Ye Feng grabbed an oversized landing net, scooped up the Luo Duan, and turned to Wang Liang and Zhou Yang. "Quick, come help!"
"Coming!" Zhou Yang was the quickest. He hurried over, and together with Ye Feng, they hauled up the big Luo Duan and placed it in another live well.
Ye Feng, Wang Liang, and Zhou Yang stared at the Luo Duan, which was even bigger than the first one. They were completely stunned.
’When did Luo Duan get so easy to catch?’
Han Xiaorui packed up her things and said with a smile, "Thanks for the help, everyone. We’ll head back right away. When you have time, I’ll treat you to a meal."
Ye Feng declined. "It was nothing. Besides, you’ve been cooperating with our work."
Just then, Ye Feng spotted a ship approaching in the distance. He took out his binoculars to get a better look.
It was a foreign ship!
Ye Feng’s expression changed drastically. He remembered the foreign writing on the object they had just salvaged. "Comrade Xiao Han, start the boat, quickly! A foreign ship seems to be heading for us."
Han Xiaorui was alarmed. She turned her head and saw that it was true.
As she accelerated, she used her Water Ability to stir up waves, obstructing the Japanese ship and slowing it down.
Her boat, though modified, could only reach a top speed of 22 knots.
But the other vessel was more advanced and clearly much faster.
Han Xiaorui regretted fishing just now; it had wasted twenty minutes.
’If I had known it was this dangerous, I would have taken off the moment we salvaged it.’
Ye Feng immediately opened a case, took out a radio set, and began transmitting a message. "Zhou Yang, get our position, now!"
Zhou Yang took out a Compass and a sextant. The Compass was for determining their heading.
With the sextant, he could measure the angle between the sun or moon and the horizon at a specific time, standardized as Greenwich Mean Time. Then, by consulting a special chart, he could determine their latitude and longitude.
Zhou Yang made his calculations quickly, found their position, and reported it to Ye Feng.
Ye Feng rapidly transmitted the message, the radio waves carrying it out from the set.
Soon, a special unit’s radio station received the coded message. After being decoded, it was immediately reported up the chain of command.
Shencheng immediately dispatched ships, and five of them set out at top speed to provide support.
Wang Liang watched the foreign ship in relentless pursuit through his binoculars. He was anxious for them to pull away, but he saw that the distance between the vessels wasn’t increasing.
’Do these foreign ships even want their stuff back or not?’
Wang Liang spoke deliberately to provoke Han Xiaorui, hoping she would get scared and pilot the boat poorly.
"We shouldn’t have been fishing just now. If we had left twenty minutes earlier, that foreign ship wouldn’t have been able to catch up to us."
Han Xiaorui knew Wang Liang was telling the truth. Although she felt aggrieved, she didn’t argue back.
She focused on piloting the boat, trying to reach the safety of the sea defense line as quickly and directly as possible.
"Blinded by greed and foolishly soft-hearted," Wang Liang pressed, seeing she didn’t talk back.
Ye Feng, who had just received and quickly translated a radio message, breathed a small sigh of relief. "Wang Liang, that’s enough. Comrade Xiao Han makes her living by fishing. We’re already very grateful that she provided us with the lead."
"A round trip like this isn’t cheap on fuel, and it’s not reimbursed. It’s only natural for her to fish to cover her fuel costs. You have no right to criticize Comrade Xiao Han."
"The fact that we’re in danger now only proves that the object we just salvaged is extremely important. The foreign ship was searching for it all along; we just happened to find it first."
Hearing Ye Feng’s words, Han Xiaorui felt a sense of relief. "It’s true, I was in the wrong today. From now on, I’ll take care of business first."
Han Xiaorui’s boat-handling skills were superb. Her Water Ability not only hindered the foreign ship behind them but also propelled her own fishing boat forward at high speed.
Wang Liang’s face flushed red from Ye Feng’s reprimand. "I didn’t mean it like that, I’m just anxious. If we get caught, who knows what will happen to us?"
Ye Feng shot Wang Liang a sharp glare and said irritably, "If we get caught, we resist to the bitter end. Our forefathers could make the ultimate sacrifice. Why can’t we?"
’Judging by Wang Liang’s behavior, he’s barely competent on a normal day,’ Ye Feng thought. ’When things get serious, he’s even less useful than Zhou Yang, who just graduated.’
’Someone like Wang Liang has poor abilities and a terrible attitude.’
Ye Feng’s opinion of Wang Liang was extremely low. He decided that when he got back, he would report this to his superiors and have him transferred to an unimportant post.
"Pick up the binoculars and keep observing," Ye Feng commanded. "Zhou Yang, take another reading of our position."
"Yes, sir!" Although Zhou Yang was nervous, seeing Director Ye so calm and composed helped him calm down as well, and he carried out his task methodically.
Hearing that five ships were on their way to support them, Han Xiaorui was no longer afraid.
They were less than twelve kilometers from the sea defense line. If they could just hold on for half an hour, they would be safe.
On the foreign ship behind them, the crew was also puzzled. They were already at full throttle, but their speed wouldn’t increase, stuck at only twenty knots.
"Captain, the distance between us and the fishing boat is increasing. Should we continue the pursuit?"
’If that fishing boat gets away, the device will be gone with them.’
The captain hesitated. If they took action against the fishing boat, it would be a violation of international law.
Other countries would then do the same to their fishing boats in the future.
Failing to retrieve the reconnaissance device would, at worst, be considered a dereliction of duty, requiring him to write a few self-criticism reports.
But if he caused an international dispute, he could be dismissed from his post.
After weighing his options, Watanabe Ichiro gave the order, "Hold fire. Full speed pursuit."
It was precisely this hesitation that gave Han Xiaorui and the others a better chance to escape.
Han Xiaorui’s superpower was draining rapidly. She gritted her teeth and pushed on, her face growing pale, but she couldn’t stop.
She didn’t want to put Ye Feng and the others in danger just because she had stopped to fish, so she clenched her jaw and forced herself to endure.
The foreign ship behind them continued its pursuit, its speed increasing, and the distance to the fishing boat began to shrink.
Han Xiaorui gritted her teeth, sweat beading on her forehead.
Seeing her state, Ye Feng said, "Comrade Xiao Han, don’t be afraid. Even if we’re caught, you’re just a fisherwoman. They shouldn’t give you a hard time."
Han Xiaorui wasn’t scared, she was exhausted, but she couldn’t say so. "Mm, I’m not afraid. Hold on tight, I’m going to speed up again."
After she spoke, the waves beneath the fishing boat seemed to grow stronger, its speed picked up, and they once again pulled away from the ship behind them.
The distance to the sea defense line: five nautical miles, four nautical miles, three nautical miles...
"Captain, what should we do? They’re about to reach the sea defense line," a crewman said urgently.
The captain hesitated.
Just then, Han Xiaorui saw five black dots on the distant horizon. "Our ships are here!"
Seeing them, the Hua Country ships simultaneously broadcast a message over the public radio channel: "You are approaching the Hua Country sea defense line. Please turn back immediately. Please turn back immediately!"
The captain, seeing five ships approaching, replied, "We are searching for a marine research device in international waters. It was picked up by your country’s fishermen. Please return it at once."
Hearing this, Han Xiaorui rolled her eyes. ’We’ve already made it. If we hand the stuff over now, wasn’t this whole trip for nothing?’