The surrounding was in dead silence.
At this moment, all eyes were on Xiao Bao because Xiao Bao was reading the data in the black box… However, it was obvious that Xiao Bao was very nervous. Even his operation on the black box seemed to be less nimble.
This object was to collect a lot of data along the coastline of China. Over the years, the Baiyu Cruise Ship had sailed all over the seas. To put it bluntly, the Baiyu cruise ship had almost traversed the entire coastline of the continent.
Although the current technology was very advanced where humankind had launched satellites in outer space, which could map the country. However, the black box’s data was not what was initially published, such as tides, ocean currents, or earthquakes.
Certain things… needed to be shielded from international scrutiny – Going further, if the data in this black box were to be exposed, the entire coastal defense circle of the country would also…
“How is it? Are you able to crack it?” Ah Li asked with a stern face at this time.
No one here dared to treat this black box as a joke. The stakes involved were too important.
Xiao Bao could only swallow his saliva and said, “Is this box a product of thirty years ago? If it is, the technologies involved in it seemed to be ahead of the time by at least twenty years during that year…”
“In other words, you can’t crack it?” Ah Li frowned.
Xiao Bao shook his head and said, “This is not true. Its technology seemed quite advanced at the time. It’s mind-boggling technology. But after all, it is now thirty years later. No matter how advanced it looked at the time, it seemed average now… I have cracked it!”
“What’s the result?” Ah Li propped her arm and leaned behind Xiao Bao, staring at the laptop screen’s content.
Xiao Bao could only browse the screen more nervously, quickly using the mouse to pull it down, “There is data. The time is… It started 30 years ago, but it seems that it stopped after it was operated for less than a year.”
Ah Li subconsciously looked at Mu Enli, the old captain, and everyone looked at the old captain. The old captain was seen shaking his head at the moment and said, “I told you that I turned it off early in the morning.”
Ah Li stared at Mu Enli, without losing sight of the expression on the old captain’s face, and said in a deep voice, “Mu Enli…Are you King? This black box. Which party was the one who placed it on the Baiyu cruise ship? ”
The old captain touched his clothes and finally took out a pack of cigarettes in a soft packet. However, he found that the soft packet was deformed. The cigarettes that were carefully placed inside had also crumpled out of shape.
He shook his head, opened the drawer, took out some cigarette paper and tobacco leaves, and slowly started to make a cigarette.
After taking a puff of the rolled cigarette, he slowly said while breathing out a light puff, “I told all of you that I used to be in the foreign navy. After the predecessor of the Baiyu was sunk, I retired, and later I was assigned to work in a shipyard. Let’s sweep these things into the past. Let me talk about the origin of King.”
Mu Enli recalled, “At that time, it happened that our country started to develop rapidly, and all industries were also booming, even the maritime tourism industry. After the Baiyu cruise ship’s transformation was completed, it became one of the first cruise ships to be introduced into this country. At that time, I was extremely tired of living abroad and wanted to find a chance to return to China.”
Mu Enli shook his head, “But the situation then was more complicated… The truth was that my father was an illegal immigrant during the sixties; his identity was questionable. Later, even if I became a navy, there wasn’t any change to the situation. My father had always wanted to return to China, but unfortunately, he couldn’t find a way. At that time, the prerequisites in this area were a lot. In the end, he died in depression.”
“I heard that the company that introduced the Baiyu cruise ship has plans to find an experienced person to serve as the captain temporarily. So, I took the initiative to contact them.” Mu Enli lowered his head and looked at the half-burnt cigarettes. “They didn’t take the initiative to find me. However, the company responded quickly. They seemed to be pleased about my status as an overseas Chinese, and I was also a former navy. They agreed.”
“I thought things would go smoothly, but it’s a pity that you can’t always get what you want.” Mu Enli sighed. “…I don’t know who they are, but they are from the shipyard, which the company-owned. They are very mysterious. They came to me and asked me to put this black box on the Baiyu cruise ship. Otherwise, they would not agree to let me go… They even held me captive for days… Let’s stop talking about it. I don’t want to think about those days.”
