Rescue

Chapter 45: 2.02 Chapter Rescue

The Desperate Plane, the Shenzhou Plane, and the Central Revolutionary Alliance Plane belong to the same Space-Time Region. This means that as long as Wei Keng, who is currently in the Pandora Plane, connects to this plane, he can safely return to the Shenzhou Plane.

Of course, the Desperate Plane has huge international problems. This series of problems has led to the downstream of this plane, where the two major Transmigrator Groups of the Main World have engaged in a fierce battle. It is precisely because the Desperate Plane has a large number of space-time positioning points that it can connect to Wei Keng's plane most stably.

Luo Hongxing looked at the navigation coordinates.

There were a total of 543 people on the ship, tasked with debugging the industrial production chain for their partners in the Sand Peninsula region. Due to recent border harassment in the Tianshan Region, the Eastern Great Nation has strategic significance in this regard. However, Luo Hongxing knew that the final destination of this ship was not the Middle East. Before entering the Strait of Malacca, it would enter a parallel plane through a space-time wormhole.

The goods on the ship were to be sold to local forces in the Sand Peninsula, and such trade was related to the current world situation. On the Global Herald in Luo Hongxing's left hand, the headline read: "Auschwitz Reappears, What Will Become of the Jews?"

Although the mode of the Cold War had changed, the Middle East still could not escape the interference of major powers. Unlike before, it was now the United States that was bogged down in this region. In order to curb the Soviets to the north and ensure the smooth transition of the US dollar from the Gold Standard to the Petrochemical Standard, they had to increase their investment in the region, support local regimes, and establish military bases. They attempted to put pressure on Soviet Russia in the middle of the World Island, reducing its oppressive momentum in Europe and Northeast Asia.

But in fact, it proved that the United States might be good at doing business with countries on the World Island that had completed social reforms and had legitimate systems! However, it was difficult to correct and rebuild a country with so many dross elements.

This might have been the origin from the very beginning of America's birth. America was not a country founded on correcting mistakes. Because it could not correct the mistakes of the Old Continent, it crossed the ocean to North America. Therefore, in the ideological concept of the new country in North America, this restart of history did not give birth to a mindset of correcting history. Thus, in the Middle East, a region where East and West converge and where a large number of historical lingering problems may arise, America's attempt to bring its own order into this region was precisely challenging the place it was least suited for.

In the Main World, the Soviet Union was inspired by the surge in combat effectiveness of their Eastern Friends during the Korean War. They felt that if China could do it, other places could too, and thus poured a large amount of aid to support pro-Soviet factions. Only after its disintegration did they discover that all the factions they found were Weaklings.

And the Freedom Eagle in this world found the conservative faction in the Middle East to be the Weakest of the Weaklings. Even a Baldy would have more governing ability than these Middle Eastern nobles. After receiving foreign aid, these Princes not only failed to complete their rule, but also ostracized the middle and lower-class intellectuals.

Therefore, the Global Salvation Army was born. This organization, united by the Prophet Doctrine, began to grow in the Central Asian region.

Of course, this world was not only the United States playing the game of "clever operations." When the Western European politicians were almost despairing under the pressure of Soviet Russia, they were obviously unwilling to be left out. While America was planning globally, America's allies could always be seen with a troublemaker among them. They forcibly supported Israel, attempting to re-intervene in the Suez Canal. The result was the addition of an extreme ingredient! The originally localized conflict gradually developed into a world problem that was hated globally.

In the Middle East, the individuals who could have become the ruling class of strongman governments in the Main World had now truly taken an extreme path. They directly launched surprise chemical weapon attacks on Europe, cutting off the possibility of European aid to Israel. Then, through arms dealers, they purchased a large number of discarded rockets from Russia and fired them at Jewish residential areas.

Please note that at this time, there was no multi-stage industrial transfer and financial expansion like in the Main World. Therefore, the speed of electronic technology updates was slow, and there was no Iron Dome that could arbitrarily intercept rockets. Israel was exhausted in endless Harassment Battles, and a large number of fleeing Jews were captured and imprisoned by the Salvation Army.

This was the content of the front-page headline in Luo Hongxing's newspaper.

Of course, behind this situation was the precarious state of Saudi Arabia and Iraq. And Luo Hongxing's current voyage with so many strategic supplies was for this very purpose.

Luo Hongxing: "These supplies will only be captured by the Salvation Army in the chaotic Iran-Iraq region once they arrive. It's better not to send them."

