Chapter Nineteen: Crew Members

Ye Yuan looked at the various items in the mall. When he saw the robots, a bold idea formed in his mind.

Didn't he need more manpower? Could robots be used as crew members? That would ensure strong secrecy and absolute loyalty to him.

He wasn't sure if it was feasible, but he could find out by looking at another option. He spent 5,000 points and chose to redeem it.

A robot with a full metal exterior appeared before him. Seeing this robot, Ye Yuan's heart sank.

Weren't they supposed to have a high degree of simulation? Whose definition of simulation was this?

At this moment, the robot's characteristic mechanical voice sounded, "Robot initialization, please name the owner."

Ye Yuan casually said, "Ding Yi."

"Initialization complete. Network detected, connect to network?"

"Connect."

"Connection successful, reading planetary data, reading successful, loading..."

"Please select Ding Yi's simulated form: Human, Animal, Bird, Other."

"Human."

As questions were continuously asked, what finally appeared before Ye Yuan was a muscular man in his thirties.

"Ding Yi, what can you do?"

"As long as the boss commands, I can learn everything that can be learned online."

"Good. From now on, don't call me boss. Call me owner," Ye Yuan instructed Ding Yi.

"Okay."

"You don't have an ID card. This is going to be difficult, isn't it?"

Ye Yuan suddenly remembered a very serious issue.

"The boss can use points in the system to exchange for an identity. The identity obtained from the system is real," Ding Yi replied humanely.

"There's this function too?"

Ye Yuan clicked on the mall and found an "Identity Exchange" button behind the robot. The points required were unknown and varied depending on the technological civilization.

This was the system's explanation.

He directly clicked "Redeem."

An ID card appeared in Ye Yuan's hand. Exchanging for this ID card cost 500 points.

The name on the ID card was Ding Yi. (Don't ask how the system did it; it's just that magical.)

He handed the ID card to Ding Yi. Looking at his points, he had wanted to redeem another robot, but found he didn't have enough points. By this time, the yacht was already far from the shore. Ye Yuan prepared to go into the water to earn some points.

At this moment, Ding Yi walked over. "Boss, I need to connect to the network for an hour to conduct in-depth learning about this world."

"Okay, connect to my phone's network. I'm going into the sea to take a look. You stay on the boat and learn."

"Okay, boss."

Ding Yi took Ye Yuan's phone and went into the cabin to study.

Ye Yuan went to the seabed. The sea here had already reached a depth of 200 meters. The seabed was rich with various fish. After more than an hour of fishing, he earned 1,000 points. Returning to the boat, he redeemed another robot and named it Ding Er.

Its appearance was slightly different, very similar to Ding Yi, which Ye Yuan had intended. He would claim they were brothers to outsiders.

After explaining their relationship to both of them, Ding Yi took the helm and Ding Er cooked. Ye Yuan went directly to the deck to cultivate the "Water Control Art." Ye Yuan had a feeling that his "Water Control Art" was about to break through.

As the sky gradually darkened, they arrived at Fishing Bay Island. Ye Yuan had Ding Yi dock the boat at the pier.

Many villagers saw the luxurious yacht Ye Yuan brought back and came to watch. A few curious ones even went aboard to look around. Ye Yuan saw Ye Zhuang among them and suddenly had an idea.

Ye Zhuang was honest and grateful. He had no relatives and not many friends, making him suitable for working on his boat.

A typical luxury yacht had over ten staff members. Although Ye Yuan didn't need all of them, Ding Yi, Ding Er, and himself were still a bit short. Ye Yuan wouldn't be acquiring robots in large quantities in the short term, so he could only find trustworthy people around him to join the crew.

Ye Yuan brought Ye Zhuang onto the boat and had a brief talk. He offered Ye Zhuang a monthly salary of 8,000 yuan, with subsidies for offshore voyages and monthly bonuses based on performance. The exact amount would depend on the income.

Ye Zhuang was very happy. After all, his current monthly income from fishing was only around 4,000 yuan, and he worried about not catching enough fish every day. Now, he had a stable income.

Ye Yuan's parents also arrived at the pier at this time. Some villagers had gone to the Ye family home to inform Ye Yuan's father that his son had returned with a luxurious yacht, so his parents hurried over.

Ye Yuan gave instructions to Ding Yi and Ding Er, who would stay on the boat overnight. Ye Zhuang, seeing this, also wanted to go home to get his luggage.

Ye Yuan quickly stopped him, telling him he could stay at their house and they would notify him when they needed to set sail. Ye Zhuang agreed, as land was still more comfortable than the boat.

He took his parents on a tour of the yacht and told them about his trip to Shangjing for Gambling Stones. His parents initially didn't believe him. Ye Yuan had no choice but to call the Eldest Brother. The Eldest Brother explained the situation to his parents, and only then did they believe him.

Eldest Brother Zhao Chuan had spent one summer vacation at Ye Yuan's house instead of going home. Ye Yuan's parents knew that Zhao Chuan's family had a big business in Shangjing, and his monthly living expenses there were tens of thousands of yuan, which was enough for a family in a small fishing village to live on for a year. Therefore, Zhao Chuan's words were more credible than Ye Yuan's.

Back home, his father was still muttering, "Good heavens! What kind of stones sold for 20 million? You really are something. He's your brother, selling them so expensively, isn't that ripping him off?"

Ye Yuan laughed heartily at his father, "You still don't believe me? I sold them to him at that price, and he thanked me. If you don't believe me, call him and ask?"

His father glared at Ye Yuan speechlessly before saying, "What are your plans for the future? Even if you're a fisherman, you can't be at sea 365 days a year, right? You need a home on land. Now that you can make money, your mother and I are relieved. But have you thought about where you'll buy a house?"

Ye Yuan actually already had an idea in mind. He lacked the funds before, but now that he had the capital, he could start his actions.

He first asked his father many questions about Fishing Bay Island. His father knew some things but not others. His father then directly called the village chief to their house, and Ye Yuan's mother prepared a few dishes. The three of them chatted while eating.

Ye Yuan wanted to contract Fishing Bay Island; this was something he had decided on when he returned.

The village chief was very happy to hear of Ye Yuan's idea. His ancestors had lived on this island for generations. Although they were about to relocate, they still felt uncomfortable with the idea of the island being handed over to outsiders in the future.

He was delighted that a capable young man from their village could contract the island and immediately agreed to help Ye Yuan contact the county to check on the specific situation.

The islands in Pinghai County were directly managed by the county, and the village chief could speak directly with the county magistrate. Regardless of the time, the village chief immediately called the deputy county magistrate in charge of investment promotion.

He briefly inquired about the situation. The call was on speakerphone, and Ye Yuan also asked questions. Through this simple communication, Ye Yuan became more confident about acquiring Fishing Bay Island.

Fishing Bay Island was the furthest island from the mainland among the relocated villages. The island was not very large, making tourism development unrealistic. The county had not received a single bid from any company so far.

Ye Yuan's purpose in contracting Fishing Bay Island was for aquaculture development. He planned to contract Fishing Bay Island and the surrounding sea areas to establish his own marine farm.

After hearing this, the deputy county magistrate immediately approved it, stating there were no problems and that he could even help Ye Yuan apply for subsidies from the city.

In recent years, offshore fisheries had been depleted, and many coastal cities faced numerous problems. Blue Island City had been actively promoting marine aquaculture in recent years, so it had a very complete subsidy program.

PS: Thank you to 08a for the reward, and thank you to all friends who voted with recommendation tickets.