385: Transporting treasure chests

Yang Qi gritted his teeth and walked out of the cargo hold. After a moment's thought, he went to the Cockpit, put that jar and the small chest into a mesh bag, and then swam back in the direction he had come from without looking back.

Half an hour later, Yang Qi surfaced. By the moonlight, he could see a dark mass in the distance on the sea; it should be the 'setting sail'.

He swam quickly toward it and gradually saw a small beam of light scanning across the surface of the sea.

As he got closer, he could distinguish a human figure, and the light was coming from her head. Yang Qi knew it was Bai Xue wearing a headlamp to give him directions.

So he picked up speed and turned on his own headlamp, flashing it a few times.

The person on the boat soon spotted his position and turned her headlamp toward him. A few seconds later, she pointed the light down at the boat, likely having seen him and fearing the light would dazzle him while he was swimming.

"Husband! Is that you?"

After a few more minutes, Yang Qi heard Bai Xue's urgent voice, which carried a faint hint of a sob.

"Xiaoxue, it's me. I'm back."

Yang Qi called out loudly while accelerating toward the aft deck.

"Waaaah, why were you gone for so long? You scared me to death! Waaaah."

Bai Xue's tormented heart finally gave way, and she hugged Yang Qi as he climbed onto the boat, crying uncontrollably.

"I don't want the treasure anymore, and you shouldn't go back either. Waaaah!"

Yang Qi held Bai Xue's trembling body, gently patting her back and constantly comforting her.

"Don't cry. It was my fault for making you worry. I should have come back sooner."

"Be good, darling, stop crying. Your husband was wrong!"

Seeing Bai Xue looking up with a face full of tears, Yang Qi felt heartbroken and gently kissed her tears away.

A few minutes later, Yang Qi suddenly said:

"Wife, the mesh bag hanging from my waist is still in the water, and it's been pulling on my waist this whole time."

"Oh my, why didn't you say so earlier? What if you strain your back? Quick, quick, I'll help you pull it up. Honestly!"

Bai Xue immediately stopped sobbing, pulled away from Yang Qi's embrace, and helped pull up the mesh bag that was still submerged.

Yang Qi was speechless and thought to himself:

"Didn't I just climb onto the deck? Before I could even pull up the bag, didn't you grab me and start crying?"

However, he didn't dare say that out loud.

"How long was I down there?"

"It's been almost over three hours. I was worried sick!"

Bai Xue gave him a look and said.

"Hehehe, wasn't I looking for clues? I lost track of time; it goes by fast underwater."

Yang Qi explained sheepishly.

"So, did you find any clues down there?"

Bai Xue asked with some curiosity.

"Just as you, the beautiful and intelligent Princess Bai Xue, guessed beforehand, it really is a japanese transport ship from the World War II era."

"After I found the ship, I discovered in the captain's quarters..."

Yang Qi prattled on, recounting everything he had discovered on the shipwreck.

"What! There are actually over sixty chests? That many!"

Bai Xue's eyes widened, showing an expression of disbelief.

Then, thinking of those treasures that had already rotted away, she became furious and immediately cursed:

"What a bunch of heartless bandits. Who knows how many world treasures they've destroyed!"

"I've decided. In the future, if we sell Tuna to Murakami Jiro, the price goes up by 10%. What do you say, husband?"

Yang Qi was amused when he heard this.

"Fine, you're the boss on this!"

"Husband, if I had lived in that era, I would definitely have been a brave soldier fighting the japanese. Do you believe me?"

Bai Xue looked up at Yang Qi and said.

"I do, I definitely believe you."

Yang Qi looked into Bai Xue's eyes and said firmly.

"However, we need to hurry up and get the treasure out of the shipwreck first!"

"Husband, with over sixty chests, that's definitely going to take a lot of time. What's your plan?"

Bai Xue asked.

Yang Qi thought for a moment and said:

"That location is basically at the border with the Philippines waters—technically, it's a disputed area. But it's too close to the Philippines mainland, so there's a certain level of danger. We have to be careful."

"My plan is for us to stay away from that place during the day and go salvage at night. We'll try to get everything up in two or three nights and then leave."

"If we're unlucky and there's a high proportion of rotted items in those chests, it might even be faster."

Bai Xue nodded after listening and said:

"Okay, husband, I'll listen to you. But this time I'm going down to help you; two people will be faster."

Yang Qi laughed:

"If both of us are down there, no one will be operating the Crane!"

"No, I won't have it. I'm not comfortable with you going down alone. We can go down together to tie up the chests. We can also look out for each other."

"When we come back up, we can hoist two chests—or even three if they're lighter—at the same time. Wouldn't that be easier and faster?"

"And as you said, the cargo hold is so far from the deck. With the two of us carrying them out, it'll actually be quite a bit faster."

Yang Qi thought about it and felt that Bai Xue had a point. Checking the time, it was just after midnight.

He decided to set off for the shipwreck site immediately.

He piloted the fishing boat himself, not even needing to turn on the searchlights, and soon arrived at the destination.

Beside him, Bai Xue had already put on her wetsuit and had been waiting for a long time. The space inside the shipwreck was small; it wouldn't be good if he scraped his skin.

She even held Yang Qi's wetsuit, firmly insisting that he must put it on.

Even though Yang Qi had just gone back and forth without a wetsuit, he didn't want to let Bai Xue's kindness go to waste this time and obediently put it on.

The two of them tied one end of a rope to the gunwale and dove into the sea together. Under Yang Qi's lead, they quickly found the shipwreck and entered the hold.

Just as they reached the hold's entrance, Yang Qi still cautiously tapped on the doorframe, fearing something big might suddenly dart out from inside.

Fortunately, luck was on their side this time. Aside from some sea fish weighing a dozen or so pounds, they didn't find any other large creatures.

Yang Qi pointed to the side of the entrance, and only then did Bai Xue notice that dead Giant Grouper weighing over a hundred and fifty pounds.

It was also lucky that Yang Qi had already told her about it while they were on the boat; otherwise, she might have been truly frightened seeing it so suddenly.

Once inside, Bai Xue also saw the pile of chests and immediately beamed with joy. If they hadn't been on the seabed where one cannot speak, she likely would have shouted in excitement.

Nevertheless, Yang Qi could easily see the immense excitement in her eyes.

The two didn't linger and went forward to tie up a chest. With their mutual help, they tied it quickly and securely.

Based on the weight, they knew for sure the first chest was gold. Once they had it tied, they hauled and dragged it out of the hold together and placed it on the deck.

Immediately after, they went back to tie another one and dragged it out as well.