92: Chapter 92 How's the ship? Is it reliable?

Retrieving items from the System Space made no sound; things simply appeared by his side, clean and efficient.

He unfolded his laptop, placed it on the nightstand, sat back against the headboard, connected to the hotel Wi-Fi, opened the browser, and typed a few words into the search bar: "Local yacht rental."

A list popped up. He scrolled down, filtering out the small boat companies that seemed to only offer sightseeing tours, specifically looking for yacht rental services that provided private trips and flexible itineraries.

Finding three or four, he clicked into each one to take a look.

The first one focused on luxury yacht experiences, equipped with a captain and service staff, with fixed itineraries that just circled a few popular tourist spots; it didn't meet his needs, so he closed it.

The second one was smaller in scale with rough photos, but the page stated it accepted customized itineraries and included contact information, so he kept this page.

The third one had more detailed information, with different tonnage vessels available, indicating whether they could go offshore or deep sea, with daily rates and separate deposits.

He had estimated the straight-line distance to Donghu Island; starting from the nearest pier, the waterway wasn't far, and an ordinary speedboat could reach it in under an hour. Among this company's vessel types was a medium-sized yacht, described as suitable for small teams, capable of traveling up to sixty nautical miles, which was enough.

Hu Tian stared at the screen for a moment, noted down the contact information for both, and took screenshots, saving them to his phone.

Tomorrow morning, he would go to the pier for a look; seeing it in person was more reliable than checking online.

He closed the laptop, put it back into the System Space, and looked outside. The sea had completely darkened, and Donghu Island had disappeared into the night, leaving only the occasional flickering lights of fishing boats on the sea surface, drifting with the waves bit by bit.

Hu Tian leaned against the headboard. Initially, he had just glanced out the window, but the sea breeze caused the distant fishing boat lights to sway gently, drifting aimlessly bit by bit. As he watched, his eyelids grew heavy.

He didn't know when he had completely fallen asleep, but when his consciousness surfaced again, a sliver of white light was already seeping through the gap in the curtains, and his phone screen lit up, showing 6:40.

He lay in bed for a moment; he didn't have the habit of lazing in bed, so he rolled over, sat up, and went to wash up.

Hotel breakfast was on the second floor, open until nine. He went down early, and it wasn't crowded. He found a seat by the window, grabbed some random items—plain congee, a few side dishes, and a basket of shrimp dumplings—and ate at a moderate pace, reviewing the information about the two yacht companies he had found last night in his mind.

After finishing and paying, he returned to his room to grab his jacket, went downstairs, retrieved his car, and set off.

The pier was on the edge of the city, and it took a while to drive along the coastline to get there. The navigation showed twenty minutes, but it actually took nearly thirty minutes; a section of the road was under construction with single-lane traffic, causing a short traffic jam.

The parking lot wasn't far from the pier entrance. Hu Tian parked the car and got out.

The sea breeze hit him, stronger than last night, carrying a salty, fishy scent, flapping the hem of his jacket.

The pier was not small, with a dozen boats of various sizes docked there, including fishing boats and sightseeing speedboats. Further inside, two higher-specification yachts were docked, with white-painted hulls and sunshades stretched over the decks.

He walked around the boardwalk, scanned a few rental spots with signs, and found the first one he had checked yesterday.

The storefront was in a row of low shops along the boardwalk. The sign was quite impressive, with gold characters on a black background, and several promotional photos of yachts were attached nearby. They were shot beautifully, with careful lighting and angles, but when Hu Tian compared the boat in the photos to the one currently docked at the pier, he frowned.

The large white yacht in the photo was not there now.

The one docked in that berth had been replaced; the tonnage was clearly a size smaller, the hull had several old scuff marks, and the paint wasn't as clean and shiny as in the photos.

He walked inside.

Inside sat a middle-aged man, around forty years old, tanned very dark, who was looking down at his phone. He only looked up when he heard movement. "Renting a boat?"

"Just looking."

Hu Tian stood in front of the counter and gestured with his chin toward the pier. "Where is the big one from your photos online?"

The man put his phone away. "It's out. Someone chartered it for three days; it left yesterday."

"When is it coming back?"

"They said the day after tomorrow, but these things are uncertain. If the customer wants to extend, they have to extend."

Hu Tian didn't respond. The man continued on his own, "What kind of itinerary do you want? Offshore or deep sea? I have two available here now; go take a look."

Hu Tian shook his head. "I'll think about it some more."

He turned and walked out, continuing along the boardwalk further inside to find the second one.

The second storefront was smaller than the first, with no impressive sign, just an ordinary white sign with blue characters, the corners of which were curled up. But the location was easy to find, right at the corner at the very end of the boardwalk.

Inside was a slightly younger man, in his thirties, who was squatting at the doorway organizing a bundle of ropes. Seeing Hu Tian walk over, he looked up. "Looking for a boat?"

"Yes, what boats do you have available now?"

The man stood up, wiped his hands on his pant legs, and pointed toward the pier. "That one, the eighteen-meter one. It has enough power, and the equipment was just replaced the year before last. It has no problem going into the deep sea."

Hu Tian looked in the direction he pointed. It was a white and blue yacht. The hull was a size larger than the one at the first place. The paint was a bit old, but it was clearly well-maintained, and the equipment on the deck was arranged neatly; it didn't feel messy.

