Chapter 180: The Smuggling Ship

“Credibility? You have to know that you have no credibility with the pirates—why should these people believe you?”

“I’ll focus on winning over Shi Shisi, and then use him to connect with others.”

“I can’t agree. The success rate is almost zero.”

“There is a chance,” Lin Baiguang said, clearly confident.

Ran Yao still felt there was no certainty—in his view, Lin Baiguang’s entire plan was fraught with extreme risk, and only someone who firmly believed they had a “protagonist’s halo” would do it.

“I will act according to the circumstances. Enemy work never has a 100% success rate,” he insisted.

“Alright, I’ll ask you one last question,” Ran Yao said. “If Zhu Cailao demands that you reveal the origins of the Australians, tell him the secrets of the great iron ship and the fast boats, or other such sensitive issues, how do you plan to answer?”

“Of course, according to the ‘Captured Personnel Handbook’.” This handbook, initiated by Ma Qianzhu, had been revised to its seventh edition under the auspices of the General Political Security Department. It continuously enriched the details on the original framework and also referenced many rumors about them from the natives, making it increasingly credible.

“What if he doesn’t believe you? To put it more terrifyingly, what if he plans to use torture to extract a confession—” Ran Yao observed his reaction. “Can you hold out?”

“Envoys are not to be killed in a war between two countries. Besides, I am a representative for negotiations—since he is asking for our help, he wouldn’t do such a thing,” Lin Baiguang said with great confidence.

“Alright,” Ran Yao agreed. “I approve your going. But you must know that the possibility of you dying at the hands of pirates is extremely high…”

“I know that.”

“It’s very likely that you will be killed as soon as you arrive at Nanri Island. You won’t even have a chance to speak.”

“Then I’ll just consider myself unlucky.”

Ran Yao thought that having said this much, he had done all he could.

“Do you need any other support? A radio, weapons… or a request for cooperation from the army, navy, or special reconnaissance team…”

“No need. Requesting military cooperation will only increase the difficulty of coordination. I can’t hide a radio in my pocket. A pistol, among thousands of people, is the same as having nothing—if something happens, even if you give me an AK, I won’t be able to fight my way out.”

This kid was quite open-minded, but also clearly ambitious.

After Lin Baiguang left, Ran Yao called the Executive Committee Chairman, Wen Desi. He had just reported Lin Baiguang’s plan when he was interrupted by Wen Desi:

“This matter will be directly handled by your General Political Security Department. There’s no need to report the details. I will notify you of any matters that require coordination.”

Ran Yao put down the phone and mulled over Wen Desi’s words for a few minutes. Then he began to draft the implementation outline for Operation Banyan.

When Shi Shisi heard that the Australians were unwilling to directly accept his master’s conditions and instead wanted to send someone directly to Nanri Island to meet with Zhu Cailao, he was quite hesitant, but he still agreed. Ma Qianzhu’s judgment was correct; the other party was indeed in urgent need of assistance.

“If you want to see the great leader Zhu, I won’t stop you. But you have to think it through: he’s been in a bad mood lately. And you guys gave him a good thrashing last year. You might not have a good time,” Shi Shisi had established a basic friendship with Lin Baiguang over the past few days.

“I’m going to discuss matters with the great leader Zhu. He won’t do anything to me. I’ll have to rely on you, Brother Shi, for guidance then.”

“As long as I can help, I will do my best!” Shi Shisi patted his chest.

Promises meant little in another time and space, but in this one, Lin Baiguang believed they still had value.

---

“That’s right, it’s a modern fishing boat,” Zhou Weisen climbed onto the deck of the survey boat, pulling off his snorkeling mask and panting.

“This is a big problem,” Bai Guoshi said with a grave expression.

The few people on the sampan were silent. At low tide, they had already approached the mast by sampan and studied it carefully. They had found welds and nuts on it. Besides Lincheng, nothing made in this time and space would have traces of electric welding. Zhou Weisen had just confirmed it again.