Now, in the Shuttler information Wei Keng could see, Luo Hongxing was a Sergeant, sent to replace Wei Keng and continue to explore this plane.

Desperate Plane, Captain's Cabin. A page of the calendar was torn off, but not completely. The Gregorian Calendar was no longer visible, but the year was vaguely April 15th, and the lunar calendar was Wuchen Year.

On the instrument panel beside it, the Beidou time was 8:34 AM.

As the Yuanhua 834 ship passed through a patch of sea fog, in the captain's cabin, all the instrument pointers spun like a Disco in a Ballroom. These small metal pointers spun rapidly, even making a sound like fingernails scratching on glass.

Captain Sun Xiangyang sounded the ship's horn. He picked up the Walkie-Talkie and began to assign tasks to the members in various areas. The sailors chosen for Overseas Trade in this era were very ideologically sound. Therefore, at first, they did not believe in superstition, but rather thought that their side had passed through a Chaotic Magnetic Field Region.

Luo Hongxing also held his Firearms and patrolled the ship's railing. He was now the only one on board who knew the truth. After confirming that they had arrived in this plane, he began to contact the system to ascertain the current situation.

"Clack," a heavy object attached itself to the edge of the ship's hull, and a tentacle as thick as a person's waist rolled aboard. This tentacle wasn't a magnified version of the squid tentacles commonly eaten at barbecue stalls; it was incredibly ugly, its outer skin like folds of fatty meat, dripping water. Its color was a series of snake patterns, looking very sinister. If this thing had appeared during the Age of Discovery, it would have terrified people, but now, on a fifty-thousand-ton giant ship, it was like a gecko clinging to a flower pot.

Luo Hongxing was quick to act, grabbing an electric fishing fork and poking the thing before electrifying it. The tentacle retracted. Then, other crew members sprayed the tentacles still climbing onto the ship with dry powder fire extinguishers. Perhaps it was the ammonium phosphate, sodium bicarbonate, sodium chloride, and potassium chloride in the dry powder that had a strong irritating effect, causing the tentacles to roll back into the sea. They writhed and twisted in the waves, trying to escape the dry powder. The twisting image reminded the crew of the snake demon dancing in the recently released domestic animation, Calabash Brothers.

Captain Sun Xiangyang looked at the satellite communication equipment and turned the broadcast to maximum volume, but there was no response. He called all the team leaders to him and announced the news. The theodolite showed they were still in the South China Sea. Everyone's opinion was to return to port temporarily. Luo Hongxing, knowing the dangers of the Pandora Field in this world, suggested immediately heading north back to port. Finally, after a vote among the captain and a few others on board, the decision was made.

The broadcast announced: "All crew members please note, all crew members please note, navigation is currently being interfered with by unknown factors. Please all passengers return to your rooms, and crew members gather on deck."

At the Pearl River Estuary, a two-hundred-ton steamship was floating up from a flooded dry dock. This ship had a steel frame, a steel wire network, and was made of cement material. Its power source was a steam engine, and it used a paddle wheel structure! The propeller required watertight processing. This small ship was Wei Keng's attempt near the seaport.

The ship sailed to the area where the Pearl River's fresh water met the seawater.

Wei Keng watched the swaying waves, took a deep breath, and counted on his fingers, "This time, absolutely no empty-handed return." Due to his own excessive life radiation, various biological groups now avoided him, especially fish. When Wei Keng approached, it was like sparrows in a flower bed scattering when a person approached.

So, to catch fish more effectively, Wei Keng decided to increase the speed of his watercraft and update his fishing methods to be more efficient.

Ten minutes later, Wei Keng sensed a wave of life radiation from a school of fish underwater and immediately had the ship accelerate towards them. This school of fish had clearly sensed Wei Keng's approach and was preparing to flee.

Wei Keng pushed a fireworks launcher-like device onto the deck. As he approached the school of fish and they were about to scatter, the launcher fired, scattering rows of spheres within a two-hundred-meter range. Upon entering the water, they emitted smoky bubbles. A few seconds later, flashes appeared underwater. Then, a net was cast.

Knowing that guests were arriving soon, Wei Keng enthusiastically prepared the ingredients. Once the fish were hauled aboard, they were dumped into the ship's ice chamber, and then preparations began for the voyage home.

Meanwhile, on Yuanhua 834, fifty nautical miles away, people were not in the mood to eat fish.

