Chapter 3612: What the Hell Kind of Humanitarianism Is This?

At this moment, on the dark and calm sea surface, a research vessel flying the Japanese flag was sailing steadily.

Before entering the Devil's Westerlies, the sea was calm enough that whether it was a large or small ship, they could see each other via marine radar, and within a radius of several kilometers, there were only these two ships, one large and one small.

This Japanese research vessel was Wu Bolin's target this time.

Even with his strength, he could not cross the entire Devil's Westerlies by himself, so he had to find a research vessel to hitch a ride on, preferably one that could find a foothold in Antarctica.

Among the research vessels that had set sail from Ushuaia these past days, only this Japanese East Asian ship was available; although Wu Bolin had last seen Japanese people during the First Sino-Japanese War, he knew that, being both East Asian, Huaxia and Japanese people did not differ greatly in appearance, so blending into the Japanese research team was his best option for now.

As the distance between the two ships grew closer, Wu Bolin was preparing to wait until they were even closer before simply treading water and boarding, but he did not expect that when the other side noticed on radar that the distance was closing, they would actively adjust course to pass at a safe distance; seeing this, Wu Bolin immediately had Wu Siyuan send a distress signal via the intercom system.

Wu Siyuan shouted fluently in English over the intercom: "Mayday, mayday, this is ARG7717, our vessel has lost power, is damaged and taking on water, and is about to sink; we request assistance from JRC5990!"

At this moment, aboard the Japanese research vessel with IMO number JRC5990, the officer on watch immediately called the captain via intercom: "Captain Sato, we have received a distress call from a vessel with IMO number ARG7717, about five nautical miles away, the vessel has malfunctioned and is about to sink, requesting instructions."

A low voice came through the intercom: "Ignore him, full speed ahead! We have no time to waste on some Argentine dinghy; let them contact Argentina's maritime rescue department!"

The officer on watch instinctively said: "But they're about to sink..."

The captain coldly replied: "Bah! What if they sink? We've crossed over ten thousand kilometers to get here to carry out the glorious mission of Japan's Antarctic research, not to save Argentine fishermen; their life or death is none of our concern! Full speed ahead!"

The officer on watch, helpless, could only respectfully say: "Hai! I understand, Captain Sato!"

On the fishing boat, Wu Siyuan watched as the radar showed the other ship moving farther away and increasing speed, and he said with a dark face: "Damn it, this Japanese research vessel not only refuses to come rescue, but instead speeds up and detours!"

"Damn it!" Wu Bolin angrily snapped: "Didn't you say people nowadays are getting more and more friendly? And that there's such a thing as international humanitarian spirit? How can there still be such indifference to saving lives?! What the hell kind of humanitarianism is this?!"

Wu Siyuan was also quite depressed.

It was he who had suggested this idea to Wu Bolin, thinking that since Wu Bolin could use spiritual energy to control others' minds, all he needed to do was trick the Japanese research vessel into coming closer, and then leave the rest to him; but who would have thought that this Japanese ship would not only not come, but would speed up and flee—this was truly a violation of international morality.

Helpless, he said apologetically: "Sorry, Senior Elder, I overestimated their character; why don't we wait a bit longer? Another research vessel is leaving port tonight, a Canadian one."

Wu Bolin also grew angry, gritting his teeth: "No way! I can't swallow this insult! Open full throttle and chase it down!"

Seeing Wu Bolin's firm attitude, Wu Siyuan swallowed his words of persuasion, turned to the helmsman, and said: "Speed up and catch up!"

The fishing boat Wu Siyuan had prepared was not as simple as it looked; its hull and power system had undergone major upgrades, so if it really opened up, catching up to a ten-thousand-ton vessel would be effortless.

Thus, the fishing boat immediately opened full throttle and pursued the Japanese research vessel.

When they were less than one kilometer from the research vessel, Wu Bolin looked at its stern, felt the effect of its wake on the fishing boat, and told Wu Siyuan: "Alright, you go back; I'll board it myself."

Wu Siyuan hurriedly said: "Senior Elder, everyone on this ship is Japanese; you don't speak Japanese or English, so you probably can't communicate!"

Wu Bolin let out a cold snort and said: "I don't believe that among an entire ship of so-called Japanese research experts, not one can speak Chinese; if I really can't find one, I'll just sink their ship and wait for the Canadian one!"

Wu Siyuan asked: "Senior Elder, should we wait here then?"

"That works too," Wu Bolin said: "Just keep a distant tail on them; if within an hour you see this ship sink, come close and pick me up; if it hasn't sunk, that means I found someone who speaks Chinese, and you can return."

Wu Siyuan nodded and said: "Yes, Senior Elder, I obey!"

Wu Bolin lightly brushed his sleeve, clasped his hands behind his back, tapped his toes lightly on the deck, and leapt into the air.

As he was about to land on the water surface, he gathered spiritual energy beneath his feet, forming an invisible barrier between his soles and the sea; immediately, his body stepped lightly on the waves, moving swiftly and silently at a speed far greater than that of a ship.