“After that, you still promised them?” Ah Li frowned… She was so familiar with this technique. In the department where she worked now, hostages were held in this manner. Then, they were forced to do some work that could harm society.
“At least, I don’t want to die. I just want to return to my country and live an ordinary life. I’m tired of living a life where I am being discriminated against and oppressed by the locals.” Mu Enli shook his head and said. “Who wants to be tortured all the time? Nobody, right? They indeed had promised me a lot of benefits. Normal people should know how to choose. I didn’t grow up in this country as a child. Patriotism is not something you can use on me.”
Ah Li also shook her head. She did not intend to discuss the issue of loyalty with Mu Enli. Still, she said thoughtfully, “Captain, you have been in contact with these mysterious people for so long. Have you heard anything from them?”
Mu Enli thought for a while and said, “They should not be from the national department, but are indeed from the shipyard that was owned by the company. I heard their occasional chats and found out. They want to install this black box when the plan is completed; they planned to use this black box as a bargaining chip in the hope of gaining support from the country… Of course, I don’t know whether there is certain military personnel behind it.”
“For a country with this kind of capital, they can do all sorts of things.” Ah Li sneered. She was puzzled and then said, “So. you became King, an agent who was not well trained? But why did you turn off this black box? Are you not afraid that those people will find you?”
Mu Enli said, “In the first year, they would contact me once in secret almost every month. But I don’t know why. After a year, I am unable to contact these people anymore. Later, I have been paying attention to foreign news. A few months later, I heard that the boss behind the shipyard company had fallen. Also, there seemed to be several changes to the military there. I secretly guess that this might be why the shipyard company did not continue to contact me. The original plan was also set aside… I waited and watched for a few months and found that there was still no development. So, I quietly turned off the black box and stopped it from working.”
“In that case, why don’t you expose this thing immediately?” Ma Houde shook his head and said. “You should turn in this thing when you return home.”
Mu Enli looked at Ma Houde and said after calming down a while, “Officer Ma, what will happen to me after I handed in this thing? I told you I just want to live an ordinary life.”
Officer Ma was startled and remained silent. He seemed to want to say something but felt pale and weak.
Mu Enli shook his head and said, “Maybe it’s different now, but who have a say on it thirty years ago?”
“Then, why do you keep it?” Ah Li asked again.
Mu Enli said righteously, “Who wouldn’t want to keep a backup plan for themselves? I don’t know if this plan will see the day of light again. In case this plan is found out one day… I am at least in the position to negotiate with them. Turning it off and not letting it work is the biggest concession I can make.”
“But, Qian Guoliang has come to see you.” Ah Li narrowed her eyes.
Mu Enli nodded, “I am getting old and is about to retire. I probably would not live for a few more years. This secret may leave with me. Unexpectedly, at such a crucial moment… Qian Guoliang came. His organization seems to have discovered some clues of the original plan from the old files, and then they have been tracking it down. Finally, they managed to recover the original file of this plan from the relics of the shipyard company’s original owner.”
Mu Enli smiled bitterly, “I thought turning off the black box would be enough, but I didn’t expect some signal sources in the black box that I didn’t understand. It has been lighting up all these years. Qian Guoliang’s side detected this signal source through a special method. The signal let them know that the black box was still working. So, naturally, they came to me.”
“Qian Guoliang contacted you twice just to retrieve this black box?”
“Yes.”
“Then, why did you kill him?”
Mu Enli looked at Ah Li with a complicated gaze and said, “If you live in one place for thirty years, will you develop feelings for it? I returned here for thirty years. I adopted Qing Hai here and have my own family. I am no longer alone as I used to be. Qing Hai has a very good future, and I do not want his future to be affected. Anyway, I only have a few years left to live. I just want to leave him a clean life… This child was given to me by God. I found him on the dock. He was extremely frail at the time. At first sight, I was moved by the way he looked at me. Such a fragile life, lonely and pitiful… Seeing him was like seeing my first half of my life.”
Mu Enli sighed, “If the shipyard company initiated the plan for self-interest, there might still be room for negotiation… But, since the special department of that country has targeted it, I know that both Qing Hai and I will be affected.”
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