Chapter 84 First Visit to the Island
In the cockpit, Tang Jingmo stared at the radar screen that had just been restored.
The area that should have shown reefs was now covered with unusual snowflakes, forming a regular geometric pattern - like the outline of some man-made structure.
"Tang Jingmo!" The cabin door was suddenly pushed open, and Lin Xiaobai rushed in, soaking wet, with water still dripping from the ends of his hair.
She wiped the seawater off her face. "The corrosion marks in the engine room are not right. The nearby sea area is polluted by highly acidic industrial wastewater. This is not an ordinary grounding at all."
"That's right, look here." Tang Jingmo gestured to Xiaobai to look at the radar screen.
Who owns this underwater structure? When was it built and what was it used for?
Questions popped up in the minds of the two people, but now was obviously not the time to answer them.
They kept the location of the underwater buildings in mind for the time being and would look for an opportunity to explore it in depth later. Haste makes waste, and Xiaobai was not in a hurry anyway.
She vaguely understood that no matter who the other party was or what kind of conspiracy he had, he could not avoid her.
Since she is the key to the matter, it will be easy.
She just needs to sit back and wait, believing that the "hand of God" behind her will definitely throw the "answer" in front of her.
"Look, comrades! We are alive!" Song Wan held onto the railing and shouted into the sea, her two braids flying in the wind.
"Mother Ocean! You have a very bad temper!"
Song Wan's noisy voice coming from outside interrupted Xiaobai's thoughts.
Tang Jingmo and Xiaobai walked onto the deck and looked at the endless sapphire and they couldn't help but take a breath at the same time.
The sea surface, which was as ferocious as a beast just now, had turned into a soft silk in an instant, shining with silver-like luster under the scorching sun.
In the distance, at the junction of the sea and the sky, a complete rainbow bridge stood tall, as if God had stamped their pass.
Song Wan opened her arms exaggeratedly, "Facing the sea, spring is in full bloom! Sea, sea, you are my hometown~"
"Come on, stop howling like a pig being slaughtered!" Gu Zhongzhang complained with a smile in his eyes.
Lin Guohua and Lin Shuhua supported each other and said, "Brother, we are the first people in the village to see the sea!"
"Yes, you are the first and I am the second!" Lin Guohua echoed.
"Brother, what about me? I don't want to be third." Xiaobai lay on the railing and teased his elder brother.
"Okay, okay, our Xiaobai is number one and will always be number one." Lin Guohua praised with a smile.
Gu Zhongzhang shook his head. Brother Lin never said "no" in front of Xiaobai.
He turned around and shouted in surprise: "Look, that's Dong'ao Island over there!"
Gu Zhongzhang pointed to a small black dot not far away.
"The supply ship is coming! The supply ship is coming!"
The children jumped barefoot among the rocks like a group of happy seabirds.
Their dark little faces were filled with pure joy, and a few brave ones had already waded into the shallows and waved to the transport ship that was slowly approaching the shore.
Lin Xiaobai held onto the railing and saw three distinct groups of people standing on the dock:
On the left are fishermen wearing patched clothes, in the middle are soldiers from the island garrison company, and on the right are commune cadres.
The three groups maintained a subtle distance between each other, as if the sea breeze was taking a detour.
"Prepare to land on the island."
Tang Jingmo adjusted his collar badge; his rank of lieutenant colonel shone coldly in the sunlight.
As soon as the gangway was lowered, Instructor Zheng of the island company stepped forward quickly and said, "Welcome to the reinforcements from the military region!"
As he saluted, his eyes swept across the captain's epaulettes on Xiaobai's shoulders, and then he looked at the peculiarly shaped metal box around her waist.
"The person in charge of the special reinforcement dispatched by the military region, Lieutenant Colonel Tang Jingmo."
Tang Jingmo's gesture in return was so standard that it could be used as a teaching material. "This is Captain Lin Xiaobai, the instructor in charge of the training of the War Dragon and Wolf King Squadrons."
There were whispers from the fishermen: "Female soldiers? Or instructors?! Mazu appeared!"
"What kind of weapon is that iron box..."
The old village chief poked the ground with a harpoon, and the discussions gradually died down.
Zhang Jianjun, the commander of the garrison company, stepped forward, his dark face expressionless, "Lieutenant Colonel Tang, you've come at the right time."
He handed over a damp duty log. "The radar station has been having problems lately."
Just as Tang Jingmo was about to take it, a middle-aged man in a blue Mao suit suddenly interrupted:
"Comrade Tang, you must have come a long way. Why don't you go to the barracks and rest first?"
He wore the badge of "Dong'ao Commune Revolutionary Committee" on his chest.
"This is Director Wang, who is in charge of local life." Instructor Zheng stepped forward and introduced.
The sea breeze swept across the dock with a salty smell. Xiaobai's eyes swept across the crowd and suddenly frowned slightly.
The Wolf King Squadron and the War Dragon Team, who were supposed to be here to support, were nowhere to be seen at this moment.
Tang Jingmo was also keen on discovering problems.
"Captain Zhang, I heard that a group of new comrades have arrived on the island recently? I wonder where they are being placed?"
Gu Xicheng deliberately concealed the true identities of the soldiers he dispatched, and erased the records of the War Dragon Squadron and the Wolf King Squadron, not to mention that these two squadrons originally belonged to Tang Jingmo and Lin Xiaobai.
This is the trump card left for them to protect themselves on the island. The fewer people know about it, the better. Others will just think of them as garrison soldiers recruited from various places.
Captain Zhang opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by Instructor Zheng's sudden and violent cough.
"Ah...some comrades have arrived." Director Wang took over the conversation and took out a handkerchief from his Zhongshan suit pocket to wipe his glasses.
"They are new here and are very enthusiastic about their work. They are repairing the electrical equipment in the back mountain."
"Back mountain? Maintenance?" Xiao Bai repeated softly. The atmosphere suddenly became gloomy. "Since when did the local comrades start to take care of military affairs? They are such busybodies!"
The dock fell into an eerie silence. A few children who were originally playing were dragged back by their parents, and the fishermen lowered their heads to tidy up their fishing nets, which did not need to be tidied at all.
Captain Zhang turned and looked toward the sea. His Adam's apple rolled twice, and he finally said in a hoarse voice, "Let's go back to the camp and rest. We'll see them later."
"Then let's go to the base first." Tang Jingmo's tone was as calm as if he was discussing dinner dishes.
But when he passed Xiaobai, his combat boots left a barely noticeable half arc track on the ground - a standard tactical warning mark.
Xiaobai wiped away the traces on the ground with his footsteps in a natural manner, and secretly observed Director Wang out of the corner of his eye.
Captain Zhang suddenly coughed and said, "Instructor Zheng, I will take the two comrades to the No. 3 barracks for resettlement."
When he turned to the commune cadres, his tone was obviously much colder: "Director Wang, can the supply be counted within three days this time? The last batch of compressed biscuits was left to mold before they were remembered to send it to us."
Director Wang adjusted his glasses, his eyes narrowed behind the lenses: "Captain Zhang, what you said sounds like our Revolutionary Committee deliberately delayed the soldiers' meals."
The corners of his mouth were drawn up, like dried jellyfish skin.
“Bang!”
A lump of wet mud suddenly stuck to Director Wang's shiny forehead.
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