The two chatted for a while longer before ending the brief meeting.
Xia Yu got up and returned to his captain's suite to begin planning the next operation.
As the boss, with the branch office in operation, he had already grasped the first phase on the ship. He was still keeping an eye on the second combat patrol. Seeking stability was only one aspect; another was that he had other plans.
Without the cover provided by the Jihuo and Haiyan satellites, Xia Yu couldn't have disappeared for weeks at a time like he did in the early days of his business; his satellite phone would ring several times a day.
He received calls from various companies under his control, as well as from clients and friends. His wife was at home resting during her pregnancy, and he couldn't afford to be missing for too long.
Now that a dock landing ship and a deep-sea research vessel are operating in the same sea area, Xia Yu can take advantage of the time difference, board the ship to rest and wait for the system to complete its preparations before looking for the next suitable target.
After temporarily abandoning the heavy cruiser Kaohsiung, his target this time became the only one of the two largest battleships in history in terms of tonnage—Musashi-Odate.
Yes, that's the one that took more than 20 torpedoes to sink.
"Four years ago, Mr. Paul's Octopus discovered the Musashi, but we had been searching for it for eight years before that."
A few days later, when Xia Yu was having dinner with Joseph on the Haiyan, he brought up this topic.
The ocean, which covers 71% of the Earth's surface, is incredibly vast. Even with the approximate location information left over from that time, the Sibuyan Sea, which is 204 kilometers long from north to south and 120 kilometers wide from east to west, is not the narrow Strait of Malacca.
With Paul's financial support, Vulcan's team searched for eight years before finally finding the Musashi before his death.
One generation plants the trees, another enjoys the shade. Even if Xia Yu can't put the Black Pearl into a bottle like in the movie "Pirates of the Caribbean," he can still place it on the bronze shipyard as a collectible.
However, before that, he needs to collect more than 70% of the fragments.
According to video footage taken by rov, the battleship was completely destroyed when it was sunk, with debris of various sizes covering an area of three to four hundred meters in diameter on the seabed.
The workload is not a problem, the problem is that he collects all the fragments but the completeness is stuck at 69%.
Otherwise, Xia Yu would have to go to Japan to cut a piece off the ruins of the Yamato Hotel to meet the minimum requirements for the renovation.
That would be more complicated, because even though the Musashi's location at a depth of about 1,000 meters is not as popular as some of the shallow waters off the coast of Southeast Asia that have become diving hotspots, it has attracted the interest of many shipwreck exploration companies over the years.
Basically, every year or two, a research vessel would come to explore. If you don't want to cause any paranormal events, Xia Yu should disassemble the Musashi after its maintenance is completed, print the parts from the original wreckage, age them, and then put them back in their original positions.
Small pieces of wreckage are fine if they're gone, but large pieces are absolutely essential.
Before his trip to Tongxian, he stockpiled 250,000 tons of high-grade iron ore in the storage warehouse.
There's no way around it; scrap steel is too expensive. The international price is over $300 per ton, while iron ore with an iron content of over 60% only costs $50.
Not to mention that Xia Yu got the goods directly from Afica, and he managed to get the price down to less than $10 million.
That's right, 60% of what's considered refined grain in the system is already considered high-quality grain. The uranium concentrate used to purify high-abundance uranium-235 is even more harsh on the throat than cornmeal.
"That's why Paul sold Vulcan and the Petrel to me together. We will continue his unfinished work."
Xia Yu put down his knife and fork and said.
So many warships and submarines sank during World War II, but only a few can be located. They still have a lot of work to do.
"I have always firmly believed this: if you hadn't taken over, the Haiyan would likely have been sold to the Navy at a low price and used for military purposes."
Joseph wasn't flattering him; he was simply stating his guess.
After listening and thinking about it carefully, Xia Yu realized it was true. Jody didn't like military equipment and marine scientific research, and Paul's assets were all on the list of assets available for sale.
The Octopus needs to be renovated and its price reduced in order to be sold, while the Swallow doesn't need any further equipment upgrades, but it will still be subject to price reductions.
If the US Navy were to intervene, they could potentially secure an insider price by leveraging some personal connections.
So this means Xia Yu has essentially snatched .navy away for the second time, they just didn't know it themselves.
“Research vessels should be used for scientific research. Since their annual budget is so high, let them buy new vessels.”
Xia Yu spread his hands and said.
If you're not short of money, don't compete with these small business owners for secondhand equipment. Building new equipment can even boost the civilian shipbuilding industry!
