Chapter 698: Baiting the Hook, One-Stop Shop 66626

On January 9th, Lans boarded a luxury train carriage bound for New Jincheng, setting off toward the city.

At the same time, a sailor on a cargo ship sailing the East Ocean arrived outside the first mate's cabin.

This was a cargo ship named "Hope," belonging to the Federal Hongsheng Shipping Company, primarily responsible for cargo transport on international trade routes.

Hongsheng Shipping Company was a veteran federal maritime firm, possessing a considerable number of cargo ships and having the strongest operational capacity.

It was said that the company's background was not simple; they even had certain connections with the Federal Navy, though there was no concrete evidence for such things, and anyone could fabricate rumors.

The sailors on the Hope were all experienced hands; the veterans had spent their whole lives running the East Ocean, while the juniors had at least been at it for several years. One could say they were highly experienced.

But today, a sailor discovered something not quite right. He took the initiative to come to the first mate's lounge and knocked on the cabin door.

"Come in."

The first mate's voice came from inside. He was lying on his bed smoking, holding a writing board in his hand with a sheet of letter paper on it; he seemed to be writing a letter.

When the sailor entered, the first mate looked up, then took another puff of his cigarette, flicked the ash, and put it back in his mouth. "Wait a moment, I'll be done soon."

The sailor stood to the side and waited for about a minute. After finishing the last stroke, the first mate folded the letter paper and put it into an envelope.

According to their itinerary, they would arrive in about five days at an international port on the southwest side of the Tanfeite Continent, which belonged to Silade.

The ship was fully loaded with cargo. Their job this time was to deliver these goods to Silade, then stay there for a period of time. After resupplying, they would reload with cargo for another region. They would circle more than half the planet, eventually crossing the three great oceans to return to their starting point from the East Coast.

Just this one trip could bring the company at least several hundred thousand in revenue.

Everyone knew that maritime shipping could make money, and the more tense the current situation was, the more money could be made. But this business wasn't something just anyone could do.

First, you had to have money to be able to buy a ship.

Second, you had to have people—experienced captains and crew—otherwise, you wouldn't even know where your ship ended up.

Then, you had to have certain connections with the Navy, as the Navy could provide a certain degree of escort to avoid harassment from specific pirate groups.

You also had to be familiar with the pirate groups on the sea, otherwise, they would target you for robbery every time you went out, which would be very troublesome!

Next...

In short, this was a very difficult thing to manage. The profits of maritime shipping were indeed not small, but the risks and various expenditures were also significant.

It was a business that only those with ability and connections could manage.

The first mate's letter would be mailed after they docked, arriving in his family's hands about two months before he did.

At this moment, he placed the letter into a specialized waterproof box at his side.

"What is the matter?" he asked the sailor.

The sailor didn't quite know how to say it. After struggling for a good while, he finally said, "The cargo we are transporting this time seems to have a problem."

The first mate took one last puff of his cigarette and then put the butt into the ashtray. He didn't get nervous because of the sailor's statement; he didn't think it was a problem.

"The containers are all full of rocks."

"All rocks?" The first mate's voice rose significantly. "How could they all be rocks?"

"Do you know how expensive the shipping fees for these containers are?"

"Who the hell would be crazy enough to transport worthless rocks from the Federation to Silade?"

He shook his head, not believing the sailor's statement, but the sailor appeared somewhat nervous. "I swear, I am not lying."

"The wind was very strong last night. When I was inspecting the containers today, I discovered that one container had tilted and the box body had ruptured."

A ruptured container body was also quite troublesome. If the owner of the cargo had purchased insurance, the insurance company would harass them.

The insurance company would want to investigate many details of the container, though of course, this depended on what was inside.

If the price was cheap, the situation was relatively easier to resolve.

If the price was expensive, in order to avoid paying compensation as much as possible, they would harass the sailors. There had even been a scandal before.

A container accidentally fell into the water, and the insurance company didn't want to pay, so they framed the sailors, saying it was an accident caused by human error during transport. In the end, that claims manager disappeared, and so did the sailors.

If the contents of the container were damaged and insured, the insurance company would find ways to reduce their losses by finding trouble for them.

Just as the first mate was getting a headache, the sailor continued, "When I climbed up to inspect the container, I took a look inside. It was all those big rocks."

After hearing this, the first mate frowned. These containers basically all had seals; once opened, it would also cause great trouble.

But if the box body was ruptured and he could see what was inside, he still intended to go take a look.

