The makeshift wooden shelves were filled with seawater-soaked cardboard boxes, with a passageway in the middle for customs to enter.
"LEGo?"
Xia Yu didn't recognize the logo printed on the kraft paper packaging box, but an Asian crew member next to her recognized it at a glance.
“Lego, it’s Lego. My son likes it, but it’s just too expensive.”
It turned out to be Lego. Xia Yu had heard of this kind of plastic building block toy. Its square shape and mosaic-like effect when assembled can capture the hearts of children and even adults.
However, as this guy said, this thing is not cheap at all.
The more classic series usually cost several hundred or even thousands of dollars, but I never expected that he would just sail out a container at sea like this.
"Let's open the box and take a look. If it's plastic, the damage shouldn't be too serious."
"No wonder it didn't sink; it's plastic."
The group took turns opening a cardboard box, which contained two sealed black boxes with a disc-shaped image printed on them.
"Isn't that the Millennium Falcon?!"
Anyone who's seen Star Wars will recognize this kind of spaceship, and even those who haven't will instinctively feel that it's very expensive.
"So, how much does one cost?"
"Let me check. This internet is really slow. Here it is, $799.99 excluding tax."
Goodness, this box of plastic is worth more than a limited edition CZ79. Looks like he's going to make a fortune.
However, it's not all Millennium Falcon; there are other series as well.
According to the documents found, the container was shipped from Danmai to be delivered to the Wanfei distributor. Unfortunately, it encountered bad weather and was thrown off the ship until it met Xia Yu and the others.
Half of the crew returned to their posts and continued the journey, while the rest counted and dried the harvest, thus saving time.
The inventory results showed that there were 10 Millennium Falcon sets in total, 300 sets with more than 1,000 pieces (parts), plus the basic models with several hundred more pieces, with a total value of around tens of thousands of US dollars.
Even though there's a discount for soaking in seawater, according to the rule of "whoever finds it gets a share," everyone can still get tens of thousands of US dollars. However, since Xia Yu is the discoverer, he gets an extra share.
"I don't need the money, but these building blocks would make a nice gift."
Xia Yu didn't care about the ten thousand yuan; he found something that represented luck more meaningful. He took his share at the price he found online.
Then they practiced shooting, firing bullets at the target ship one after another. After emptying all the magazines, they didn't see any new container blind boxes.
Xia Yu wasn't greedy, and continued to share the joy of the day with everyone in the restaurant.
Since half of the crew members had children at home, they preferred to keep the toys rather than exchange them for money. So the captain decided to split the toys equally, and those who wanted money could find their own way to sell them.
This was a safer approach. The first mate said he knew a ship had found a container of cigarettes, and because it was well-sealed, the cigarettes hadn't gotten damp. Little did he know that these people would dock and sell them directly at the port, resulting in the local authorities arresting and confiscating them all.
In comparison, toys are not controlled items, but they may be taxed if they are too expensive.
After dinner, he returned to his room. He usually went to bed early because the internet speed was too slow, but today he had something to do and didn't want to go to bed so early.
So, shall we just go all out on this Millennium Falcon set?
Forget it, with over 7000 parts, we probably wouldn't be able to finish assembling it even by the time we reach the Kunluga. Let's just pick one with fewer parts and be more reliable.
Xia Yu casually swiped through the list and selected a sailboat with a dragon boat style, which was priced at less than $200 online.
Not bad. We can't afford a warship, but we can still build a Lego toy boat and put it in his big villa.
As Xia Yu thought this, his hands worked quickly. He only realized after unpacking the outer packaging that more than 2,000 parts was quite a lot of work.
Let's take our time and grind it out; there's still half the shipping schedule left!
The next day, because he had gone to bed three hours late, Xia Yu got up with a yawn, feeling that he should sleep a little longer this afternoon.
“Mr. Sherlock, we need to talk.”
At breakfast time, the captain sat on Xia Yu's island with his tray.
"Oh? Go ahead, I'm listening."
Xia Yu cheered up.
"Here's the thing, today we're heading into the Gulf of Gineya, the area most prone to pirate activity in West Africa. The only weapon our crew can use is water cannons. If we do encounter pirates, we'll have to rely on you."
Opening blind boxes yesterday was quite fun, but now we have to get serious.
The cargo ship was too slow. If the pirates ambushed them in speedboats along the route, they would definitely not be able to outrun them. Only bullets could make these bandits back down.
"Leave it to me, I have a way to deal with them."
Xia Yu said with great confidence.
He personally escorted the ship precisely to deal with situations like this!
He had previously conducted an investigation and found that the area was robbed by pirates hundreds of times every year, with many losing money, ships, and goods, and even their lives.
Those who take chances and are reluctant to hire armed security deserve it, but those who hire security and still get robbed are truly unlucky.
Xia Yu could imagine what kind of treatment they would receive; it seemed that running a ship was not such a safe business after all.
Fortunately, he didn't go to the navy back then, nor did he switch to maritime affairs, even though the salaries of captains and first officers looked very attractive at the time.
After breakfast, Xia Yu reduced his training intensity, as he needed to conserve his energy for dealing with unexpected events.
The crew still helped tamp the bullets, but since they had made a small fortune with Xia Yu, they refused any tips he offered.
"Mr. Sherlock, how many pirates has this gun taken down?"
While Xia Yu was maintaining the firearms, the Bassian crew member who had helped load the bullets earlier looked at him expectantly.
Well... if I say I haven't taken down a single one, won't that damage my image in the eyes of the crew?
"I just switched to this one, didn't you see I'm still here getting used to it!"
Xia Yu changed the subject, saying that he had a record with guns, but most of them were rebels, and he had never encountered pirates.
However, these black pirates, like their land-based counterparts, are armed with the most basic AKs and RPGs. The better ones are divided into machine gunners with PKMs or snipers with SVDs.
It's truly a complete Soviet-made family of weapons, but its ruggedness and durability make it well-suited for the marine environment, ensuring continuous firepower even after being submerged in seawater.
After maintaining the gun, Xia Yu went to have lunch. After eating, he didn't forget to take the radio back to his room. But it was only the first day. Surely no pirate would be so foolish as to try to open a business there!
Just as Xia Yu was taking a nap, the radio suddenly went off.
"Calling Sherlock, calling Sherlock, there is a small boat three kilometers ahead of us."
The captain sounded anxious; such a small boat shouldn't be on the shipping lanes, and it had gone too far to go fishing.
"Sherlock received, I'm coming right now."
Xia Yu jolted awake, got up, put on a bulletproof vest, grabbed the gun case, and ran out of the cabin.
In the cockpit, where the view was best, he took the captain's binoculars and looked in the direction he was pointing.
It was a modified fishing boat with three outboard motors, which was less than the four or five large outboard motors. But those outboard motors could carry several tons of frozen cargo, while the larger boats only needed to carry combat personnel.
No one has been seen carrying a gun yet, but Xia Yu has a bad feeling.
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