Chen Fan''s request. Upon having a clear understanding of what Chen Fan wanted, he patted his chest, then promised to complete the task within two hours. Early the next morning, while there was still a scent of dew in the air, Chen Fan was already on the street walking toward the Urban Design company, while sniffing the fresh air. "I''ve brought the map! Now, you need to find someone to start the design," said Chen Fan to the receptionist, while waving the USB in his hand. "Wow! That was fast" The receptionist took a long time to reply to him. "I''ll get the architect to come now." A few moments after the receptionist left, a set of heavy footsteps were heard, followed by a forty-year-old gentleman with whiskers, who appeared in front of Chen Fan. He was wearing a green camouflage uniform and military boots. Just by looking at the man, who was dressed like a guerilla fighter, people would believe that he was an experienced leader of a veteran hiking team. He should be leading a group of young men to go rock climbing in the forest, instead of designing buildings! "Greetings, Mr. Chen Fan!" said the man, smiling. "I am the Chief designer here. You can call me Mr. Chai. May I ask what kind of factory base you are planning to build here? Feel free to tell me about your ideas. I''ll reflect them on paper as best as I can then." "Heh.I thought you had brought the army, or the armed police! Mr. Chai, your outfit today is extremely stylish!" chuckled Chen Fan. "Upon graduating from the Beijing Institute of Civil Engineering and Architecture in 1994, I was chosen to become a construction soldier in the army, during the recruitment drive of the engineering troop. After switching courses, I went from working in the North to the South, which was what inspired to use this kind of architectural style," said Mr. Chai in a witty tone, as he took out his glasses case from his pocket and sat in front of a computer. Chen Fan began explaining his ideas. "According to my expectations, I would like to have three sides of golden vase lotus surface, all of which are very pleasing to the eye, fully functional, and solid. For the small power plants, sewage purification tanks, water filtration sites, and wide underground activity areas, feel free to include them in the design as well. In addition, I will need a wall that people can walk on." Mr Chai, who Chen Fan decided to secretly call "Big Beardy," was about to collapse upon listening to what Chen Fan had just requested. This guy seemed to be the kind of people who spent without knowing the price of items, even if they were very expensive! If he were to do exactly what Chen Fan had just said, the costs would reach above fifty million US dollars, and that would only cover building the wall around the factory, not to mention a guardhouse, or building a wall as a barrier between them and Israel!" Thinking about all of these things, Big Beardy showed a sense of fear in his eyes. Seeing this, Chen Fan spoke with a cool tone. "Just do what you think is the best. Please just make sure to pick concrete that adheres to the exact specifications. Also, be sure to pick reinforced steel." Big Beardy quickly realized that he had been wrong. Chen Fan wasn''t trying to build a guardhouse or a border barrier. What he meant to do was to build a water conservancy project, like the one at Xiao Lang Di. "No! Mr. Chen Fan, is this design proposal yours or your father''s? Or is it." Big Beardy wiped his sweat and spoke sincerely. "The standards mentioned in the proposal are much higher than the general military facilities''! Such high standards are absolutely unnecessary!" What he really wanted to say was, "Little boy, if I were to do exactly as your proposal entails, your father would definitely peel your skin off, should he find out!""What exactly are you worried about? It''s not like you are the one who''s paying for it." Chen Fan was annoyed by Big Beardy''s scolding words. "Heh It is indeed as you said," Big Beardy smiled and said. "Don''t worry, I am used to designing military buildings. I promise to build a strong and solid factory base for you." So, Big Beardy agreed after all, because who would go against money?! Even if Chen Fan wanted to use titanium alloy as the shell, Big Beardy determined that he would do it right away, as he only in charge of designing, not building, the factory. "Now, that''s more like it!" Chen Fan smiled, satisfied of his coercion powers. "Oh ya, I''ve also mentioned in the paper that the terrain marked is surrounded by mountains. If I wanted to build an activity space, with the surface area of two football fields in the mountains, what do you think?" "It might be a waste of money," Big Beardy confirmed, while looking him in the eye. "After all, there are factors to consider before drilling a cave. We would have to look at the structure of the rocks. Basalt and Granite are the most difficult rocks to excavate, while Glutenite is easy. According to the data, the composition of the rocks is Andesite, which is similar to the rock structure of the Mount Andes." Big Beardy continued his assessment. "Assuming that you want to slot out the large area as mentioned, we would have to split it into a few spaces, with a rock in the middle, which would act as a pillar. Then we could start the drilling work. It takes five years for one rock-drilling truck to do the job, three years for two trucks, and so on." He then summarized his opinion for Chen Fan, pronouncing that, "The technical difficulty is not the real issue. The key is that the rental cost of the rock-drilling truck is so expensive, costing 1.5 million US dollars annually! So, you couldn''t possibly make it work for any less than 100 million dollars!" "I was just asking!" Chen Fan laughed and said. "Go ahead and complete the design as soon as possible." 267 A Leisurely Life My name is Chen Fan. The name Chen Fan itself carries a connotation of one who is living a simple life. However, mine was not... The Seychelles was a beautiful but poor country. Chen Fan knew for a fact that the total wealth of this tiny little country was even less than a third of his own personal net worth. The purpose of his acquiring the island was to build an overseas production base. Once it was done, Chen Fan planned to expand his business, using this overseas production base as a branch. That wonderful world could be the amusement park for his eel avatar! After all, there were countless magical creatures already living there. Chen Fan had decided to cultivate his eel for that avatar, so that it could become the ultimate existence in the world! And, of course, there were still intelligent creatures in existence, which held the ability to cast magic spells. Hence, there was still a long way to go, if the eel avatar wanted to become No.1! Chen Fan, however, felt excited about all of these challenges that lay ahead of him. After all, men were born with dreams and the abilities to conquer the world, but most of them were too busy doing nothing! They spent all of their capabilities and time chasing women, which only ended in vain frustration! Such frivolousness left no time to think of world domination! Chen Fan, on the other hand, was different. He was so wealthy, he could just throw away his Maybach 62S in the blink of an eye, not to mention his being able to buy an island! Such s lifestyle was definitely enviable. What made things even worse was Chen Fan''s eel avatar. The eel was so strong, even an aircraft carrier would tremble before it! In fact, the strength of the eel was too powerful to be described. Moreover, this eel could not only be used as a weapon, but it could also help them to earn more money. Just now, Chen Fan was preparing to make the eel the defender of this island that he had just bought! He began thinking of his plans, mulling them over in his mind.. Of course, I will need to build a base for myself in the other world... On the earth side, I''ll keep the money rolling in, so that I can acquire a bigger private jet! After all, men can''t do anything without money. Therefore, with ample money, comes a better life. So, I will go ahead and buy whichever island I want! And, if buying one island isn''t enough, I''ll make it ten or twenty, till my islands can surround the Earth''s equator!