“What kind of boat?”

“It looks like an American ocean-going fishing boat,” Zhou Weisen said to Lin Chuanqing. “The shape, the structure, it all looks like it. The hull number is unclear, it seems to have been ground off.”

“That’s impossible, the hull number is very important—” Lin Chuanqing suddenly stopped. He remembered that when he was a snakehead smuggling people, the hull number of the boat he used was also deliberately made unclear.

In that case, this boat’s origin was indeed a bit suspicious.

“Is there anything on the boat? Have you been inside the cabin?”

“It’s four or five meters deep below. The boat is sitting right on the reef, very level. But it’s too dangerous to enter the cabin with snorkeling gear,” Zhou Weisen shook his head. “We need to use scuba gear.”

Exploring the interior of a shipwreck was a very specialized activity in diving. Zhou Weisen was an experienced diver. Although he had never done wreck diving before, he was confident he could try a small fishing boat at a depth of four or five meters. But the equipment was not up to par.

Both Zhou Weisen personally and the Planning Committee warehouse had diving equipment. From the simplest snorkeling gear to the most common scuba diving equipment, and even clumsy heavy-duty diving gear, they had it all. Besides the eight air tanks of various sizes that Zhou Weisen had brought himself, there were many large and small compressed air tanks in the Planning Committee warehouse, enough for diving.

The transmigrators did not have the ability to produce nitrox, but ordinary compressed air diving could handle operations at depths of up to 70 meters. The technology to produce compressed air was not a problem for the Engineering and Energy Committee.

Zhou Weisen had just gone down to investigate using only snorkeling equipment, holding his breath. His time underwater was only two or three minutes. It was already a great effort to see what kind of boat it was.

“You rest. I’ll go down this time. I’ll use scuba gear,” Lin Chuanqing said.

“The sharks are back in greater numbers!” Gao Xiaosong noticed that there were about a dozen sharks patrolling in the clear water again. “You’d better wear a shark-proof suit.”

The sharks, driven away by the shark repellent, had slowly started to circle the atoll again, paying no attention to the fast sailing boat outside the Dongsha Islands. They even began to circle around them constantly.

“I told you not to throw garbage into the sea, you bunch of wastes!” Lin Chuanqing cursed at the native sailors on the boat in a mixture of Minnan dialect and English.

“I think it’s safer if we go down together. We can watch out for each other,” Zhou Weisen said. “The sharks aren’t a big problem. I checked, and there are no aggressive species here. To be safe, we can release a bag of shark repellent powder when the time comes.”

“It’s fine, just a few sharks swimming around.”

Although Lin Chuanqing said it was fine, he was actually very nervous. Sharks always made one’s scalp tingle, let alone having them swim right next to you.

They went down to the cabin and took out two sets of scuba diving equipment. Both sets were brought by Zhou Weisen himself. There were several sets in the Planning Committee warehouse, but Zhou Weisen looked down on them. He only brought a few air tanks and two chainmail-like shark-proof suits from there, to be worn over the wetsuit. This thing was quite clumsy to wear. After much consideration, Zhou Weisen decided not to wear it. The space inside the shipwreck was narrow, and it would be disastrous if he got snagged.

Lin Chuanqing was not as calm as he was and still put on the suit. In addition, he brought the ropes and net bags necessary for wreck diving, the latter for retrieving items.

“If anything really happens, use this,” Zhou Weisen gave Lin Chuanqing a powerful speargun, propelled by carbon dioxide gas, with an effective range of 20 meters. “It’s best not to use it unless absolutely necessary.”

Finally, each of them had a diving knife for personal protection. The two agreed that Zhou Weisen, who had better diving skills, would enter the cabin, while Lin Chuanqing would stand guard outside.

“Alright, let’s go!”

The yellow shark repellent powder thrown into the sea gradually dispersed, and the sharks swam away again.

Zhou Weisen touched the knife at his waist, adjusted his belt, put on his oxygen mask, and turned on the switch. He did a back roll into the water. As he adjusted, he slowly swam forward, and his breathing gradually returned to normal.

