87 Tiny Black Dot a Distance Away

"How is it? Have the codes been placed properly?" At the pier of Dhaka Lira, the big bearded, Balkiv tossed a cigarette to his companion before lighting one for himself. He said with a smile, "I heard from the boss that a submarine is coming to transport the goods this time. This bunch of Burmese are really something to be able to come up with a submarine for smuggling."

"I think they're just bragging." The companion lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply. "Our boss had wanted to get a submarine that had its weapon system removed. He had already offered up to 10 million USD, but those people from the military still refused to budge."

"That depends on what type of submarine it is. If you just need it to float up after sinking, you can get a plastic pail, drill some holes in it and then install a motor and a compressor. That's also a submarine. Those that use nuclear power and can launch strategic missiles are also called submarines." Balkiv spit out the cigarette butt, put it out with his foot, and then looked at the mechanical watch on his hand. "The Burmese submarine should be here soon. Quickly inform our men to pull the wooden rafts into the water."

"Alright!" The companion replied and ran toward the pier. 

"Sh*t!" Balkiv cursed. "These Burmese, I mean bast*rds, bought more than a thousand anti-personnel mines. Don't tell me they wanna perform a scaled-down version of World War II?"

Five minutes later, the companion ran away and pointed at the dark seawater. "I wonder how it will be if everyone uses a submarine for smuggling? We won't even need to waste energy sucking up to those coastal patrol guards. We just need to place the goods onto the wooden rafts and push them out to the sea and that's it."

"What are we waiting for? We've already gotten the money, who cares if those firearms are eaten by sharks or stolen by humans?" Balkiv stroked his big beard and shouted out to the front. "Come on everyone, I'll treat everyone to vodka at Kastian Pub!"

The men controlling the cranes and the ships bawled and quickly turned off the machines before slipping into the car.

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On the dark, ocean water, seven or eight wooden rafts full of rectangular cargo boxes were drifting quietly. It was not difficult to guess from the remaining branches and poor joining techniques that these were substandard products done in a hurry.

"Argh...these bunch of lunatics!" Chen Fan gasped. He was hiding in the water, not far away, and had observed the whole time through the eyes of the electric eel. There were eight wooden rafts, and each had a three by two by one meter orange plastic box tied on top of it. Just how many firearms and ammunition did they contain? Nevertheless, Chen Fan could only exclaim. He would never give up this transportation method because of the astonishing amount it could handle.

After pulling the submarine around and making sure that there were no other ships around, Chen Fan controlled the eel to point the head of the submarine up and then used its back claws to twist open the hatch which had been disguised as a propeller. With its head pointing up, seawater would not be able to enter the hull due to pressure. He turned the eel the other way round and tried his best to imitate the way submarines emerge in movies, slowly sending the submarine out of the water surface.

After floating to the water surface in a parallel position, water started entering the opened hatch at the tail of the fake submarine. Seeing this, Chen Fan quickly controlled the eel to raise the submarine up until it remained at the same height as the sea level and the water inside flowed out.

It had to be mentioned that other than having an intersecting surface at its tail, this huge black metal tank looked exactly like a submarine. However, its model was a little peculiar and it was difficult to make out which country the submarine was from.

With its belly facing up and using its four claws to push the submarine, the electric eel looked like a leviathan, as it slowly swallowed the wooden rafts one by one, before finally raising its tail and then it swam head first into the water. After closing the rear and shutting the valve underwater, the electric eel, with a black meteor hammer around its neck and a gorgeous human brain navigation system on its front claw, moved its black tail and swam toward the location of Chen Fan.

This round trip spanned a huge distance. Based on the frequency of encountering danger during the previous few trips, there should be at least two or three encounters this time. However, nothing happened throughout the journey. Even the meteor hammer which had been brought purposely for underwater attacks did not come in handy. Chen Fan felt that it was a little strange.

Five and a half days later, the extremely exhausted electric eel finally reached the shore of Sittwe. At midnight, after getting the eight wooden rafts out from the submarine and informing the white-robed man to go collect the goods, Chen Fan collapsed on the bamboo bed and started drooling in less than five minutes. Due to serious lack of sleep for more than ten days, Chen Fan woke up at noon the next day.

In the spacious grand living hall…"Young man, you've been a great help this time. I have to show you my greatest appreciation!" On the couch, the white-robed man's face wrinkled up as he smiled happily. "I've already gotten a jade dealer from Yunnan to transfer 20 million RMB to your company's account. You can call to check now."

After Chen Fan made a call to the bank's customer service, the white-robed man continued. "That's not all. I have another gift for you later."

"What gift?" Chen Fan got curious. They had already agreed on the price to be around 20 million RMB. If it was a gift from the white-robed man, it had to be something good.

The white-robed man said mysteriously, "Let me treat you to a good meal first before giving it to you! Quoting from your country, 'Strangers at first meeting, friends at the second'. After this deal, we are now friends! If you encounter any trouble in the future, just give me a call and I guarantee that you will have professional soldiers at your command within three days!"

"Um!" Chen Fan nodded smilingly. "Mr Wu, if you need to transport any goods by sea in the future, feel free to call me too!" 

"Hahaha…" The white-robed man let out a hearty laugh before standing up from the couch. "Young man, let's go enjoy a great farewell meal!" The man was indeed an influential person. He was able to come up with exquisite food of high end restaurant quality in poverty-stricken Sittwe.

At the dining table, Chen Shuguang entertained the other two men to the best of his abilities, pouring them wine, helping them light cigarettes, and chatting about everything under the sun. This three man dinner was livelier than a wedding banquet.

"Young man, this is my gift to you!" After having enough food and wine, the white-robed man took out a wooden box from under the table and gave it to Chen Fan. Touching the small square box, Chen Fan was about to open it when the white-robed man pressed his hand on it and said mysteriously, "Don't be so anxious, young man. Open it when you get back!"

"Sure, sure." Chen Fan smiled as he held the box into his arms. Open it when I get back? You must be kidding, I'm gonna see what's hidden inside once I get out!

"Young man, I've got someone to take you to Yangon!" The white-robed man sounded sad and reluctant for him to leave. "Do come visit whenever you're free. I'll make sure you won't want to go back after that."

"I will, I will!" Chen Fan stood up politely.

After stepping out of the living hall and walking in the courtyard, Chen Shuguang whispered to Chen Fan when the white-robed man was walking in front. "What do you think he gave you?"

"How would I know when I've not opened it?" Chen Fan rolled his eyes. "I'll look at it later in the car!"

At that instant, Chen Shuguang suddenly stared with his eyes wide open and pointed to a tiny black dot mixed with white smoke in the distant sky. "What's that?"

"Where?" Chen Fan raised his head with curiosity and looked at the direction Chen Shuguang was pointing.