Well, it seems their civilian shipbuilding industry has almost disappeared. Compared to the explosive growth during World War II, the decline is not just a little bit; it's truly pathetic.
"That would cost three to five hundred million US dollars to buy a littoral combat ship."
Joseph, an American, chimed in with his complaints, saying that everyone knows the US military is squandering money, the president sent people to investigate, and then nothing happened.
Such taboo topics are only discussed overseas. However, once this scientific expedition is over, the entire Wurkan team will move to Afica and leave the United States for good.
The expedition team members were fine with being at home all over the world, but they still hesitated a bit about sending their families to the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.
However, Xia Yu promised to invest in building an international school in Kongluga that includes primary, middle, and high school sections, so that their children could attend school and their spouses could be provided with jobs.
Then what are you waiting for? Just move! Prices in the US are getting higher every day, and in Afica, you'll not only get a raise, but the cost of living will also be lower.
Xia Yu stated that building an international school is necessary, as the number of employees has increased dramatically and family issues have become more prominent, especially the issue of children's schooling.
The employees have children, and so does the boss. Xia Yu's original idea was to let Xiao Youzi stay in China to attend primary school, but his father's businesses are all in Afica.
It might be more appropriate to let him study at Komlujah and become classmates with the children of the employees, and then fly between Europe and Asia during winter and summer vacations.
"To be honest, the littoral combat ship is quite suitable for PMSC, but it's puzzling that the US Navy uses it."
Modularizing vehicles is already a bit ahead of its time, let alone warships. .navy has spent so much money to prove that this approach is not viable, and for the sake of the shipbuilding industry, they can't even freeze orders to stop losses. This embarrassment is something that foreigners have to make of!
"So we still love the warships of the last century and want to find their final resting place."
Joseph doesn't understand the modern US Navy either, so let's just explore their World War II warships!
After the conversation ended, Xia Yu returned to his captain's suite, connected to the Haiyan's network, and video-chatted with his wife and son until night fell before preparing to disembark.
"Splash splash"
The helicopter left the helipad and flew quickly toward the Jihuo ship, but after flying only a few kilometers, it turned and headed toward the Xibuyan Sea.
After flying to 13 degrees 7 minutes north latitude and 122 degrees 32 minutes east longitude, the AS500 landed on the folding helipad that emerged from the sea.
With his fennec fox tucked away, Xia Yu entered the Nautilus through the conning hatch.
First, the submarine's battery was replaced, and then it rapidly descended, quickly reaching the seabed a thousand meters below.
The modified double-layered titanium alloy hull showed no deformation whatsoever under pressure of 100 atmospheres. The system data indicates that the Nautilus can dive to a depth of 2000 meters; thanks to its lavish use of materials regardless of cost, it has become the deepest-diving submarine outside of manned submersibles.
However, without the assistance of RAV4, it was still impossible to "salvage" the shipwrecks and warships that had sunk 2,000 meters below the surface.
"call out"
The remotely operated vehicle on the bow was ejected with a long string of bubbles, and after turning on its searchlight, it continued to explore downwards, trailing a long cable.
The first thing Xia Yu saw on the screen was the Type 93 15-meter baseline inverted image stereo rangefinder located on the bridge. This Nikon-made device could provide firing parameters for enemy ships 41 kilometers away for the 460mm main gun.
I wonder if, once it's all set up, it will be able to be disassembled and used to view the moon.
Record the coordinates, and RAV extends its robotic arm to grab:
"Swish"
The rangefinder vanished completely, followed by the main gun turret, and then the chrysanthemum insignia on the bow...
[Project: Musashi Warship]
Completeness: 31.3% (Unrecoverable)
Despite working until dawn, Xia Yu had only managed to collect a little over 30% of the ship's hull.
Fighting off sleepiness, he typed a few words on the keyboard and brought up a seabed photo displayed on another screen by the Remus 6000 AUV multibeam imaging sonar.
Compared to the initial photo, the remaining Musashi wreckage is now less than 50% of what it was originally.
So it's going to be difficult to even reach 60% this time?
It seems he has no choice but to go to Japan. Two weeks have passed; the Maritime Self-Defense Force personnel should have withdrawn by now.
Xia Yu could also try his luck near Aomori. He would be satisfied if he could gather 10% to 20% of the F-35A fragments. He wouldn't ask for too much, because that was unrealistic.
He got up and went to the kitchen, yawning as he fried two eggs and two sausages. He then used a high-powered induction cooker to boil a packet of instant noodles.
There's no time to go back to the Focus Fire for breakfast, so I'll just have to grab a bite on the Nautilus.
