Chapter 58: I'm Here to Be a Vulture
Constantine and Gabriel happily returned home, leaving behind a pile of seafood: it was really not a comfortable thing to stay at sea for so long.
"Master, this job doesn't seem as easy as they say." Felix said after watching Constantine's ship sail away.
Boko nodded and said, "According to Constantine, the people on the other ship don't really support the 'observer' work."
Although Constantine said this was a "boring and easy job", he also told Xiao Peng a lot of rules.
For example, we are not allowed to approach within one nautical mile of the anchoring position of the "Decisive Mediterranean" ship. Our daily job is to use binoculars to keep an eye on the "Decisive Mediterranean" ship to prevent them from doing anything that damages the ecological environment of the protected area.
After hearing these rules, Xiao Peng understood: this is an image project.
If they want to do something, can't they just do it secretly at night? Observers can't watch them 24 hours a day.
Although Xiao Peng could see what they were doing on the boat, he was too lazy to look!
Their approach was exactly what Xiao Peng wanted.
He hadn't come here to be an observer. He was curious about what these people were looking for on the seabed and how they were looking for it.
Each salvage company would keep its salvage plans and targets secret to avoid being targeted by other salvage companies. If they didn't need to search for shipwrecks in the Scandola Reserve, they would probably never tell the diving association until the results were known.
This is done because some small salvage companies do not have the ability and patience to search for shipwreck information, so they simply follow the large salvage companies to look for treasures, find the work locations of the large salvage companies, and then work simultaneously in the waters near their work.
After all, a shipwreck belongs to whoever finds it first.
Such salvage companies are notorious in the industry, but no one can do anything about them: as long as they follow the rules and maintain a safe distance, they are not breaking the law.
People in the industry affectionately call such companies "vultures", describing them as greedy like scavengers!
And Xiao Peng came here this time to act as a "vulture"!
The search for the "Mediterranean Victory" was no secret, but no one followed them. This was because even the majority of the diving association did not think highly of their search for the wreck.
The Scandola Sanctuary is located between mainland France and Corsica. If there were a trove of ancient shipwrecks so close to mainland France, it would surely be no secret. Someone would have been searching long ago. Why wait until they did? Furthermore, Victory in the Mediterranean clearly stated that they were searching for a shipwreck nearly a century old. This modern shipwreck isn't the Titanic, so what's worth salvaging?
Many people speculated that the people behind "The Victory in the Mediterranean" had been silent for too many years and could no longer sustain themselves, so they decided to try their luck by finding a sunken ship.
Xiao Peng glanced at the Deep Sea Clover, a Beneteau Sile fishing boat converted into a workboat. Several people were busy on board.
Fishing boats look very similar to yachts, but they are actually two different things.
Yachts are luxurious, high-speed, and spacious, while fishing boats are relatively slow, but they offer greater stability and fuel efficiency for the convenience of anglers. Unlike the Derridas' yacht, which consumed 1,500 liters of fuel in just three or four hours, using fishing boats for underwater research is quite common.
Xiao Peng spotted an old man on the boat observing them through a telescope. He briefly considered greeting the man, but then thought better of it. Instead, he had Boko bring out a sun lounger and set it up on the deck. He then lay down under the awning on the exterior bridge and began to read.
"Captain, what are you doing?" Felix asked Xiao Peng.
Xiao Peng waved his hand. "What else can I do? Even a fool can see that I'm just lying down and resting! Bo Ke, go get the outdoor windproof stove and the canned LPG ready. I'll make something to eat later so we can fill our bellies first."
"What about me?" Felix looked at Xiao Peng expectantly.
"You? Clean the deck again!" Xiao Peng looked at Felix and said, "Then wash your hands thoroughly!"
Felix walked back to the cabin with a grimace.
Bo Ke brought out the windproof stove and said, "Mr. Xiao, you brought the stove with you, but why did you also bring such a strange big iron pot?"
Xiao Peng said, "I bought this specifically to put on the boat. You're the only one who finds it strange. We Chinese are most familiar with this kind of pot."
Western food is different from Chinese food. They use different pots to cook different foods. They use a soup pot to cook pasta, a frying pan to fry steak, and a frying pan to stew. There are also various kinds of knives: every Western family has several kitchen knives, and each knife has different uses.
Chinese food is much simpler. A large round-bottomed iron pot and a large square kitchen knife can almost complete all the work in the kitchen.
"Let's see what good stuff we have." Xiao Peng opened the fresh-keeping box left by Constantine: "Hey, my god, there are quite a lot of good stuff!"
The fresh-keeping box was filled with all kinds of seafood. Not only fish, but also squid, octopus, shrimp, and the like. Xiao Peng thought for a moment and said, "Bo Ke, pick out the shrimp and the squid. Put the rest in the freezer. We'll have a simple lunch today. Save the rest for later."
Boko blinked. "Isn't this a protected area with limited fishing regulations? Where did he get so much seafood?"
Xiao Peng laughed and said, "Come on, when have you French ever been so law-abiding? Didn't you see the small trawl net and fishing rods on Constantine's deck?"
After hearing this, Boko said angrily: "Damn Maasai! Rude Maasai!"
Xiao Peng said happily: "I should record what you said and let the Maasai people listen to it."
Boko was horrified when he heard this. Xiao Peng continued, "Besides, I said 'French', not 'Marseilles'. This also includes those of you who came from Paris."
Now it was Boko's turn to be happy: "Xiao, now I can record this conversation and use it to blackmail you!"
After spending these few days together, the relationship between Boko and Xiao Peng has actually improved a lot. After all, Xiao Peng prefers chatting with Boko to playing with the little brat Felix.
After hearing what Boko said, Xiao Peng shook his head. "Blackmailing me? You're overthinking it! What I just said was, 'When have the French ever obeyed the law?' The French love freedom! They shouldn't be bound by constraints!"
"That's right!" Boko said indignantly, "So we should stand up and resist those unreasonable systems! We..."
Having said that, he blinked and looked at Xiao Peng.
Xiao Peng shrugged: "Look, if even you feel this way, let alone others! So I'm not afraid if you record it! Okay, hurry up and cook and eat, I have something important to do this afternoon!"
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