Empire of Shadows

Chapter 695: Setting the Bait, a One-Stop Shop [666+26]

On January 9th, Lance boarded a luxurious train carriage bound for New Gold City, setting off towards his destination.

At the same time, a sailor on a cargo ship sailing in the East Ocean came to the first mate's cabin.

Taiwan Novel Network → 𝙩 𝙬 𝙠 𝙖 𝙣 . 𝙘 𝙤 𝙢

This was a cargo ship named "Hope," belonging to the Federal Hongsheng Transportation Company, mainly responsible for cargo transportation on international trade routes.

Hongsheng Transportation Company was an old-fashioned shipping company in the Federation, possessing a considerable number of cargo ships and boasting the strongest business capabilities.

It was said that the company's background was not simple, and they even had some connection with the Federal Navy, but such things lacked concrete evidence and could be fabricated by anyone.

The sailors on the Hope were all experienced, having sailed the East Ocean for a lifetime for some, and at least several years for others, making them highly experienced.

But today, a sailor discovered something amiss, and he proactively came to the first mate's cabin and knocked on the door.

"Come in."

The first mate's voice came from inside. He was lying on the bed smoking, holding a clipboard with a sheet of letter paper on it, as if he was writing a letter.

When the sailor came in, the first mate looked up, then continued to take a puff of his cigarette, flicked the ash, and put it back in his mouth. "Wait a moment, almost done."

The sailor stood aside and waited for about a minute or so. After writing the last stroke, the first mate folded the letter and put it in an envelope.

According to their voyage, they would arrive at an international port in the southwest of the Tanfitte Continent, belonging to Slard, in about five days.

The ship was full of cargo, and their job was to deliver these goods to Slard, then stay there for a period of time, and after resupply, reload with cargo to another region. They would circle more than half of the planet, eventually crossing the three oceans, and return to the starting point from the east coast.

Such a trip could bring at least hundreds of thousands in revenue to the company.

Everyone knew that shipping could make money, and the more tense the situation like now, the more money could be made, but this business was not something anyone could do.

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

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

Then you had to have some connection with the navy, which could provide a certain degree of escort to avoid harassment from certain pirate groups.

You also had to be relatively familiar with the pirate groups at sea, otherwise it would be troublesome if they kept targeting you every time you went to sea!

And then…

In short, this was a very difficult thing to manage. The profit of shipping was indeed considerable, but the risks and various expenses were also high.

It was a business that only people with ability and connections could do.

The first mate's letter would be sent out after landing and would reach his family about two months ahead of him.

At this moment, he put the letter into a special waterproof box at hand.

"Is there something you need?" he asked the sailor.

The sailor didn't quite know how to say it. He hesitated for a while before saying, "The goods we're transporting this time seem to have some problems."

The first mate took one last puff of his cigarette and then put the butt in 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 filled with rocks."

"All filled with rocks?" The first mate's voice obviously rose a lot. "How could they all be rocks?"

"Do you know how expensive the freight for these containers is?"

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

He shook his head. He didn't believe the sailor's statement, but the sailor seemed a little nervous. "I swear, I'm not lying."

"The wind was very strong last night. When I was checking the containers today, I found that one of the containers was tilted and the box was broken."

The breaking of the container box was also quite troublesome. If the owner of the container's goods had insurance, the insurance company would harass them.

The insurance company would investigate many details of this container, of course, depending on what was inside.

If the contents of the container were damaged and insured, the insurance company would try to find fault with them to reduce their losses.

The first mate had a bit of a headache when the sailor continued, "When I climbed up to check the container, I looked inside, and it was all big rocks."

The first mate frowned upon hearing this. These containers basically had seals, and once they were opened, there would be a lot of trouble.

But if the contents could be seen through the broken box, he still planned to take a look.

Soon he and the sailor came to the container he mentioned. He could clearly see that the container was a bit deformed.

After he climbed up, secured the safety rope, and descended along the side wall to the break, he shone a flashlight inside.

Although it was dark, he could see clearly to some extent that they were all big rocks.

The soil on the break also indicated the particularity of these things.

The first mate didn't care too much at this time. He returned to the deck and said, "Maybe they're rocks containing special minerals?"

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

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

The first mate's expression finally changed. He said, "Come with me," and then quickly came to the captain's cabin.

He reported the situation discovered by the sailor to the captain. The captain was also a little curious and opened the safe, finding the list of items transported this time from a document.

"Kangfude Group Company Goods — Special Medicine — One Hundred and Fifty Boxes — Number Twenty-Five…"

The captain had worked in Hongsheng for a lifetime, with only the last year left before retirement.

This was also the last year of his sailing career. After this year, he could retire around October, without having to wait until the end of the year, and enjoy his retirement life.

Having worked in Hongsheng for a lifetime, he had long been accustomed to the company's work style. Ground inspectors would ensure that no mistakes were made, and the only thing he needed to be responsible for was to take the ship smoothly to where it was supposed to go.

In fact, he had also checked the directory when uploading, but he only checked it casually, looking at the products of those companies, all at a glance.

It was impossible for him to open these containers to see if there were these things. This directory list was only prepared in case of emergency.

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

The federal government decided to aid a batch of medical resources to the Slard people to help their front lines urgently need these supplies to save the lives of soldiers.

An extremely strong unease had begun to appear in his heart. His hands were trembling slightly. He immediately put down the documents in his hand, closed the door of the safe, and tried to make his voice sound okay, "Let's go take a look at the containers."

Not long after, there were already many people around the damaged container. The first mate had come, now the captain had also come, and many people had come to watch the excitement.

It was too boring on the ship. Besides scrubbing the deck, they would use their hands to solve it against the sea.

Those sea fish were not as picky as their girlfriends, eating everything.

So when there was excitement to watch, they all ran over, even the cook came.

Some people thought that the sailor who tied the rope was going to be unlucky, but some people thought it wasn't this matter.

The captain was lowered to the break. He looked inside, and it was indeed rocks.

He had people move his basket to the crosshead and checked it. It was indeed Kangfude Group Company's special anti-inflammatory medicine.

His face had become extremely ugly. After he came down from above, he directly asked the first mate to open a layer of containers.

The first mate hesitated a bit. "If we open it privately, will it cause some trouble after the case?"

The captain shook his head. "Open it. No matter what happens, I'll be responsible."

With the captain's words, the first mate didn't say anything. He directly took the pliers and cut off the seal, and then the sailors opened the box door of the container.

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

The captain's eyes had already turned red. "Keep opening them. Open this whole row!"

At this time, the sailors on the ship also realized that something was wrong. They immediately did as they were told, but all the containers were rocks.

Unlike the sailors' idea that "someone in the company had switched this batch of goods," the captain was considering whether they would attract the Dantella people's navy.

Generally speaking, they wouldn't.

The Dantella people had a precedent of intercepting federal merchant ships, so this time they didn't take the previous route, but thinking of the rocks inside, tens of millions of supplies turned into worthless rocks, he felt cold all over.

He couldn't even stand steady now, so he could only support himself with the first mate, asking the first mate to send him back.

Seeing the captain's condition, the first mate looked confused. "What's wrong with you?"

"Such a large-scale switch definitely has nothing to do with us, and it can't be traced back to us. Could it be that you're too worried because you're about to retire?"

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

He originally wanted to say "we're all going to be unlucky," but if the Dantella navy really attacked them, it wouldn't be "unlucky," but "dead"!

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

"I'm worried that we've become that key bait!"