It seemed his luck had run out, as Qin Haonan’s return journey yielded no further gains.
The main reason was that he had only passed through four Level 2 Wind Sea Regions on this trip.
In the last Second-level Wind Sea Region on his route, there were surprisingly no survivors!
Qin Haonan shook his head helplessly, then turned and knocked on a window near the speedboat’s rear deck.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!
The survivor sitting on the speedboat’s rear deck looked at him in confusion.
"What’s your name?" Qin Haonan’s voice came through.
"Wang Feng," the survivor replied.
Qin Haonan nodded slightly. "We’re heading back to Peach Blossom Base. Double-check and make sure all your supplies are secured. You should get the bees back inside their hives, and you need to strap yourself down, too!"
Although this military speedboat could handle Level 7 winds and waves, it would still be a very bumpy ride in the Seventh-level Wind Sea Region.
Hearing this, Wang Feng was taken aback. "Isn’t this boat moving pretty smoothly?"
"We’re about to enter the Seventh-level Wind Sea Region," Qin Haonan explained. "If you get thrown off, I won’t be coming back for you. Same goes for your supplies."
Wang Feng was stunned again. "Why are we going into the Seventh-level Wind Sea Region? The winds and waves are so strong. Can this boat even handle it?"
"My boat can handle it, of course. The real question is whether you and your supplies can," Qin Haonan replied in a low voice. "As for why we’re entering the Seventh-level Wind Sea Region, you’ll find out once we’re inside!"
Seeing that Qin Haonan wasn’t joking, Wang Feng immediately began to secure the five beehives. Next, he secured the bamboo raft carrying his supplies, and finally, he tied himself down next to the hives.
Once Wang Feng was ready, he gave Qin Haonan the signal. Qin Haonan started the speedboat and charged into the Seventh-level Wind Sea Region.
The wind grew significantly stronger. Wang Feng felt a surge of relief; he was glad those two and a half water-peaches had lured the bees back to their hives. If they’d been left flying outside, they would have been scattered to the winds by now!
The speedboat bucked on the waves, and the raft it was towing would occasionally be lifted completely out of the water before crashing back down, sending up huge splashes!
After traveling like this for about forty minutes, a powerful beam of light fell upon the speedboat.
It was the searchlight from the yacht!
Clearly, the person on watch had spotted Qin Haonan’s approach.
Qin Haonan immediately used the loudspeaker to identify himself. "It’s me, Qin Haonan!"
The beam of the searchlight immediately moved away.
Huddled on the rear deck, Wang Feng heard Qin Haonan’s call. He gripped a nearby railing and struggled to poke his head out. What he saw left him utterly shocked.
’There’s a whole forest here!’
As Qin Haonan steered the speedboat into the Banyan Forest, the wind began to die down noticeably.
After they rounded a bend, Wang Feng felt as if the gale outside had vanished completely!
"Take him to the west side," Ren Yuanyang ordered.
"Yes, Boss!" Qin Haonan navigated through the waterways within the Banyan Forest, looped around to the western side, and came to a stop.
Ren Yuanyang was already waiting there with Hua Lingfang and the others. Each of them wore a protective net over their head, clearly having prepared in advance.
Just then, as if sensing something, the bees in the five hives began to fly out one after another.
Qin Haonan scrambled out of the cabin, took the netted hood that Lu Jiamei handed him, and quickly put it on.
"We’re here!" Qin Haonan said to the still-dazed Wang Feng.
Wang Feng finally snapped out of it and hurriedly tried to stand, but the ropes securing him were still tied, and he was yanked right back down into a sitting position.
He fumbled with the ropes, untied them, and stood up. He then bowed to Ren Yuanyang and the others. "Greetings, sirs!"
Lu Jiamei and Qin Haonan kept their eyes on Wang Feng, ready in case he made any sudden moves.
Ren Yuanyang nodded slightly and pointed to a bamboo house nearby and a shed not far from it. "No need for formalities. That will be your room. Move the beehives into that shed over there."
Wang Feng was overjoyed to see that his room wasn’t far from the bamboo shed where the beehives would be kept.
’Even if I can’t take care of the bees anymore, I’ll be happy just being able to watch them from a distance!’
He carefully moved the beehives into the bamboo shed, then walked back, a reluctant look on his face.
"Your job from now on is to look after these hives," Ren Yuanyang said, noticing how Wang Feng kept looking back at them. "Any honey they produce must be turned over to the base."
At these words, Wang Feng’s eyes lit up. He immediately bowed. "Thank you, sir!"
His voice trembled with excitement.
"Get yourself settled in first," Ren Yuanyang continued. "For meals, you’ll go to the yacht on the east side to get food. We’ve already brought your dinner over for today. And don’t worry too much about the bees; they won’t starve here." He added, "After dinner, I’ll need you to show me the queen bee."
Wang Feng was taken aback for a moment, then answered, "Yes, sir!"
’I don’t know why Ren Yuanyang wants to see the queen bee,’ he thought, ’but surely Peach Blossom Base didn’t go to all this trouble to bring back these five hives just to kill them!’
Ren Yuanyang and the others went straight back to the shipping container. None of them had eaten dinner yet; they had all been waiting for Qin Haonan to return.
"Boss, I’m running low on diesel for the speedboat," Qin Haonan reported to Ren Yuanyang, holding his bowl of food.
"Si Youqin and the others pressed a good amount of diesel this afternoon. Go get some yourself," Ren Yuanyang replied.
After dealing with the second wave of the undercurrent, they had rested for a bit before suggesting they continue pressing diesel.
Now that they had convenient tools and equipment for the job, it was a relatively easy task, so Ren Yuanyang had let them be.

Comments

Loading...