Chapter 1581: Just Lucky
Xiao Peng wasn't being modest when he said he couldn't handle this kind of work. Large shipwreck operations like these were the specialty of Titan Salvage. Three of his men, including Cabaye, had originally come from Titan and were now working for Daxia's salvage company in Algeria. Xiao Peng had no one familiar with this field.
Xiao Peng really has no experience in salvaging such a large shipwreck! How did they find him?
Ishii Kevin explained: "Mr. Xiao, we are right to find you. There is something very important to us on that ship, and now we need you to find it."
Xiao Peng thought seriously for a moment and said, "Mr. Ishii, I hope you can tell Mr. Ono that I really can't do this."
"Can't do it?" Kevin Ishii asked puzzledly.
Xiao Peng said sincerely, "Mr. Ishii, to be honest, people nicknamed me the 'Salvage King.' Actually, I know my own abilities. There are three reasons why I can salvage shipwrecks: first, I'm lucky; second, I'm lucky; and third, I'm still lucky."
Ishii Kevin was stunned for a moment before smiling and saying, "Xiao Sang, you're too modest. Who wouldn't envy your ability to search for shipwrecks? It's as if you know the location of every ship in the ocean!"
Although he said this with a smile, there was clearly a temptation in his words.
Xiao Peng laughed heartily. "They told me before that Japanese people are rigid and have no sense of humor. If anyone says that to me again, I'll slap them in the face! I thought only Americans didn't believe in science. Are you all like that too?"
After laughing, he said seriously, "Actually, my shipwreck salvage is no different from everyone else's. I just research and search for clues, then slowly search. My crew are all skilled, but definitely not the best in the business. While the equipment on my ship is relatively complete, it's definitely not the best. There are countless ocean exploration companies with better equipment than mine, not to mention established companies like Odyssey, but even the newly established ones in Europe. The equipment on my ship is standard, and there's hardly any worse. So what's the key to my ability to find shipwrecks?"
"What is it?" Kevin Ishii asked hurriedly.
Xiao Peng said with a slightly helpless expression, "I told you the exact answer, but you just didn't believe it. It's really just luck. Don't worry, listen to my explanation and you'll understand why I said that."
Ishii Kevin didn't bother translating with Ono Akihiko and asked Xiao Peng, "Mr. Xiao, please explain."
Xiao Peng explained: "Let me give you an example. I don't know if Mr. Ono knows about my... um, career?"
Ishii Kevin smiled and said, "Mr. Xiao, I have done the preparatory work. Of course, I know a little about Mr. Xiao's story."
He was being modest, of course. He knew more than just a little bit. He had read the information about Xiao Peng countless times!
Xiao Peng nodded and said, "Then you should know that I once salvaged a Spanish shipwreck called the 'Capitana'."
"'The Queen's bride price', right?" Ishii Kevin replied.
Xiao Peng nodded. "I found the information about the Capitana in the General Archives of the West Indies in Seville, Spain. That archive has been around for nearly 250 years since Charles III founded it. Countless people have visited it over the years, and countless others have consulted its materials. But no one has paid attention to the information about the Capitana. Is this just my good luck?"
Ishii Kevin said: "This shows that Mr. Xiao has done a thorough research."
Xiao Peng nodded and continued, "It's not over yet. According to the information I found, the Capitana disappeared in a storm in the Atlantic Ocean east of Florida. So I originally planned to look for it there. Who would have thought that it sank in the mid-Atlantic near the Strait of Gibraltar? Do you think I was lucky?"
Ishii Kevin opened his mouth several times, not knowing how to respond.
Xiao Peng continued, "What's even funnier is this: I went there originally intending to look for a Portuguese warship. But I couldn't find it no matter how hard I looked. I was so frustrated, so I just went on a trip to Africa. But I have so many people under me who are paid by me, I couldn't let them sit idle, right? I asked them to continue looking for the Portuguese warship. But when I came back from Africa, they didn't find the Portuguese warship, but they did find the Capitana."
Upon hearing this, Kevin Ishii said, "That's not right! What I heard was that before you left for Africa, you gave your ship a few coordinates and asked them to search for the sunken ship at those locations."
Xiao Peng paid close attention to the crew's health, including their mental health. After all, ships are constantly at sea, making them prone to problems. Therefore, the ship maintained a strong medical team, consisting of Dr. Hou, Dr. Xing, and Dr. Sun. Dr. Sun committed suicide after the anthrax incident. The reason remains unknown. In reality, Dr. Sun was a CIA agent, acting on orders from Kevin Ishii to carry out the poisoning.
As for how Dr. Sun got involved with the CIA, this is something that has never been understood in China. He has no experience of traveling abroad and no unidentified assets.
Actually, it's not that complicated: the number of people with secret missions in Daxia is not as small as people think, and many of them hide it very well.
Hearing Kevin Ishii's words, Xiao Peng nodded. "I did give them a few coordinates. But anyone with even a passing knowledge of the Age of Exploration would have realized those coordinates corresponded to Portugal's South American route. I had to keep them occupied, didn't I? Isn't it just luck that they finally found that shipwreck? We have a saying in Daxia: 'You only see the thief eating the meat, not the thief being beaten.' You only found the shipwreck I found, not my countless failures."
"Is that so?" Ishii Kevin was a little unconvinced: "But you have the title of 'Shark Whisperer'!"
Xiao Peng laughed after hearing this. "Mr. Ishii, if others believe it, that's fine, but you believe it too? Sharks aren't that brutal, okay? Look at those world-class divers, how many haven't had the experience of swimming with sharks? Even when great white sharks attack humans, it's mostly out of curiosity. Chemicals that can stabilize great white sharks are used to calm them down. The American CIA was the first to conduct this research. They used this for military purposes, but it didn't have much military effect. Instead, it made a huge contribution to civilian use. Haven't you heard about this?"
Kevin Ishii became sensitive when he heard the word 'CIA'. He quickly waved his hands and said, "No, no, no, I haven't heard of anything!"
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