After eating and washing up, Xia Yu went straight to sleep. When he opened his eyes again, it was already evening.
The weasel, whose culinary skills were lacking, simply had a hot pot for dinner. After eating his fill, he continued working. Once the integrity level reached 62.4%, there was no more Musashi wreckage within a radius of three or four hundred meters.
This shows how brutal that naval battle was. The Japanese spent 100 million yen to build the ultimate bomb-resistant ship, but it was still sunk by the American aircraft.
With that money, it would be better to build three aircraft carriers. Wars cannot be won with ultimate weapons.
However, once the Musashi is fully prepared, it will undoubtedly be a fine collectible, after all, giant warships and cannons are the epitome of a man's romance.
Xia Yu's original plan of 2 fighters, 4 aircraft carriers, 8 cruisers, 16 destroyers, and 32 submarines now seems a bit conservative. It would require 4 fighters, 8 aircraft carriers, 16 cruisers, 32 destroyers, and 64 submarines, doubling the number to a total of 124 warships.
After ascending to a certain altitude, he took one last sonar image, recovered the RAV and AUV, and began to surface, finally returning to the Firepower before dawn.
Instant noodles are a rare treat, but the breakfasts prepared earlier are always delicious. In addition, they patrol the waters of Southeast Asia and receive supplies from the Tai County Navy helicopters, so there is no shortage of fresh ingredients on board. The naval cook brought by Xia Yu is performing steadily.
He could choose whichever ship he wanted: the Jihuo for Chinese food or the Haiyan for Western food.
However, I won't be able to enjoy it during my stay in Katomoto, so I'll pack a few meals to take with me!
"Old Zhao, how have things been these past few days?"
They were gone for several days, and before catching up on sleep, Xia Yu had to ask Zhao Yan about the situation on the ship.
“Our drones spotted a small group of pirates searching for targets at sea, but their equipment was far inferior to the gang we took down in Malacca.”
Old Zhao reported to Xia Yu.
This guy clearly made his first fortune through piracy, bought weapons and equipment to expand his business, but unfortunately he ran into Concentrated Firepower Defense as soon as he started his transformation.
"So you captured them alive?"
"Yes, the unmanned combat boats shut up after firing a burst of machine gun fire. Yesterday, when we were delivering supplies, the helicopter took them all back to Puxian County."
From the day before yesterday until this morning, Lao Zhao had been unable to contact his boss, but he shouldn't ask questions he shouldn't ask, and it's not too late to report now.
"It seems the pirates in Natuna are quite sensible; they're willing to talk as long as they don't encounter Absayev."
Xia Yu concluded.
Pirate gangs that combine elements of anti-government forces and extremist groups are ruthless killers.
Paying the ransom and beheading them, refusing to pay and being beheaded even more – the only word to describe it is "madness".
These Filipinos fight their own people, Indians, Malays, and people from the county seat, and they don't hold back when they encounter foreigners either. A couple of years ago, they brought an elderly German couple to their deaths.
Hopefully, sailing is fine, but it's best to avoid waters frequented by pirates. The coast guard isn't like the police on shore, whom you can easily reach with a phone call.
"Boss, when we were contacting Singapore, we heard that they recently appeared on the coastline of Malaya."
Old Zhao added.
During their deployment at sea, they exchanged intelligence with the county every day. Xia Yu was the last to know because these celestial beings were not on the Jihuo ship.
"Haven't they heard about what happened in Malacca? How dare they extend their reach here?"
The annihilation of a pirate gang of several hundred people would be big news in Southeast Asia, and Abu Sayyaf would definitely hear about it in the Philippines.
Coming over here after all this clearly shows they underestimate the strength of the concentrated fire defense!
But this is only one of the reasons. The main reason for the attacks on the coast of Malay is that the Philippines is too poor. There is not much profit to be made as a pirate locally, so they have to target merchant shipping routes.
"This was a trial run; they only attacked a Malay fishing boat and did not attack any merchant ships."
Old Zhao continued.
"How many ships are there, and what weapons do they have?"
Xia Yu asked for more details.
"One boat, five men, all armed with AKs, boarded the boat and kidnapped the captain and first mate."
As he spoke, Lao Zhao produced a warning issued by the Information Sharing Center of the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Anti-Piracy and Armed Hijacking in Asia, with a map marking the specific location.
"This was an advance reconnaissance mission. They attacked fishing boats, not merchant ships. Their target wasn't money, but the captains and first mates who were familiar with the area."
Based on the available information, Xia Yu made his own deductions.
This organization may act erratically, but it still seems to have some semblance of order.
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