As he approached the research vessel, he tapped his toes again, leapt into the air to a height of nearly a hundred meters, and followed a parabolic arc straight toward the vessel's bridge.

At this moment, the crew noticed nothing unusual, since the fishing boat had been following behind them without closing in, so it did not trigger any radar alarms.

The officer on watch was only thinking of taking advantage of the lull before the next wave to quickly enter the Devil's Westerlies to avoid increased risk, so his focus was entirely on the course ahead; moreover, since this sea area had never seen pirates, he had no sense of vigilance.

As he and the crew were operating the vessel at full speed, he was completely unaware that a figure had already arrived outside the control room door from above the ship.

Just as everyone was busy, the control room door suddenly swung open, and a figure stood in the doorway, expression stern and with a hint of ferocity.

The crew members in the control room were startled by this sudden intruder.

This vessel had set sail from Japan over a month ago; part of its complement were crew members, part were research team members; although the two groups had not known each other before, after over a month of contact, everyone had become familiar with each other's faces, making it unlikely for a complete stranger to suddenly appear.

But on this vast ocean, aside from the people on this ship, who else could there be?

The officer on watch instinctively asked in Japanese: "Ananada..."

Wu Bolin did not let the Japanese finish speaking, but directly swept his sharp gaze over everyone and said in a cold voice: "Whoever can speak Chinese, come out and speak to me!"

As soon as he spoke, the eyes of the dozen or so people present instantly widened.

For Wu Bolin, freezing these people's minds was merely a thought away.

However, freezing their minds did not mean controlling them; only those who could understand his commands would obey and be controlled by him; those who could not understand his commands were now like unconscious, standing motionless in place.

Soon, from among those whose minds had been frozen, a young man stepped forward, came before Wu Bolin, and spoke fluent Chinese: "I can speak Chinese; I studied in Huaxia at university."

Wu Bolin nodded in satisfaction and asked him: "What is your name?"

The man respectfully replied: "My name is Matsushita Heikichi."

Wu Bolin waved his hand in disdain: "Whatever Matsushita this or that, from now on you are called Dog Leg; I will tell you what to do, and you will do it wholeheartedly; when addressing me, you must call yourself 'your subordinate'; understand?"

Matsushita Heikichi immediately said with utmost sincerity: "Your subordinate obeys."

Wu Bolin grunted, then asked Dog Leg: "Dog Leg, I ask you, how many people are on your ship in total?"

Matsushita Heikichi said: "There are twenty-six crew members and twenty-two research team members aboard."

Wu Bolin frowned and asked: "Just now I had someone from the fishing boat shout for help; why didn't you assist?"

Matsushita Heikichi hurriedly said: "It's not that I, your subordinate, am unwilling to help; it's that the captain ordered full speed ahead, and I, your subordinate, could only obey."

"Captain..." Wu Bolin let out a cold snort, then opened his right hand, and powerful spiritual energy radiated from his palm, invisibly enveloping the entire research vessel.

In that instant, the minds of everyone on the ship were completely frozen by him.

Thereafter, he looked at Matsushita Heikichi and said in a cold voice: "Now you use Japanese to issue commands, letting everyone on the ship hear your orders; all must follow your lead as if following a horse's head!"

Matsushita Heikichi immediately complied, picked up the intercom's handset, switched the channel to ship-wide broadcast, and spoke in Japanese, more or less meaning that from now on, everyone must strictly obey his, Matsushita Heikichi's, commands.

Seeing him finish, Wu Bolin said again: "Tell everyone to continue their normal work, maintain external contact as usual, and do not expose any flaws."

These people were now like robots awaiting commands, only waiting for an order to be given before instinctively obeying; thus, when Matsushita Heikichi gave them commands in Japanese, everyone immediately returned to their original tasks, as if nothing had happened; but once Matsushita Heikichi issued a command, they would carry it out with their full effort.

And Matsushita Heikichi himself would only obey the commands of Wu Bolin alone, so for Wu Bolin, as long as he used Matsushita Heikichi's Sino-Japanese language ability, he could freely control everyone.

Immediately, he said to Matsushita Heikichi: "Dog Leg, use the intercom to call your ship's captain to me!"

Matsushita Heikichi respectfully bowed, then immediately picked up the handset and issued a command to the captain.

Soon, the white-haired captain hurried over.

Seeing him enter, Matsushita Heikichi said to Wu Bolin: "This is our captain."

Wu Bolin stared at him with fiery eyes, originally wanting to blast him to pieces with one palm, but then he thought: since this bastard is the captain, his professional ability must be up to standard, and I will still need these people to work for me in the future, so I cannot get rid of the most senior and experienced captain.

However, thinking of how this bastard just now "stood by and did nothing," Wu Bolin felt he could not swallow this anger, so he coldly told Matsushita Heikichi: "Make this bastard strip naked and stand punishment at the bow!"