Return Voyage

"Hm?"

Ye Yuan was observing the seabed from his room when he suddenly spotted a large object.

He quickly went to the cockpit and turned on the underwater radar, but the screen showed nothing. That was odd—the thing was clearly right below him, yet the ship's radar didn't register it at all.

Ye Yuan told Ding Yi to circle the area but not to kill the engine and stop. Just as he stepped out of the cockpit, he suddenly thought of something and turned back.

"How's your combat capability, you and Ding Er? I mean, if the other side has weapons?"

Ding Yi thought for a moment and replied, "We're domestic-service robots. Ordinary humans are no problem, but if there are too many, we can't handle it. Six or seven people, the two of us can manage."

After hearing Ding Yi's answer, Ye Yuan walked straight out.

He entered the water and dove as fast as he could. At about five hundred meters down, he found his target. He hid in a spot with plenty of seaweed.

In the seabed sand, a submarine lay quietly. Most submarines have markings on their hulls—national submarines have serial numbers and their country's flag, private ones have names. But this submarine had no markings at all. The strangest thing was that it was radar-resistant.

Civilian submarines couldn't possibly have radar-resistant equipment installed. Through his perception, Ye Yuan could tell the submarine was full of Europeans and Americans. But perception only showed images, not sound, so he had no idea what they were saying.

He waited a while, but the submarine showed no sign of leaving, so he went back to his ship. They were already close to international waters. Logically, he should report this, but who would he report it to?

Suddenly, he remembered the old man he'd met at Zhao Chuan's place. Zhao Chuan had introduced him as a former naval officer. If he passed the information to him, it should be fine, right?

With that thought, Ye Yuan used the satellite phone to call Eldest Brother.

"Hello? Who's this?"

Zhao Chuan's voice came through the phone.

"It's me, Ye Yuan."

Without wasting words, Ye Yuan explained his situation to Zhao Chuan. Zhao Chuan wasn't sure what to do either and said he'd contact the old man immediately, telling Ye Yuan to wait for a call.

Ten minutes later, Ye Yuan's satellite phone rang.

The caller briefly introduced himself as a political instructor from a certain fleet and needed to understand Ye Yuan's situation.

Ye Yuan recounted how he'd discovered the submarine. He didn't mention his ability—he said he'd found it while diving and only reported it after returning to the ship and noticing the radar-resistant equipment.

The man thanked Ye Yuan and told him to leave the area immediately, for his own safety.

Ye Yuan had thought he might get to watch a good show, but now he had to leave. After this incident, he lost interest in heading to international waters and told Ding Yi to turn back. On the return voyage, Ye Yuan suddenly remembered that this trip had been a last-minute decision—he hadn't prepared for sales. Now his ship was carrying twenty tons of seafood. He was sure he'd catch more on the way back, and the seafood buyers in his county couldn't handle that much. There wasn't anything high-end, but the quantity was substantial.

Just as he was thinking this, Eldest Brother called.

"Fourth Brother, you're something else, getting more impressive by the day. Now you're moonlighting for world peace?" Zhao Chuan teased.

Ye Yuan replied irritably, "You called just for this? Satellite phone calls are expensive."

"Not exactly. Grandpa Xu just asked me to pass on his thanks. He said the country needs young men like you. He also told me to let you know that someone from the military will come looking for you in a few days. Be prepared." Zhao Chuan finally got to the real reason for the call.

"Got it. Nothing else? I'm hanging up." Ye Yuan was still bothered by the fish situation.

Hearing that Ye Yuan was about to hang up, Zhao Chuan quickly said, "Wait, brother, there's one more small thing."

"What is it? Spit it out."

"I have a buddy who runs a seafood trading company on Blue Island, mainly supplying the inland market. His family also has a hotel chain, so sales aren't a problem, but he has no sourcing channels. He was complaining about it over drinks yesterday, so I mentioned you. He wants to find time to talk with you and see if there's a possibility for cooperation. What do you think, Fourth Brother?"

Hearing this, Ye Yuan felt like a pillow had been handed to him just as he was getting sleepy.

"Of course, no problem. I've got over twenty tons of seafood on the ship right now, and I expect to catch more before we dock. Give me your buddy's number. I'll call him when I get to shore."

Zhao Chuan was surprised that Ye Yuan had such a good haul on his first trip and asked how many days he'd need to get back. Ye Yuan estimated, "Three days."

"Alright, I'll arrange things on my end. In three days, Second Brother and I will come to your place and bring my buddy along so you can get acquainted. Don't worry about my face when you negotiate—I'm just the introducer."

"Good." Ye Yuan agreed decisively.

With Zhao Chuan's sales channel secured, Ye Yuan went all out fishing. On the return trip, he caught another twenty-plus tons of various seafood. Checking the time, he had just over half a day left before reaching shore.

Suddenly, Ye Yuan remembered the reef cluster where he'd caught the Double-Head Abalone. There were plenty of abalones there, but he hadn't harvested them before because they were too small. Since he was planning to start a farm, those small abalones could go into it.

He gave Ding Yi the coordinates, and soon the Water Controller arrived at the reef cluster. Because the area had many hidden reefs, the fishing boat stopped at a distance. Ye Yuan had Ding Yi and Ding Er dive with him, leaving Ye Zhuang on the ship.

The three of them dove in and started harvesting. In just half a day, they caught several hundred pounds of abalones, most of them small.

Ye Zhuang looked at the catch. "I didn't think there was an abalone spot this close to our village."

"Captain, is there more down there?" Ye Zhuang asked curiously.

Ye Yuan smiled mysteriously. "What do you think?"

Seeing that Ye Yuan wasn't going to answer, Ye Zhuang dropped the question.

After organizing everything, Ding Yi set sail for Pinghai County.

The fishing boat docked at the Pinghai County pier. The whole trip had taken over eight days, making it a proper deep-sea expedition.

Ye Yuan told Ye Zhuang to head home first, since he no longer lived on Fishing Bay Island—he'd gotten an apartment in the county seat.

Ye Yuan told Ye Zhuang that after the catch was sold, he'd give him a bonus and asked him to leave his bank account number so the money could be transferred directly.

After Ye Zhuang left, Ye Yuan stayed on the ship waiting for Eldest Brother and the others. He'd just called them—they were about half an hour away.

Ye Yuan went straight to the freezer hold and looked at the full stock of fish. He needed to set some aside to exchange for points. Without hesitation, he sent the larger but cheaper fish into his space, trading them for 12,000 points.

PS: Thanks to brother 08a for the tip. Continuing to ask for monthly votes. Thank you all.