50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 654 The Throat of Malacca

Upon arriving at Jakarta City Hall once again, Sun Zhiwei met Prabowo again in a high-level office.

Besides Prabovo, there were several other strangers in the office. When Prabovo saw Sun Zhiwei arrive, he took the initiative to introduce him.

“Mr. James, this is Chief Qasim of the National Land Administration (BPN) and his men.”

"Nice to meet you." As the name suggests, this is the department responsible for purchasing and registering islands.

The two shook hands and that was considered an acquaintance. Then, Director Qasim had his men unfold a map of the entire country of Java.

“Mr. James, all the islands in the country are on the map. Could you please tell us your specific requirements so that we can do an initial screening?”

"I plan to build a Pinkerton East headquarters, which needs to provide offices, accommodations, supplies, and training facilities for new employees."

“We have our own fleet of ships and planes, so we need to build a small airport for small planes to take off and land, and we also need a bay where we can build a small dock for ships to moor.”

"As for the location, it's not a requirement; whether it's on the shipping lane or not doesn't matter."

Actually, his requirements weren't high. He just needed a flat piece of land to build an airport. The key was that the area had to be large enough, otherwise, he wouldn't be able to build so many buildings.

There are many islands in Java that meet these requirements.

Director Qasim then began pointing to the map and explaining to him: "Mr. James, based on your request, we can provide you with three alternative islands."

"The first one is in the ocean east of Sulawesi, where there are dozens of islands, several of which are over 100 square kilometers in size."

"The area is bordered by the Maluku Sea to the north and the Banda Sea to the south, making water transportation very convenient."

"Moreover, the island is large enough and has deep-water bays, making it perfectly suitable for building deep-water piers."

How to describe this place? It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a remote and impoverished area. There are no modern big cities on the surrounding islands.

If Sun Zhiwei chooses this location, then future supplies will be extremely difficult to obtain; even toilet paper will have to be transported from afar, and the maintenance costs will be too high.

Its biggest advantage is probably its relative tranquility. Since the island is not on international shipping lanes, it is generally not disturbed by anyone, and he can rule the island as he pleases.

Although he didn't like it, he didn't immediately reject the option, but continued to listen to Director Qasim introduce the situation of the other two islands.

"The second island is located north of Pontianak, at the southern end of the Riau Islands. It is called Subi Island, which is a major transportation route to Malacca."

"Most importantly, there is already a small town there, and all the infrastructure, such as power plants and water plants, is already in place, so there is no need to build from scratch."

When Sun Zhiwei listened to Director Qasim's introduction, he felt that he was a bit strange. Such a good island is rare even in Java. Why would they put it up for trade?
He wouldn't dare take on the task lightly without figuring this out; if it turned out to be a huge pitfall, it would drain his energy.

Seeing that Sun Zhiwei looked hesitant, Kasim gave Prabowo a wink.

Prabowo, who had been sitting nearby drinking tea, immediately came over after seeing Qasim's gesture: "Mr. James, so, have you chosen one yet?"

Sun Zhiwei glanced at him and said, "The second Subi Island looks pretty good, but there are still many problems to be solved here."

"For example, how much would it cost to move all the people in this town? And how much would it cost to build a dock and an airport? We need to conduct an on-site survey of the terrain to determine the budget."

“These things can’t be solved immediately. Let’s take a look at what the third island is like first.” “I know about the third island too, so I’ll explain it.” Prabowo volunteered, and Sun Zhiwei and Qasim had no objections.

"I also helped you choose the third island. It's located 1000 kilometers east of Jakarta and is called Penida Island."

“Penida Island has a total area of ​​203 square kilometers. It is 10 kilometers to the west of Bali and 20 kilometers to the east of Lombok.”

"The island is located in a very pleasant climate, and there are several large islands nearby that can be used for resupply at any time. It can be said to be a quiet place in the middle of the city."

"There's not much flat land on the island; it's mostly hilly and mountainous. If we were to build a lot of buildings, the cost might be a bit high."

In fact, when he heard that Bali was only 10 kilometers away, he immediately ruled out this island.

Sun Zhiwei didn't care about construction costs, but he planned to build a training base where he would occasionally set off artillery and fire guns.

They're conducting armed drills every day so close to Bali, a popular tourist destination. Just wait and see if the locals will cause trouble.

So, although they said there were three options, they actually only gave Sun Zhiwei one single choice, and he could only choose the second one, Subi Island.

So, what exactly is the problem with Subi Island?

You can't find out by asking directly; he has to discover it himself.

So Sun Zhiwei approached the map and began to carefully examine the location of Subi Island.

Subi Island belongs to the Riau Islands, and the largest island in the Riau Islands is called Grand Natuna Island, which is not far to the north of Subi Island.

When he saw the name "Greater Natuna Island" on the map, a vague memory came to mind; he had heard of this name before.

In our family's naming conventions, "Da Natuna Island" used to be called "Zengmu Island." Hearing this name, you all know what that means, right?

That's not the point. There have always been many Chinese people living on Grand Natuna Island. In this day and age, there should be nearly 20,000 people on the island, of whom 80% are Chinese.

What's even more incredible is that they're planning to establish a nation and are currently seeking international support, which is going to be a real problem.

Historically, Java was in a stable political situation, and Hatto directly immigrated 8 people to the island, which diluted the local population ratio, and the matter was eventually dropped.

But right now, there's a war going on on Java, so they don't have time to deal with what's happening on this northernmost island.
Just then, Sun Zhiwei came to buy the islands, so Prabowo decided to bring Pinkerton to the Riau Islands to plant a seed in the Great Natuna Islands.

His idea was good: to infiltrate the influence of the M country into the Riau Islands and divert the attention of the Chinese on Grand Natuna Island.

There will definitely be conflict between the two sides, and whichever side wins will be beneficial to them.

Sun Zhiwei looked around the area again but didn't find any further problems, so he was pretty sure that Prabovo had this in mind.

Having figured out their thoughts, Sun Zhiwei decided to accept the place.

What might be a tangled problem for others is not a problem for him at all.

The island's residents are still seeking international support, right? We can just have someone from China send over to appease them.

(End of this chapter)