Chapter 42: The Wild Bull Halsey

For a fishing boat, the most important thing is naturally... economy.

Steam engines have a very good advantage—they are not picky eaters.

For heavy oil boilers, sometimes their fuel quality is unimaginably poor.

The lowest-grade heavy oil is very turbid; if left to settle for a while, once the oil on the surface is used up, it leaves behind a large amount of sticky, asphalt-like sediment.

But these asphalt-like sediments can be reheated on shipboard boilers, causing the oil substances within to evaporate into the combustion chamber, still providing power for the steam engine.

To save even more, one could simply burn oil only at departure; once the steam turbine is running, switching to burning coal powder is also an option.

Poor-quality diesel might cause a shipboard diesel engine to stall, but for a steam turbine, it is merely a matter of dirty pipes; flushing with high-pressure steam can wash it away.

However, in terms of volume, response speed, and maintainability, it is far inferior, so Tang Yi racked his brains to devise many fuel-saving schemes, hoping to make this advantage stand out sufficiently.

"... Compared to diesel power, steam turbines are far superior in overall power and electricity generation capacity, and can provide warm air to cabins and freeze stored fish at night at no cost, making them very suitable for long voyages at sea.

Therefore, our Gaijin Shipyard believes that steam turbines are a very promising development direction for large fishing boats, and we invite Fudong Fisheries to jointly explore this new field with us."

After Tang Yi finished speaking, the Huang brothers nodded in strong agreement.

According to Tang Yi's calculations, the heavy oil consumed per hour could be reduced to under 900 kilograms, with costs ranging around five or six hundred.

Heavy oil is merely a general term; in fact, they could simply buy the oil residue left after private refineries finish refining gasoline, mixing it into the fuel at a cost of at most one-third that of diesel, or even lower.

As for the space occupation issue, it is not particularly prominent; after removing a large number of weapon systems from the ship and undergoing certain modifications, the crew size could be reduced by at least two-thirds, leaving ample space.

The surging power of the steam engine has one special application: refrigeration.

It is not ordinary Freon compressor refrigeration, but an evaporative lithium bromide refrigeration machine.

Unlike Freon air conditioners that use electricity for cooling, the lithium bromide refrigeration machine uses "heat for cooling."

The lithium bromide refrigeration machine does not require a compressor; it uses water as the refrigerant medium, utilizing high-pressure steam blown over an evaporation box to lower the pressure inside the box, causing the water to evaporate and thereby absorb external heat.

The lithium bromide-steam refrigeration unit is huge in size and is the primary equipment used for large-scale refrigeration needs in factories and ships.

When used in conjunction with a steam turbine, the steam boiler can provide a massive amount of high-pressure steam, greatly enhancing refrigeration power, while also consuming much less electricity.

Of course, the cooling unit requires extra payment, and many pieces of equipment need to be purchased from outside by the shipyard, but for Huang Dongfu, it still held immense appeal.

Tang Yi was secretly rejoicing when he suddenly heard Huang Dongshun say:

"What you said is very good, but I have a question."

"Please speak."

Tang Yi inevitably felt a bit nervous, fearing they would ask about the hard flaws of steam engines, in which case he would have no answer.

Huang Dongshun shifted forward, pointing at the blueprints modified from the Hashidate and asked:

"The ship looks very good, but why are these several cabins separated by such thick fire doors?"

"This, ah, this is..."

Just as the words were about to leave his mouth, Tang Yi swallowed them back, forcing a change of direction and saying:

"These are hull reinforcement bulkheads; in an emergency grounding situation, once closed, they can withstand the immense pressure of seawater."

Huang Dongshun nodded and smiled:

"Your safety measures are considered too thoroughly; when I first looked, I thought they were fire doors.

This standard is almost comparable to a warship."

He spoke without thinking, but Tang Wen and Tang Yi were already sweating profusely.

What reinforcement bulkheads? Those were fire doors.

As a World War II gunboat, to prevent ammunition detonation, the Hashidate had heavy fire doors between its cabins; this belonged to the original design and would not be modified.

Who knew they would encounter an expert who spotted the unusual at a glance.

Tang Yi instantly realized there were still too many bugs in the hastily modified Hashidate and hurriedly put away the blueprints, saying:

"Since you have finished reviewing the blueprint materials, why don't we go see the shipyard to showcase our shipyard's equipment and the workers' appearance?"

"Good!"

Huang Dongfu, jolted into action, agreed first; he couldn't make sense of these data, and looking at the machinery and equipment was more reassuring.

The group of four then began to wander around the shipyard, first going to the large plate processing workshop, and only then viewing the shipyard.

