Chapter 24: Business comes knocking

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

If there was any topic that people in Zhongyun city talked about these days, it was Ocean Storm Marine Company.

Bizarre incidents were not uncommon in this city, but a company so weird was a first.

Their ads all read:

“Our company undertakes the following business:

Professional marine salvage services are provided to search for any kind of important missing objects! (Please provide the specific location. Charges will be calculated according to weight and depth. The water depth should not exceed 500 meters and the weight of the objects should not exceed 1,000 catty.) Professional search services are also provided for rare treasures in the ocean! (Please provide the specific location of the treasure and the detailed appearance of it. The water depth should not exceed 500 meters and charges are calculated according to the rarity of the treasures.) Professional hunting services for any kind of sea creature! (It is necessary to provide the habitat area of the creature and its appearance. The water depth must not exceed 500 meters and charges are calculated according to the size of the creature and its aggression.) Professional shipping of any object that weighs less than 1,000 catty! (Our company guarantees the safety and confidentiality of the goods, and charges are calculated according to the distance traveled and its weight.) Note: Our company has also done some research regarding destructive ocean activities. If you need any help regarding this matter, please contact us!

Ocean Storm Marine Company’s contact information: QQ10058226 (chat group)

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Tel no: 0527-8628XXXX

Company’s address: Wencheng road, 123 Boning building, 6th floor.”

It was obvious why a non-conforming business like this became a heated topic discussed among citizens.

“Boss, we still don’t have any business after waiting all whole morning!” Yu Lin complained, resting his head on his hand. After completing the company’s website with Yiteng Yun that morning, all three of them had signed up for the forum and posted about the company.

“Just be patient. This is only the beginning. Customers are concerned about the reputation. When we have a good reputation, our business will definitely be better!” Chen Fan wasn’t too worried about. He still had more than 80,000 RMB for him to manage the company for a while.

“Oh yeah. Yiteng Yun, set up a LAN and let’s play a game of World of Warcraft!”

“Boss, we got a business request!” Feeling bored, Zhang Lele had refreshed the background management web page and saw somebody had registered and posted.

“What is the request about? Read it out loud!”

“Okay boss!” After clearing her throat, Zhang Lele read it out loud: “Hello to everybody of the Ocean Storm Marine Company. I am the Chief Commander of the US Pacific Fleet, Admiral Bertie Kittley.”

“While carrying out escort missions in Somalia, the USS Enterprise (CVN-65) in my command was shot down by two pirates armed with powerful firepower. We are now asking for help from your company. Please dispatch your professional salvage team immediately to the accident site. The price is negotiable.”

“Damn…” Chen Fan was shocked. Finally, he slapped the table and said in sarcastically, “You tell them that our company congratulates them on behalf of all our staff!”

After that, Chen Fan immersed himself in the game of World of Warcraft.

The three of them played for more than an hour, but they lost the game at the end when they were defeated by the last boss, Cao Cao.

———-

“Excuse me, is this Ocean Storm Marine Company?” At about three o’clock in the afternoon, the company finally had its first walk-in customer.

“You? What are you doing here?” Chen Fan asked in surprise. He had not expected such a coincidence. It was none other than the policewoman that Chen Fan had met the night he released the electric eel into the sea.

“Are you an employee of this company?” Xie Xiaoya asked increduously.

“He’s our boss!” Before Chen Fan was able to answer, Zhang Lele stood up and answered on his behalf. “Miss, how can we help you?”

“Boss?” Xie Xiaoya shook her head in disbelief. “Are you kidding me? He doesn’t look like a boss to me at all!”

“He’s really the boss of our company!” Yu Lin had stood up quickly from his chair when he saw the beautiful lady. “Please allow me to introduce myself. I’m Yu Lin, the business manager. If you have any inquiries or need any help, I’ll be the one to assist you!”

“Are you confident that you can salvage anything less than 500 meters deep?” Xie Xiaoya directed the question at Chen Fan, who was sitting in his chair, and totally ignored Yu Lin.

Chen Fan answered, “No, I’m not confident at all. You can leave now! We’re going to close soon!”

Chen Fan didn’t want to deal with the police, even if she was beautiful.

“Not sure? If that’s the case, how could you still be advertising it everywhere?”

“Aren’t advertisements meant to be exaggerated?” Chen Fan shrugged. “TV advertisements are way more exaggerating than mine!”

“What?” Startled, Xie Xiaoya asked, “Exaggerated?”

“Yes. We’re not sure we can salvage objects that are 500 meters underwater, but we can at 200 meters!” Chen Fan lied. The nine meter-long electric eel could easily withstand the water pressure at 500 meters deep easily. He just didn’t want to deal with the police.

“A depth of 200 meters is enough. I want your help in salvaging something. The area is definitely less than 200 meters deep!”

Chen Fan hesitated for a moment and spoke his mind. “Aren’t you afraid that we’re scammers?” Normally, whoever saw such an advertisement would first think that this was a fake company.

Xie Xiaoya looked at him like he was an idiot and asked, “Huh, do you think cops like us are afraid of scammers? Our department wants help salvaging something. The other day, we worked with the coastguard to catch a fishing boat that smuggled some guns from Southeast Asia, but the guns were thrown overboard. If we don’t retrieve them, we won’t have enough evidence to convict them.

“However, the water there is too deep for an average scuba diver. We tried to contact the archaeological team that is salvaging that ancient sunken ship in the bay, but they told us to wait for at least eight months. They said that archaeological work is currently the priority of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, and because they only have so many scuba divers on duty, they really couldn’t lend us some manpower to find for the guns in the vast ocean.

“It’s been quite hectic in our department these past few days, and you just happened to post so many advertisements yesterday. So, our director sent me here to check it out. If you really can salvage the guns, we will pay 50,000 RMB!”

“Fifty thousand?” Chen Fan knew he could accomplish this in half a day if he knew the specific location. It would be an easy 50,000 RMB.

“Yes, but as a condition, we are going to send someone on board to watch you salvage because these guns are high priority for us.”

“Then I’m afraid that I can’t accept your offer! We salvage with the latest technology, developed by our company, and we must ensure our technical privacy.”

Xie Xiaoya clearly thought Chen Fan was talking bullshit and asked, “Is there no room for negotiation? Guns are different that normal cargo, and we have to make sure that they don’t get stolen!”

This made Chen Fan very angry. What was she insinuating?

“Then leave, I can’t help you!”