On their return journey, not a single ship was seen on the entire route. The Lingao Port they had set sail from had disappeared. As the ship cautiously approached the shore, they discovered the land was completely swallowed by jungle. Birds flying from the shore had sharp teeth, and some small fish swam like snakes, climbing up the ship's hull using suction cups.

More importantly, sixty people on board had already developed symptoms: sweating, hair loss. The physician in the ship's infirmary had used all sorts of antibiotics to no avail. Their only hope now was to head towards Guangzhou Port, which should be the most prosperous place. Of course, if they found no signs of human habitation, this crew, already infected with an evil disease, would lose morale.

Luo Hongxing stood on the crow's nest, looking at the approaching coastline to the north. Seeing the smoking lighthouse on the shore, he took out a cigarette, took a deep drag, and exhaled. He said to the system, "Connect me to Wei Keng."

The Wei Keng Collective, whether it was individuals sweating profusely by the armory stove or those picking vegetable leaves by the plant node creature pool, upon hearing that the rescue team they had been waiting for had finally arrived on the coastline, their first reaction was to look at their surrounding work environment: farmland, factory buildings, dormitories, and the fat orange cat sunning itself by the edge of the stone path.

Every blade of grass and tree here, they had interacted with. Every place, every hundred meters, had rough stone bricks they had touched. And in those nooks and crannies were places where they often urinated at night, leaving small gullies in the sand and soil from the washing.

When one lives in a place for a period of time and leaves many traces, upon leaving, one feels a connection to it! Even after they leave, this place seems to leave a complete imprint in their memory.

When telepathy was quantified into telepathic language, Wei Keng's mind had sixty thousand ways to describe this place.

"Caw caw caw," near Wei Keng's mess hall, a flock of well-fed seabirds squawked in a cage, and a few meters away, a chef calmly sharpened his knife.

Forty-six kilometers away, Luo Hongxing, wearing a blue and white sailor shirt, his arm muscles bulging as he gripped the mast, began to speak in a rough voice: "Hey, hey, hey, Wei Keng, Wei Keng, Keng! Keng."

The shouts of the newcomer broke Wei Keng's self-immersion. Wei Keng replied, "Yes, I am here. Thank you, sir. I have been waiting for you for a long time."

Luo Hongxing squinted his eyes in the sea breeze on the mast and said, "Hurry up and leave the port. I have wounded people on my ship. Hmm, prepare your serum. Remember, don't all come up at once. Inject all the serum first, and then explain your encounter to the people on this ship."

Wei Keng looked at the ship information Luo Hongxing sent and was a little stunned. This ship that was coming to pick him up seemed to need his help first.

Luo Hongxing continued, "There is a Space-Time Node in the Cabin now, but don't think about going back for a while. Hand over the work here first."

Wei Keng: "Brother Luo, how long will it take for me to hand over the work?"

Luo Hongxing: "Young People, don't always think about going back. You are already familiar with this plane. It's fine to stay for a few more years. Aren't you quite capable of pioneering here?"

Wei Keng: "I miss home?"

Luo Hongxing: "You want that Holographic Projection Pod in the dormitory, right? I'm hanging up. Hurry up and prepare."

After ending the communication, Wei Keng connected to his Observer: "Hey, didn't you send me a Traversal Channel? This ship won't let me on now?"

In the Space Bubble, Bai Linglu had just finished reading Luo Hongxing's preemptive statement. As she was taking notes, she adjusted her tone with a smile when facing Wei Keng's inquiry and said, "I understand your desire to return, but objective conditions are still being prepared. I hope, along with you, that the final mission can be completed more perfectly."

Wei Keng stopped his pot-banging celebration: "Stop, stop, stop. I want to ask, can I go back?"

Bai Linglu: "Yes, but objective conditions do not permit it now."

Wei Keng: "Then, can I exchange for more supplies?"

Bai Linglu: "Yes, but it requires extending your departure time again."

Wei Keng seemed to understand something and became anxious. He said, "Aren't the Space Gates here? Why do I need to extend my return time to exchange for supplies? Are you trying to scam me into paying to win?"

Over in the Kitchen Canteen, a Native washing vegetables asked Wei Keng, who was cooking, "Should I add grilled fish or stewed turtle today?"

Wei Keng, who had just finished talking to the system, was still very annoyed, even though he was just an Individual managing meals in the kitchen. Wei Keng said with some agitation: "Steam it, steamed. Lobster. Tie a turtle bastard to the tail of the shrimp."