Although the shipyard equipment had only been operational for half a month and was of an older model, its condition was very new.

Huang Dongfu, looking at the brand-new shipyard, nodded continuously, already convinced of Gaijin Shipyard's strength.

Setting aside other things, just the 100-meter shipyard was sufficient; building such a large shipyard showed that its owner had great ambition.

The group walked and talked, and just as the conversation was heating up, they arrived near several tax-free speedboats.

These four boats assigned to Zheng Hai had long been completed and were left in an open area awaiting receipt.

The stern of every boat was crowded with four engines, immediately catching the attention of the Huang brothers.

Tang Wen explained:

"These are speedboats ordered by another of our clients; they prefer... water racing."

Racing against the water police counts as racing, right?

The full load of motors allowed Huang Dongfu to instantly see its insane power, and he asked curiously:

"How many ten thousand yuan does this one boat cost?"

"One hundred and sixty thousand; we only make money on the engines; the hull is free."

"So expensive? The engines cost forty thousand each?"

Huang Dongfu did not know the price of gasoline motors; seeing their small size, he thought they cost only a few thousand.

But his younger brother Huang Dongshun had encountered naval assault boats; those small boats equipped with only one motor cost tens of thousands each.

Judging by the size of the motors, they were probably at least one hundred horsepower or more.

Putting four motors on such a small boat, just the fuel consumption alone was terrifying.

Water racing? Who is so full of energy to do this?

However, since it didn't concern him, Huang Dongshun didn't ask much, only acknowledging the strength of the Gaijin Shipyard a bit more.

After the entire process, while they weren't paying attention, the Huang brothers exchanged glances and nodded slightly at the same time.

It's a legitimate enterprise, the factory is formal, and they've taken orders before; it should be worth trying.

After another round of thought, Huang Dongfu smiled and said to Tang Wen:

"Boss Tang, although your shipyard was established not long ago, I believe it will surely achieve great things in the future.

We have gained a lot today; we need to go back and study it further, and we will contact you again very soon."

By this point, Tang Wen had actually already sensed that the other party's intention was set; it was unlikely they would agree to such a major project on the spot.

Tang Wen casually made polite conversation:

"It's getting late; why not have a meal before you leave?"

"Then we won't stand on ceremony."

Huang Dongfu agreed without a second thought; he was actually a bit hungry.

Driving back to the city would take several hours; they definitely needed to eat their fill before hitting the road.

"..."

I was just being polite.

But Tang Wen quickly realized this, then invited the two to a private room in the cafeteria.

On the way, Huang Dongfu saw the shipyard workers walking out one by one and couldn't help but ask in confusion:

"Isn't this the cafeteria? Why isn't anyone eating here... Hey, isn't that a chef? Why is he going out too?"

Tang Wen facepalmed inwardly. Actually, after learning about the extravagance and waste at the Great Bay Port Hotel, he had already converted the shipyard cafeteria into a hotel buffet. The system's workers were naturally happy to enjoy a good meal, especially since it was only two kilometers away.

But with an aircraft carrier still in the port, Tang Wen could only barely muddle through an explanation:

"Today is Monday, the cafeteria's rest day, so they're all eating outside.

But don't worry, our cafeteria has a special kitchen."

Special kitchen—meaning someone was quickly sent to the Great Bay Hotel to pack up takeout.

Fortunately, Tang Yi brought up the fishing boats again, finally diverting their attention.

"Goodbye, Boss Tang."

Huang Dongfu wanted to wave, but found he had too many bags in his hands to wave properly, so he could only smile awkwardly.

The special kitchen at Gaijin Shipyard was truly surprising, surpassing even the three-star hotels he had eaten at.

Especially the various Western desserts and cold dishes; they were so delicious he almost suggested Tang Wen open a restaurant in Echeng, which would definitely attract a huge crowd.

All the ingredients looked incredibly fresh, and the preparation was impressive. He and his brother completely abandoned their dignity, devouring the food like wolves, finishing seventy percent of the entire table.

Even the desserts were so fragrant they made one unable to walk away, so when Tang Wen voluntarily offered to pack some for him, he couldn't bring himself to refuse.

He even felt somewhat lucky to have stayed for lunch; otherwise, he would have regretted it to death.

Sitting inside the Fiat small car, Huang Dongfu carefully placed the paper bag of desserts by his feet, afraid of damaging them.

Huang Dongshun, acting as the driver, was still savoring the taste:

"Brother, we must come again when placing the order; the standard of this special kitchen is too high!

And that Bordeaux red wine, I really wanted to take a bottle."

