50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 492 Speeding things up for you

This is an unspoken rule in Western society: politicians do not serve the people, but rather the wealthy, and in doing so, they also make a profit for themselves.

Ordinary people are only useful before elections. They spend some money on advertising and promotion during election years, but they become useless once they are elected.

Members of parliament can change their campaign promises at any time, but as long as they don't go too far, they can generally serve a peaceful term without any problems.

By monitoring the activities of one of the speaker's confidants, Sun Zhiwei successfully found a high-level broker and made his objectives clear to him.

After thinking for a moment, the broker offered two solutions.

One was his agent who contacted the relevant people. Sun Zhiwei negotiated with them himself, and he only charged a referral fee, which would cost about $10 in total.

Another option is to entrust the entire process to a broker, who will charge a fee of $50 plus 5% of the total price.

The total price he mentioned was the amount allocated by the parliament, and this 5% could only come from Sun Zhiwei's share.

Sun Zhiwei chose the latter option without hesitation. He knew his negotiation skills all too well; going there would only mean being taken advantage of. Besides, it wouldn't be convenient for him to show up in front of so many people.

If things can be done with just a little money, then what is there to hesitate about? Moreover, this time not only will we not lose money, but we will also make a fortune, so there is no need to say more.

On the third day, a copy of the business license was sent over via fax, and Sun Zhiwei immediately transferred another 15 yuan to the lawyer.

The broker then began the operation.

Starting from the fourth day, major Australian newspapers and other media outlets began to ridicule and even hurl insults at the Melbourne.

Parliament has also been accused of wasting taxpayers' money and being a figurehead.

Within three days, public opinion began to overwhelmingly call for the Melbourne to be decommissioned.

Other protesters held signs that read "Get out, jinx!" and demonstrated at the dock where the Melbourne was moored.

The sailors guarding the HMAS Melbourne unanimously made way for the protesters.

So, radicals started throwing stones and spraying paint at the HMAS Melbourne.

At this point, public opinion had already taken shape, and the time was ripe.

On the morning of the seventh day, the Naval Department submitted a written application to Parliament for the decommissioning of the HMAS Melbourne.

Because all parties reached a consensus through the mediation of brokers, the bill was passed in an unprecedentedly fast manner in just eight days, a single day.

The Melbourne has officially begun its decommissioning process.

The formal decommissioning process for an aircraft carrier mainly includes the following steps:
First, a comprehensive assessment is needed: the aircraft carrier needs to undergo a physical inspection to determine which equipment can still be disassembled and reused, and which equipment has reached the retirement standard and can be scrapped. A written report is required for all of this.

This most time-consuming step was actually completed in advance by the sailors on the aircraft carrier.

They've been idle for the past six months with nothing to do, and all they've been thinking about is retiring the Melbourne. So they've been keeping track of the ship's status, and now they can finally put it to use.

Sun Zhiwei wasn't idle watching the show during this time. He secretly bribed several officers who wrote the assessment reports, and wrote that most of the non-weapon equipment was scrapped.

He wanted to preserve as much of the technical equipment on board the Melbourne as possible so that when scientists from China came to study it in the future, they could obtain more technological results.

The second step is the handover of documents. A special file needs to be created for the HMAS Melbourne at the military headquarters to record its movements during its service.

That's not difficult. The Melbourne already has a file; all we need to do is write a decommissioning statement. Once the file is sealed and archived, the Melbourne will officially become part of the Australian Navy's history.

The third item is the decommissioning ceremony. Normally, if it were a heroic warship, many important figures would come to make their presence felt.

But with the Melbourne decommissioned, nobody wants to be associated with bad luck.

In the end, only the original crew members of the Melbourne and the demonstrators who marched and celebrated at the docks attended the decommissioning ceremony.

After the decommissioning ceremony, most of the sailors cheered and left the dock to return to their barracks to await reassignment, leaving only a small squad of military police to guard the Melbourne.

It's certain that someone will be assigned to guard it, because although it's been decommissioned, the carrier-based aircraft and ammunition on the Melbourne haven't been moved yet, and they need to be protected from theft.

At this point, the only remaining issue is what to do with the Melbourne after its decommissioning.

There are generally several ways to handle it. One is to preserve it as a historical site, such as putting it in a naval museum for tourists to visit.

One approach is to directly dismantle and reuse the waste.

Both of these methods require the ships to be rendered harmless first, which costs money. How much it costs and who pays for it are all questions.

As for selling it, who would buy it?

This outdated aircraft carrier was launched in 1945 and is now over 36 years old, still using completely obsolete and outdated technology.

The Colossus-class ships were originally built to serve as cannon fodder in offensive operations, and the parts below the waterline were constructed using the structural components of merchant ships.

In addition, given the Melbourne's reputation as a "jinx," once the news got out, nobody paid any attention.

Actually, there are a few interested parties, such as several small countries in South America, and mainland China.

However, Sun Zhiwei had already sent a telegram to Xu Yimin in advance, asking the government not to intervene, as he had a way to get the ship without spending any money.

The mainland cannot afford an exorbitant price, and other smaller countries cannot afford it either. Moreover, there are various geopolitical and balance-of-power considerations involved.

With Old M watching from above, Australia couldn't just sell whenever it wanted. So the matter was delayed.

As a result, the Melbourne quietly began to decay on the dock.

Sun Zhiwei knew the brokers had plans, but he was anxious. The Melbourne had been decommissioned for a month, and the dismantling process hadn't even begun.

He decided to speed things up. That night, he quietly sneaked to the vicinity of the dock and, using spatial manipulation, cut small openings in the rubber oil pipes on the Melbourne, allowing the heavy oil inside to seep into the ship's hold.

A few days later, a large amount of heavy oil had filled the ship's hold.

On that very day, a small accident occurred: a metal wrench, because it was placed relatively close to the side, fell from a height when the boat was rocking in the waves.

The fallen wrench hit the metal floor, sparking a fire that ignited the leaking heavy oil in the hold. The fire quickly spread, and thick smoke billowed from the hatch onto the deck.

The patrolling military police immediately discovered the fire and, while seeking support, quickly opened the ship's cabin to extinguish it.

So the fire was discovered as soon as it started, and the fire was quickly extinguished, but it also burned down a compartment and part of the oil pipeline.

(End of this chapter)