He continued to descend. After about four or five meters, he was only a little over a meter from the reef below. He looked at his dive watch; it was exactly 12:10 PM. He had brought two 15-liter tanks, each with an independent air supply system. For a dive of less than 10 meters at most, his backup was already 200%. But he did not dare to be careless—wreck diving was extremely dangerous. The space inside was narrow, the light was dim, and if he got trapped in a cabin, he couldn’t count on the semi-professional Lin Chuanqing to rescue him.

He relaxed his body, stretched out his legs, and rhythmically moved his fins to adjust his posture. The light at the bottom was sufficient, and the water clarity, though not as good as the diving meccas he had been to, was quite good.

The sunlight, filtered through the fine waves on the surface, illuminated the grayish-white seabed below. The seabed was a coral reef, with branching corals. The Dongsha Islands were the exposed parts of these coral reefs. The shipwreck of unknown origin was on the reef about twenty meters away, sitting upright, like a model shipwreck in an aquarium.

He suddenly felt a light tap on his shoulder. It was Lin Chuanqing. He was wearing a mask, so his expression was unclear. He was holding the speargun.

He gave him a thumbs-up, meaning everything was OK, and they could proceed. The two of them swam forward side by side.

The rubber wetsuit felt hot and sticky. The oxygen he inhaled from the tank also seemed to be filled with the smell of rubber. Zhou Weisen was very familiar with this feeling. He was concentrating on maintaining an even pace, swimming steadily towards the coral reef where the shipwreck lay.

The seabed was covered with coral sand and reefs, reflecting the sunlight and twinkling. Patches of seagrass were occasionally interspersed in the flat sand. Fish swam around the reef. Zhou Weisen was very careful. Not only were there sharks in the coral reefs, but also some more terrifying fish. The moray eels hiding in the crevices of the reefs were even more terrifying—these things could grow to over three meters long and had a mouth full of sharp teeth. In his opinion, they were much more frightening than ordinary sharks.

They swam past the reef, and a large coral rock appeared ahead. Its shape was somewhat like a huge plate. The shipwreck was on the edge of this “plate.” The coral branches ahead became more and more numerous, and the surroundings were crowded with schools of beautiful small sea fish. Zhou Weisen slowed his movements and made a signal with his left hand to halt their advance. There were no signs of sharks around, but it was hard to say. He cautiously circled the shipwreck from a distance.

From underwater, the ship’s condition was excellent. The main structure was completely intact. The seaweed attached to the deck and hull swayed in the water. The ship must have been sunk here for a considerable period of time. Based on the attached sediment, shellfish, and seaweed, it had been at least half a year. There were no scattered items on the reef around the ship. It didn’t look like it had been sent to the bottom by a storm, but rather as if someone had opened the seacocks and scuttled it.

As he was observing, Lin Chuanqing swam over. Zhou Weisen signaled: get closer and circle the ship again to get a closer look at its condition.

When they reached the stern, he noticed that the propeller was bent, and the rudder was partially damaged. It seemed to have hit the reef. Overall, besides some scrapes from the coral reef on the bottom, there were no signs of damage to the hull. The white protective paint on the hull still looked new. Even much of the glass on the bridge was still intact.

Finally, they returned to the bridge and landed on the foredeck. Zhou Weisen signaled to Lin Chuanqing—he was going to enter the ship from here. The other man nodded and gestured with the CO2 speargun—at a distance of twenty meters, it was powerful enough to kill a large shark, but such a killing would only attract more sharks.

He carefully used his diving knife to clear the glass from the broken bridge window, first his legs, then his body, and finally his head. Lin Chuanqing held onto the porthole with one hand and passed the diving light in with the other.

He chose the bridge as his first target for exploration—to find out the ship’s identity, this was the most important place.

The cabin had become a paradise for marine life. A startled small octopus shot past him like a jet plane. Zhou Weisen composed himself—he didn’t know if there were any remains of the victims on this ship. If there were, perhaps he could find some clues from their personal belongings.

