Chapter 287: The Wealth That Can’t Be Gained
Xiao Peng propped his feet up on the table, looking languid. "I haven't discovered the identity of the ship we're on yet. My partner, a renowned antique collector and historian, has made a bold guess based on these gold coins: it might belong to John Cabot. John Cabot was a Venetian navigator who sailed to North America in 1497. He was a rather careless man, however. After arriving in Canada, he mistook it for Asia and constantly urged the British to claim sovereignty over Canada. To this day, no one knows where he landed in North America. Furthermore, his whereabouts remain a mystery. In 1498, Cabot was granted permission to sail to North America again. His original crew consisted of five ships and three hundred crew members, but one malfunctioned and went to Ireland, leaving the remaining four to vanish. So, Cabot's fate is a matter of speculation. Some speculate that he returned to Venice with a fortune. If this ship truly belongs to John Cabot, it would solve a historical puzzle."
The barrage of comments continues to refresh.
"Who cares whose boat this is?"
"That's right! We are concerned about the wealth on board!"
"I just saw a huge pile of gold being fished out!"
"I saw it too!"
"Let's see what salvaging gold looks like!"
Xiao Peng shook his head. "Ah, what can I say to you people? You only care about money. Didn't you see several 'Xu Xingde's Cheating Lionfish' when I was live-streaming the salvage process just now? They're more interesting than gold. Now we're just finishing up. Forget it, let me show you!"
Walter pointed the camera at the monitor, which now showed the ROV sucking scattered gold coins into the machine like a vacuum cleaner.
"Most of the people on my ship are Chinese. Chinese people are meticulous in their work. Look, it's like the autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves. No gold coin will be left untouched!" Xiao Peng exclaimed.
"How much gold was scooped up!"
"Oh my god, there are so many treasures under the sea!"
Xiao Peng yawned. "The harvest wasn't as much as I expected. We only pulled up about a dozen tons of gold coins. As you can see, the work isn't finished yet, and we're still salvaging. Right now, the gold is worth about 50 million euros per ton, but that's not the right amount of money. After all, I can sell the good-quality gold coins directly as antique coins, and the price will definitely exceed the price of the gold itself!"
"Only a dozen tons? The anchor is showing off again."
"This is the deep-sea salvage industry. If you can salvage a good ship, you'll have a lifetime of food and drink!"
"If I could find a shipwreck like this, I'd buy one!"
"The difference between me and the anchor isn't a boat, what I lack is the money to buy the boat!"
Xiao Peng stretched himself and said, "Anyway, once I sell this gold, I've finally gotten over the financial crisis."
Someone asked in the barrage: "Host, is it okay if we also want to engage in underwater salvage?"
"Of course!" Xiao Peng replied, "But you have to find a good working area."
As he spoke, he asked Walda to focus the camera on the monitor. He then took out a cigarette and lit it. "You're like me, working in the Mediterranean every day. What kind of cargo are most common in shipwrecks here? Bottles, jars, gold and silver coins. But if you want to find valuable shipwrecks, you first need to understand the so-called 'ancient waterways.' Ancient navigation technology was much inferior to modern technology, so naturally there were more shipwrecks. Finding ancient waterways means you have a greater chance of finding shipwrecks."
"Then according to the laws and regulations of our country, private salvage companies are not allowed to exist. Does that mean that we cannot engage in this industry in our country? When we talk about ancient waterways, including the Sulu Sea, Sulawesi Sea, and Banda Sea in the south of the Philippines, as well as the Java Sea and the Strait of Malacca in Indonesia, are all ancient maritime trade routes. What these places have in common is that the water is turbulent and the climate is harsh, which makes it very easy for ships to sink. Therefore, there are more shipwrecks there than in the Mediterranean, and more importantly, there are more valuable goods there. You see, I find those shipwrecks with pottery here, but I just ignore them. But what about over there? Any ship is full of sea-salvaged porcelain. Finding a ship means that you may have food and clothing for the rest of your life. Especially the Sulu Sea. Although it is an inland sea of the Philippines, as an important shipping route for the Far East and Australia and New Zealand, the wealth there may be more than you can imagine." Xiao Peng replied.
"That's nonsense. If there are so many sunken ships in the Philippine waters, why don't they salvage them?"
"Isn't this like begging with a golden bowl in hand?"
"How do you know this if you don't salvage in Asia?"
Xiao Peng looked at the words on the barrage and said, "You only saw me salvaging, but you didn't see the preparations I made. Let me tell you, if you really want to get involved in marine salvage, I recommend a place. The Cousteau family has a private archive that records all the information their family has accumulated over seventy years of marine work. If you're interested, you can contact the Cousteau family to check out the information there."
He said this with a smirk on his face. He knew that the experience of looking up information naked shouldn't be enjoyed by himself alone.
"As for why I don't go back to Asia to salvage?" Xiao Peng sighed. "There are so many shipwrecks in the ocean that it's impossible to salvage them all! There are many areas of concentrated shipwrecks around the world, such as the Arafura Sea and Coral Sea in northern Australia and the Bass Strait in the south; the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea in the Indian Ocean; the Gulf of Oman and the Red Sea in the Arabian Sea; the North Sea and the Baltic Sea in the northern Atlantic Ocean. Of course, we can't forget the Caribbean Sea between North and South America... I really want to salvage all over the world, but I really can't do it!"
He had just finished speaking when he heard Xiao Zhou's voice on the intercom: "Boss, the seabed is almost cleaned up, ROV is requesting to return."
"What does 'almost' mean?" Xiao Peng asked puzzledly as he picked up the intercom.
Xiao Zhou replied, "It means that all the gold coins have been salvaged. Should we continue searching?"
Xiao Peng turned on the intercom and said, "No need to continue searching. ROVs don't charge for going underwater, do they? The ROV is returning now! Moro, have the logistics staff prepare the champagne and cigars. Chen Cheng, have your men weigh the recovered gold coins and sort them according to their appearance!"
"yes!"
After hearing this, Xiao Peng said to the camera, "This salvage operation has lasted for seventeen hours and is finally coming to an end. I was thinking of turning off the live broadcast, but then I decided to continue it a little longer. Come on, I'll take you to see my salvage results! I'll show you what it feels like to have a huge pile of glittering gold!"
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