"Stop talking. I ate too fast today and didn't get enough of the beef ribs later... No, I'll contact the bank as soon as we get back and come again in a couple of days."

"If we come at noon, we can eat two meals!"

Having just seen off the Huang brothers, Tang Wen didn't know this meal would accelerate their decision to place an order; he was only saddened that he hadn't managed to get the tuna.

Those two brothers devoured everything in the middle like a whirlwind sweeping away remnants, making him almost suspect he had encountered refugees fleeing disaster; for a moment, he didn't dare pick up his chopsticks.

Even the pastries were all packed up and taken away, leaving nothing for the afternoon.

The Huang brothers had a Jeep to guide them back, but this time they also took Tang Yi with them.

The latter was going to Echeng to buy another batch of books and materials, and also to visit Fudong Fishing Company to at least understand the client's payment capability.

Before leaving, he had already arranged the port's reconstruction project; the steel shed to cover the aircraft carrier was about to be finished and would soon be shipped by water for installation.

Tang Wen was pondering going to the village head's house to ask about road construction, wondering how the villagers were considering it, when he had just walked out the main gate and saw a van approaching from a distance.

It was the familiar Toyota Hiace; Zheng Hai had used this thing to import YAMAHA motors back then.

But Tang Wen felt a bit puzzled; it hadn't even been half a month since the last order was placed, and now they were here to urge him?

Moreover, he guessed Zheng Hai must have gone out on business again; had he already finished another deal so quickly?

Holding these heavy doubts, when the van stopped in front of the main gate, Zheng Hai himself got out.

This time, only the junior brother named "Anan" accompanied him, still looking carefree and unprofessional, standing behind with his hands in his pockets.

"Brother Tang!"

Zheng Hai enthusiastically stepped forward to greet him, as if the two were very good friends.

Tang Wen silently stepped back half a pace, avoiding the hand the other man intended to place on his shoulder, leaving the latter somewhat embarrassed.

But Zheng Hai quickly adjusted, maintaining his smile and saying:

"Meeting again. Gaijin Shipyard has actually changed so much; truly congratulations."

Tang Wen didn't respond, only asking in confusion:

"Is Boss Zheng here to pick up the boats? Those four boats will be finished very soon; taking one or two away early is no problem."

"This... let me see."

Zheng Hai seemed stunned for a second or two, but quickly covered it up, speaking with feigned magnanimity:

"I didn't expect it to be so fast. Are the engines installed too?"

"Of course, everything is in place and ready for inspection; we guarantee the quality."

"Excellent, excellent, your efficiency is too high."

Zheng Hai kept praising, but then shifted his tone:

"This time, I just want to pick up two more boats as soon as possible, and brothers on my side of the street also heard there are cheap motors for sale and want to buy some for their own use."

Buying motors again?

Tang Wen instantly perked up; the diesel engine business had already earned him nearly two hundred thousand, and selling motors was even more valuable than diesel engines.

One motor yielded a net profit of 95%, over thirty-eight thousand yuan.

Even if the buyer only assembled one boat, four motors would still be over a hundred thousand.

He quickly agreed, stating that motor supplies were abundant, they had as many as wanted, and bulk purchases could get discounts.

Zheng Hai kept nodding:

"That's great, I just finished another deal; how about we go sing and have a few drinks tonight?

My friends will be there too; we can discuss the motors then, and maybe sell a few more boats."

Facing Zheng Hai's enthusiasm, Tang Wen found it hard to refuse.

He had no interest in karaoke or drinking, and he instinctively resisted interacting too much with people like this.

However, karaoke was a normal social activity for this era, and rudely refusing over the sake of business was not good either.

He suddenly thought of Tang Yi, who had already gone to Echeng, and quickly said:

"Sorry, Boss Zheng, I'm afraid I can't get away tonight; I've been busy building a road for the village recently.

However, our shipyard's chief designer and vice president happen to be in Echeng; why not let him go in my place?"

Tang Wen thought to himself, Sorry, old man; for the sake of the shipyard's orders, sacrifice you for now.

However, Zheng Hai furrowed his brow slightly, showing no expression on his face, but his hand casually reached behind his back as if scratching his back, instead making an eight gesture toward "Anan".

Then he replied as if somewhat disappointed:

"Since Boss Tang is busy, let it be, but I see Boss Tang doesn't have a mobile phone? I just imported a batch of new Nokia models; consider it a gift."

A mobile phone?

Tang Wen felt quite tempted; this thing was only available in the city.

Although mobile phones could only make calls this year, getting one would still be nice.

Setting aside other things, today he had felt envious seeing Huang Dongfu's mobile phone.