But there was nothing on the bridge. He did not find the logbook, the most crucial item, nor did he find any documents such as the ship’s registration or port papers that could prove its identity and origin.

Zhou Weisen only found some nautical charts, tide tables, and other necessary navigation materials. Otherwise, he found nothing.

He tied one end of the rope reel to the bridge. This was the safety line to guide his way back, a necessary piece of equipment for wreck diving, otherwise it was easy to get lost in the labyrinth of the ship’s interior. He turned on the diving light and continued to swim deeper.

The interior of the ship was neat and clean. Besides some marine creatures roaming in the water, there was not a single trace of disturbance. There was no structural damage inside the ship, nor were there any scattered objects, indicating that the ship had not undergone violent impact or tossing when it sank.

On the bulkhead, an emergency box was fixed. He noticed that the emergency box on the bulkhead near the bridge had been taken away, while the one in the deeper part was still intact. He came to the first cabin below the deck. The door was closed. He tried to push it and was surprised to find that it was locked. He explored further and found that every cabin door he encountered was locked. This was very strange. Why would one need to lock the doors when abandoning a ship?

The mysteries were piling up. And what he found most strange was that there was no place on the ship that marked its name or its port of registry—these would normally be on many of the ship’s equipment. Now, these places had been carefully ground off or covered with a layer of paint. Obviously, the ship’s owner had deliberately tried to prevent anyone from knowing the true identity of this vessel.

Thirty minutes later, a net bag of objects was lifted out of the water on a rope, and then the two men surfaced.

In the net bag were some objects Zhou Weisen had retrieved from the ship’s cabin, including some nautical materials, an emergency box that was originally fixed to the bulkhead, a fire axe, and some cans and wine bottles. Several people squatted on the deck, looking through these dripping wet items.

From these small things, Lin Chuanqing confirmed again: this small fishing boat was likely built in the United States.

“There’s nothing that can identify it,” Zhou Weisen said, taking off his gear. “Not only is there no logbook, but there are no navigation documents either. The ship’s bell is gone too. Even the nameplates on the tools and equipment have been removed. Even a smuggling boat wouldn’t be this mysterious.”

“This boat was not up to any good,” Lin Chuanqing said, pouring a bucket of “semi-fresh” water from the well on Dongsha Island over himself.

“Of course. To go to such lengths to conceal its identity—it definitely wasn’t fishing. Besides, there were no fishing tools in the cabin at all.”

“It was probably involved in some illegal business,” Gao Xiaosong concluded. “Could it be a smuggling ship?”

“And not just any smuggling ship. Otherwise, there would be no need to go to such extremes to hide its identity,” Lin Chuanqing said, taking off his rubber wetsuit and sitting dripping wet on the deck, lighting a cigarette. “From the looks of it, it was either smuggling drugs or arms.”

“Damn, did a bunch of drug dealers come to the Ming Dynasty?”

“It would be great if they were arms dealers. Wouldn’t that be a ship full of weapons! AK-47s! Machine guns! RPGs!” Bai Guoshi became excited.

“Then we’d be in trouble—”

“It’s hard to say whether they were drug dealers or arms dealers. We’ll have to salvage the ship and search it carefully to know,” Zhou Weisen said. “I didn’t dive too deep, but it looks like the ship was in transit when it sank.”

A lot of supplies were found in the cabin, including many cans and bottles of alcohol. The labels had rotted away, but the seals seemed to be intact, so they should be edible.

“Where are these cans from?” Gao Xiaosong asked.

“Made in the USA.”

“So the people on the ship were Americans. Can you estimate the time?”

“No problem. Just look at this emergency box.”

Zhou Weisen opened the box—this type of marine emergency box was extremely well-sealed, and there was no water inside. The box contained essential items for survival at sea, such as food, medicine, and signal flares. The expiration dates indicated that the time was consistent with when they had departed from their own time.