There are as many as 25,000 islands scattered around, forming 17 island countries. The country is small with a small population and rich in mineral resources.
There is a very small sea area 1,500 kilometers southeast of the Solomon Islands.
It is about 300 kilometers long from north to south and 250 kilometers wide from east to west. This place has no name. Both local indigenous people and explorers call it: the Nameless Sea.
It seems extremely ordinary, but this mysterious sea is dotted with many desert islands that fascinate explorers.
Most of the desert islands have lush virgin forests, with various caves and deep pools hidden among them, which fascinate explorers.
However, this sea area seems calm, but in fact it hides danger.
Unpredictable storms often strike, with strong winds roaring and waves raging. If you are not careful, the ship will be destroyed and people will die. Because of this, some uninhabited islands are called explorer's graves.
At present, Dongjiang is still in the winter when it is necessary to wear warm clothes, but it is the hot summer in this unknown sea.
On this day, the sky was cloudless.
The surrounding sea is as calm as a huge mirror, without any fluctuations.
A 1,000-ton krill fishing boat was parked quietly in this area, with neither the roar of the engine nor the anchor chain being thrown into the sea.
I don’t know whether it was intentionally stalled or stopped due to a malfunction, but it seemed particularly abrupt on this quiet sea.
Perhaps it had been a long time since I had seen this kind of ship. There were hundreds of seabirds circling in the sky, and countless bird droppings fell on the deck for a while.
Lin Yian, who was wearing a broken straw hat, squatted on the deck, first cursed these damn seabirds, then drank half the bottle of mineral water in his hand, and dripped the remaining water into his mouth.
, after making sure there was no more drop of water, he threw the mineral water bottle into the sea.
This scene, with the hot sunshine pouring on the blue sea, makes people not feel beautiful, but rather disgusted.
"Brother Li, there isn't much fresh water on the boat. Why don't you go to that island and look for fresh water?" Lin Yian turned to Li Jinyong beside him and said.
Xiao Chang echoed from the side: "Yes, look at the many coconut trees on the uninhabited island. It would be good to get some coconuts to eat, and it seems that there are also some wild grapes."
Their skin became extremely dark after being exposed to the sun, and the skin on their necks and arms even peeled off, which was in sharp contrast to their fair skin color during the previous fight in the Dongjiang River.
Obviously, salvaging a Yuan Dynasty merchant shipwreck in unfamiliar waters did not go smoothly for them.
Li Jinyong's complexion was obviously much better. He frowned slightly as he looked at the scene in front of him.
Lin Yian and Xiao Chang didn't know, but he knew very well that you couldn't just go to a deserted island!
"If the location of the sunken ship cannot be determined tomorrow, then go to the nearest Lanxuan Port to replenish fresh water and food!" Li Jinyong said, bending down to take two bottles of pure water and throwing them to Lin Yian and Xiao Chang respectively.
"There are currently nearly 120 bottles of pure water on board, which is enough for our drinking water needs on the return trip." Li Jinyong added.
Xiao Chang hesitated to speak. He obviously had something to say, but after opening and closing his mouth several times, he finally said nothing.
Lin Yian asked puzzledly: "Brother Li, there is fresh water ultrafiltration and purification equipment on the ship. Instead of looking for water sources on the lushly planted island in front of us, we returned more than 300 nautical miles to replenish fresh water. Isn't this not looking for something far away?"
Li Jinyong sighed, "Because there are volcanoes on the island, the volcanic ash soil is extremely fertile, so there are not only coconut forests, bamboo forests, wild grapes, but also streams, deep pools, wild goats, hares, etc. on the island.
“But there are also poisonous snakes, poisonous scorpions, poisonous ants, poisonous lizards and other poisons.
"Last year, when I came alone, I went to the island once. I just looked around the edge and saw as many as a dozen rotten corpses with all the bones chewed away.
"In addition, there are some strange caves on the island, which are most likely the lairs of some giant pythons.
“So don’t take risks unless absolutely necessary.
"The main purpose of our coming out this time is to salvage the sunken ship of the Yuan Dynasty maritime merchants. This is our first goal of making money!
"You can't risk going to the island to look for water just because of impulse. Besides, even if you go, you have to be fully prepared before you can go. Necessary protective tools are also needed. Let's take a long-term plan when we go back this time!"
Lin Yi'an listened to Li Jinyong's words and nodded. He understood that Li Jinyong's worry was not unreasonable. You must know that this is not land, but a sea that can swallow people and a deserted island full of poisonous snakes and insects.
"Brother Li, I understand. Let's go to Lanxuan Port to replenish fresh water as planned!"
Li Jinyong also had mixed feelings in his heart. He was as depressed as if he had been weighed down by a stone, but he still pretended to be relaxed and grinned, "Everything is hard to come by, and due to mechanical failure, the ship has to dock for a thorough overhaul. Everyone."
Don’t worry, the sunken ship cannot escape in the water, sooner or later it will be ours!”
In fact, he was unwilling to give up. He thought that knowing the location of the sunken ship on the mural of the Maritime Merchant Tomb, he would be able to successfully find the sunken ship, but reality gave him a heavy blow.
I walked around the unknown island for a whole week, but except for some broken porcelain pieces, I didn't get anything substantial.
However, Li Jinyong also knew that searching for treasure from shipwrecks requires patience and cannot be rushed.
He shook his head helplessly, turned around and picked up the intercom, preparing to notify the helmsman in the cockpit to return home.
But there was no response from the other end of the intercom. He couldn't help frowning and pressed the button of the intercom hard, but there was still no response.
At this moment, a white spot emitting black smoke appeared in the distance.
As the white dot gradually approached, Li Jinyong saw clearly that it was a small cargo ship with a small hull and an estimated displacement of 500 tons at most.
Seeing this scene, Li Jinyong suddenly became suspicious. This sea area is not where the shipping route is, so how could a cargo ship appear?
Totally shouldn’t be!
Before he could think about it, he saw a lifeboat detached from the fishing boat. The captain, first mate and two helmsmen who were originally in the fishing boat's cab quickly jumped onto the lifeboat.
Immediately afterwards, the lifeboat started and sped towards the freighter.
"this……"
The three of them were stunned for a moment.
Lin Yian's eyes widened and he said in disbelief: "No, I only gave them one-third of the deposit when I came here, and the remaining money will be paid after completing the task. Now they don't even want the boat?"
Li Jinyong also had a look of astonishment on his face. He hired this fishing boat to hunt for treasure in this area, but only paid one-third of the money to the hirer. He would give the rest after returning to port.
Now these people don’t even want boats anymore?
There is no way to explain this matter differently!
You must know that although this fishing boat is dilapidated, more than 40 years old, and can be called an antique boat, it is still worth more than 200,000 US dollars. Are they crazy? They would rather abandon this boat than escape?
Xiao Chang suddenly slapped his thigh, as if he had thought of something, a look of realization appeared on his face, and he said anxiously: "Is it possible that the ship can't be repaired, and they left us to escape alone?"