"This is too embarrassing; I'll buy it at market price."

"No problem, no problem, we have plenty of these; they're in the car, I'll get them for you."

As Zheng Hai spoke, he made a gesture; Anan climbed into the van, fiddled with things for a few moments, then held out several boxes through the car door and asked:

"Which model do you want? There are several more here."

Tang Wen instinctively stepped forward to lean close to the half-open sliding door; before he could clearly see the phone's style, he suddenly felt force on his shoulder as someone grabbed him, his center of gravity becoming unstable as he lunged toward the car interior.

Zheng Hai, standing behind him, pushed hard, and Tang Wen fell face-down onto the cargo floor.

He was about to climb up, but was stopped by a hard metal object pressing against his back.

"Commander!"

The security chief, Tang 22, with a tiger's back and bear's waist, was only a few steps from Tang Wen; as soon as he saw Tang Wen get pushed, he realized something was wrong and immediately rushed forward.

"Don't move!"

Zheng Hai revealed a black five-star pistol pressing against Tang Wen's back, while "Anan" shook off the paper boxes in his hands, pulled out a sawed-off shotgun, causing Tang 22, who only had a baton, to stop his body dead in its tracks.

If it were close-quarters combat, he was absolutely confident he could take down both men, and even with weapons, he could still fight.

But now the Commander was trapped in the car; in such a narrow space, he simply couldn't make a move.

Zheng Hai, who had pretended to be warm for so long, now looked ferocious, pressing the gun muzzle tightly against Tang Wen's back, and shouted at Tang 22:

"Within half an hour, I want to see five hundred thousand in cash; not a minute more, not a penny less!

Get the money and I'll release him; otherwise, your boss will die immediately!"

While speaking, Zheng Hai skillfully pressed his knee against Tang Wen's waist while holding down both hands.

"Sorry, little brother; if you had gone to Echeng, I could have called two pretty girls to accompany you for the night and let you return comfortably.

Unfortunately, you didn't fall for it; I had no choice.

Big brother here is in some trouble now; consider this money a loan from you; after this passes, I'll come back to buy boats from you!"

Tang Wen, pinned down by two people and unable to move, had almost no ability to resist at such close range.

After a moment of shock, he felt little panic; instead, nameless anger flared up.

After all, he was a warship system; he had played with heavy machine guns, autocannons, and naval guns plenty these past few days, boasting that any triad in this era was nothing but earth chickens and clay dogs.

He never expected to capsize from a moment's carelessness, only to be held hostage by others.

Moreover, hoping Zheng Hai would release him—was that possible?

Although he didn't know what trouble Zheng Hai had gotten into, since he had resorted to hijacking on the spot, he probably couldn't even return to Echeng.

And what the hell about pretty girls? If he actually got in the car, he'd probably be shot dead immediately after they got the money.

Under the gun muzzle, Tang Wen's mind raced rapidly; the immediate priority was to escape danger right away.

Hand over the money obediently? Absolutely not!

Tang Wen, face almost on the ground and looking very undignified, shouted loudly:

"Boss Zheng, the shipyard doesn't have that much cash; our money is all in the bank.

It's already afternoon; we must go to the town to withdraw the money."

"Then I'll give you one hour; you have a car; driving fast, one hour is definitely enough!"

Zheng Hai suddenly looked outside the car, saw the workers in the shipyard running over, and immediately shouted loudly:

"Everyone back! No one gets closer!"

"Drive fast, get away from them!"

Anan immediately scrambled into the driver's seat, quickly reversed the van back a few meters, and made as if to turn around and leave.

With so many people at the shipyard, they had to take Tang Wen to another place immediately.

Zheng Hai opened the window, grabbed Tang Wen by the collar and pulled him out the window, while sticking his own head halfway out to shout at the people who had already gathered:

"Who is in charge here? Your Boss Tang has already agreed to let you go to the town to get the money right away.

We will find a place to wait; once one person brings the money, we will release the hostage immediately!"

"No!"

A voice rose from the crowd; it was Tang Yi's deputy, Tang Er, the shipyard's deputy chief designer.

He said with a pale, grim face:

"Commander... the Boss must stay here. We will send someone to get the money right now."

"I disagree!"

Zheng Hai vehemently vetoed:

"I must take Tang Wen away. I will wait for you at Golden Beach in the north. From now on, you have one hour; if I don't see the money, I will have no choice but to kill the hostage!

Moreover, at that time I will only see one person. If you call the police or bring more people, I won't say another word!"

"One hour is too short!"

Tang Er argued with reason:

"Golden Beach is too far; even after we get the money, it will take a long time to drive there. Two hours!"