Soon, he and the sailor arrived at the side of the container the sailor had mentioned. He could clearly see that the container was somewhat deformed. After climbing up, he secured his safety rope, descended along the side wall to the edge of the breach, and shone his flashlight inside.

Although it was pitch black, he could see clearly enough—it was big rocks, one after another.

The mud on the broken edge also indicated the special nature of these things.

The first mate didn't pay much attention yet. He returned to the deck and said, "Maybe they are some kind of rocks containing special minerals?"

"You've been on the ship for many years too; you have to get used to them transporting strange things."

The sailor pursed his lips. "More than half of these containers belong to the same company, and when the wind is strong, there is a rolling sound in many of the containers."

The first mate's expression finally changed. He said, "Follow me," and soon they arrived at the captain's cabin.

He reported the situation the sailor had discovered to the captain. The captain also curiously opened the safe and, from a file, found the list of items being transported this time.

"Kangfude Group cargo—specialized medicine—150 boxes—serial number 25..."

The captain had worked at Hongsheng his whole life and was only one year away from retirement.

This was also the last year of his sailing career. After finishing this year, he wouldn't even need to wait until the end of the year; around October, he could retire and go enjoy his retirement life.

!

Having worked at Hongsheng his whole life, he had long been accustomed to the company's work style. Ground inspection personnel would ensure no mistakes were made, and the only thing he needed to be responsible for was successfully taking this ship to where it was supposed to go.

Actually, he had checked the manifest when loading, but it was just a casual check to see which companies' products they were; it was just a glance.

It was impossible for him to open these containers to see if these things were inside; this manifest list was just prepared for "just in case."

At this very moment, facing so many medical containers, he thought of the news from the last day of the previous year.

The Federal government decided to aid the Silade people with a batch of medical resources to help the soldiers on the front lines who were in urgent need of these supplies to save their lives.

An extremely strong sense of unease began to emerge in his heart. His hands were even trembling slightly. He immediately put down the document in his hand, closed the safe door, and tried his best to make his voice sound normal. "Let's go to the container side and take a look."

Not long after, there were quite a few people around the damaged container. The first mate had come, now the captain had come, and quite a few people who wanted to watch the excitement had also come.

It was too boring on the ship; besides scrubbing the deck, they just used their hands to "take care of business" toward the sea.

Those sea fish weren't as picky as their girlfriends; they ate anything.

So, being able to watch some excitement, they all ran over, even the cook came.

Some people thought the sailor who tied the rope was going to be in trouble, but others thought it wasn't about that.

The captain was lowered to the breach. He took a look inside; it was indeed rocks.

He had someone move his basket to the side and checked it; it was indeed the specialized anti-inflammatory medicine from the Kangfude Group.

His face had already become exceptionally ugly. After he got down, he directly told the first mate to open a row of containers.

The first mate hesitated. "If we open them privately, will it cause trouble after we dock?"

The captain shook his head. "Open it. No matter what happens, I will take responsibility."

With the captain's word, the first mate didn't say anything else. He directly took the pliers, cut the seal, and then the sailors pulled open the container doors.

Everyone stretched their necks to look inside, but soon they were shocked, because it was all rocks inside!

The captain's eyes were already red. "Keep opening them, open this whole row!"

At this time, the sailors on the ship also realized something was wrong. They immediately followed suit, but all the containers were rocks.

Unlike the sailors' thought that "someone in the company swapped this batch of cargo," the captain was considering whether they would attract the Dantela Navy.

Generally speaking, they wouldn't.

The Dantela people already had a record of intercepting federal merchant ships, so this time they didn't take the old route. But thinking of the rocks inside, tens of millions in supplies turning into worthless rocks, he felt a chill all over.

He could barely stand steadily now, so he could only lean on the first mate and let the first mate send him back.

Seeing the captain in such a state, the first mate was full of confusion. "What is wrong with you?"

"Such a large-scale swap definitely has nothing to do with us, and it can't be traced back to us. You aren't just too worried because you're about to retire, are you?"

The captain glanced at him sideways and shook his head. "I just hope my guess is wrong, otherwise we..."

He originally wanted to say "we are all going to be in trouble," but if the Dantela Navy really attacked them, then it wouldn't be "trouble," but "dead for sure"!

"I hope God can bless us to arrive at our destination safely!" he muttered, then looked at the first mate. "Aren't you curious about what I'm worried about?"

"I'm worried that we have become that key piece of bait!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 699 =====