He walked over and circled the boat once, then squatted down to check near the waterline of the hull; there were no abnormalities.

"Can I go up and take a look?"

"Feel free."

The man followed behind, not making any deliberate introductions. He only answered what Hu Tian asked, which seemed straightforward.

The cabin space wasn't luxurious, but it was sufficient. The navigator, radar, and VHF radio were all there. Hu Tian checked them one by one and didn't find any obvious problems.

"One trip, five days, deep-sea operation. How do you quote it?"

The man thought for a moment and quoted a number.

Hu Tian didn't respond immediately. After a moment of silence, he cut the price by 20%. The man shook his head and countered with a middle price. They went back and forth a couple of times, finally settling on a number both parties could accept.

"How is the deposit calculated?"

"Thirty percent."

Hu Tian scanned the pier and nodded. "Fine."

He transferred the money on the spot. The man's phone received a notification sound; he checked it, took a picture of the receipt, and sent it to Hu Tian. He looked up and said, "You can come for the handover after five in the afternoon. I'll fill the boat with fuel for you, and I'll equip you with spare water and a basic toolbox; you can bring whatever else you see fit."

"Alright,"

Hu Tian put his phone into his pocket. "See you at five."

He left the pier, retrieved his car again, switched the navigation to the city, and the engine began to hum steadily.

There were many things to prepare for going to sea. He made a list in his mind, going over it as he drove: enough fresh water, compressed food, first aid kit, waterproof flashlight, signal flares, diving equipment. In addition, he needed a set of waterproof tools; things like ropes and anchors might not be fully stocked on the boat, so it was safer to bring his own.

There was a store in the city that specialized in outdoor and marine supplies; he had noted it down while researching yesterday. The navigation showed eighteen minutes.

The road wasn't congested, and he parked at the shop entrance on time.

The storefront was on a narrow street, but the shelves inside were packed densely with many items, ranging from mountaineering equipment to diving gear to marine supplies, all clearly organized by section.

He pushed the door open and went in, walked through from inside to outside, and picked out the items he needed one by one. He chose two diving flashlights, took four signal flares, selected a professional-grade first aid kit, bought two high-strength spare ropes, and took three large waterproof storage boxes.

At checkout, the clerk scanned the items one by one. Finally, the clerk looked up at him. "Going deep-sea?"

"Yeah."

"The weather forecast says there will be wind the day after tomorrow, so pay attention. Today and tomorrow are fine."

"Got it, thanks."

Hu Tian moved the items into the trunk, closed the door, and checked the time. It wasn't even noon yet; there was still a long time until five in the afternoon.

He started the car, prepared to go to the supermarket again to stock up on food and drinking water, and then wait at the hotel until the afternoon before going to the pier for the handover.

The supermarket wasn't big, but it had all the daily supplies.

Hu Tian pushed the shopping cart through the aisles. Calculating fresh water at two liters per person per day, he prepared thirty liters for five days, plus an extra hundred liters as a buffer. He stuffed a batch of compressed biscuits, canned food, and energy bars into the cart, and grabbed a few bags of instant coffee and salt. Anyway, the System Space was large enough to store them. When Hu Tian checked out, the trunk was already nearly full.

On the way back to the hotel, he parked the car on the side of the road, stored the items from the trunk into the System Space, then drove off while calling Zhou Waner.

The phone rang twice before it was answered. The voice on the other end was clear with no background noise, suggesting she was indoors.

"Are you back?"

"Just came out of the supermarket,"

Hu Tian leaned against the car door. "The boat is rented. The handover is at five this afternoon. We can set off tonight, depending on what time the handover finishes."

Zhou Waner was silent for a moment. "How is the situation over at Donghu Island? Have you checked?"

"I checked. The sea conditions are fine these two days. There will be wind the day after tomorrow, but I will be careful and try to get things done before the wind picks up."

"Then have you brought enough supplies? What about the diving equipment?"

"Diving flashlights, signal flares, first aid kit, spare ropes, waterproof boxes—all are prepared. Food and fresh water just came from the supermarket. Don't worry, everything is prepared more than enough."

She gave a hum, sounding as if she was going through the checklist in her mind. "How is the boat? Is it reliable?"

"It's an eighteen-meter one. The owner has maintained it well. It has navigation and radar equipment, so no problem going deep-sea."

"What kind of person is the owner?"

"A local from the pier. He's been in this business for some years and looks reliable."

"Alright,"

She paused, her tone softening a little. "Then be careful over there. Contact me anytime if there's a situation. Did you bring the satellite phone?"

"I did."

"That's good."

The two talked for a while longer, the conversation meandering from setting out to sea to a batch of ancient pottery data she had recently been processing. When they talked about the dating controversy of one of the vessel types, she spoke with enthusiasm. Hu Tian leaned against the car listening, occasionally adding a comment. The atmosphere was more relaxed than a formal report.

"By the way, there's a pottery jar in that batch of data with a 'Made in the Hongwu Era' mark on the bottom, but the glaze color and clay quality don't match. My advisor insists it's authentic, and I argued with him for half the afternoon."

"The number of surviving Hongwu Imperial Kiln pieces is very small; nine out of ten on the market are later imitations. What did your advisor say?"

"He said the clay is from the old pits in Jingdezhen. I don't believe it. I asked him to produce the test report, but he couldn't. Just looking at it with the naked eye? I'm not convinced."