"Bullshit! In two hours the credit union will be closed!"

Zheng Hai also knew that dragging it out would only be disadvantageous to him; after glancing at his watch, he issued a final ultimatum:

"One and a half hours, 3:30 PM. We will be there, punctually!"

Having finished speaking, he pulled Tang Wen back inside, while Anan floored the accelerator; the van made a sharp U-turn and sped away quickly.

Tang Er, left behind at the scene, stamped his foot hard, and only upon turning around did he see two guys carrying a Type 92 heavy machine gun rushing over.

What use is bringing it over now? They couldn't catch up even if they tried.

Besides, where is Golden Beach? I don't know!

Tang Yi was temporarily unreachable; could it be that they really had to go get the money to ransom the hostage?

But the problem was... there wasn't even five hundred thousand on the bankbook.

Tang Wen had converted all the money into silver coins, leaving only a few ten thousand in cash to pay the electricity bill; where would they get five hundred thousand for Zheng Hai?

After much fruitless pondering, the remaining people looked at each other, and finally Tang Er could only say helplessly:

"Go to the village to find the Village Head. Tang Shiba, you know the way; go drive!"

They were completely in the dark about the outside world; only the Village Head had been seen a few times.

"Yes!"

Tang Shiba hurried off to find the truck; except for the necessary personnel staying behind, the rest of the workers followed suit.

Inside the Toyota Hiace, perhaps having left the place with so many people, Zheng Hai's vigilance dropped considerably.

Tang Wen was able to sit on the second-row chair; Zheng Hai tied him up with an electric wire and sat on the other side, cooing:

"Little brother, I won't hide it from you; this shipment had a bit of a problem.

I have no choice but to repay debts. After today, we will be brothers; once I have money, I'll repay you first!"

"Sometimes in our line of work, we have to use some methods, but rest assured, I absolutely do not want to harm you. If I say I'll release you, I won't hurt a single hair on your head!"

"If you're thirsty or hungry, just say so; there's food on the car!"

Tang Wen let Zheng Hai's words go in one ear and out the other, believing not a single word; instead, he was currently scanning the other man's shoe upper with his peripheral vision.

Since they met, he had vaguely felt something was wrong; now he finally discovered that there was actually water stain on Zheng Hai's shoes.

This meant he had just come ashore and came to find him without waiting.

He didn't even have time to change his shoes; he must have already reached the point of a desperate dog jumping over a wall.

All this nonsense now was nothing but a way to steady him and dispel any thoughts of struggling!

Tang Wen sat in silence, thinking of a strategy to break the deadlock, but Zheng Hai was also a veteran of the trade; he simply couldn't find a single flaw.

He had an aircraft carrier, but without him personally commanding it, the shipyard people alone couldn't even operate it, let alone fly a plane.

Having many weapons was useless; being kidnapped was no longer a problem solvable by firepower.

System? Dog system, come save your master!

Tang Wen cursed inwardly, but the damn Battleship World System gave no reaction whatsoever.

He searched carefully for a long time but found no option that could summon divine soldiers from the sky to save him.

Just then, Tang Wen suddenly realized he hadn't used his Daily Supply Crate yet.

Consuming 100 experience points daily to open a crate, he had only tried it twice after unlocking the function, obtaining two Normal Supply Crates, which yielded 500 Coal and 5,000 Silver Coins.

Compared to these, experience points were hard for him to obtain, so he stopped gambling on that illusory luck afterwards.

This time... let's just try it; what if it works?

With the mindset of treating a dead horse as if it were alive, Tang Wen chose to open another Supply Crate.

【Experience -100】

【Super Supply Crate * 1】

Accompanied by a dazzling light, a large cubic crate materialized.

"Open!"

Tang Wen prayed for something useful; if only a Colt 1851 would do—that was a Navy revolver too, surely it could offer a glimmer of hope?

Yet when the light vanished, floating there was a half-body portrait of a person.

【Obtained M-System Navy Legendary Captain: Bill Halsey (Level 10)】

【Bill Halsey: Nickname "Bull", M-System Legendary Captain, Talent Skills: Relentless Pursuit, Untraceable】

【Relentless Pursuit: Battleship main gun, torpedo reload time, and aircraft maintenance time -20%, Air Squadron and bombardment accuracy +15%】

【Untraceable: Battleship detection range reduced by 10%, aircraft detection range -50%】

It was actually a Captain?

With a Captain, one could independently command a battleship, no longer requiring the Commander to personally take command.

This Captain Halsey was even a historical figure, a seemingly formidable naval commander, hailed as a legend of the seas.

But what use was that?