The Spirit of Gourmet

Chapter 499 A Huge Accident

"The people are on the boat, but we haven't reached the dock..."

Lin Ping frowned. "If that's the case, did you ask the other passengers?"

“No.” Song Yu paused for a moment, then shook his head. “I asked a lot of passengers at the dock, but none of them were from Manager Qu Dong’s ship, so I gave up asking and came directly here.”

"Have you asked the shipping company?" Qin Lang couldn't help but ask.

“This…” Song Yu scratched his head awkwardly, “Because I was in such a hurry at the time, I didn’t think too much about it and just came over.”

"It's alright, I'll ask." Lin Ping's expression remained relatively calm. "From what you're saying, it seems that Qu Dong's phone call couldn't be reached. Perhaps things aren't as bad as they seem, and it's just a problem with his phone or something."

"Give me the cruise ship's number."

“Okay.” Song Yu quickly gave the cruise ship’s corresponding number, “It’s T30292.”

Lin Ping quickly dialed the shipping company's number. "Hello? This is Lin Ping from the security management team. I need to inquire about something..."

At first, Lin Ping's expression was quite calm, but as the person on the other end of the phone said something, his expression gradually became serious.

"What did you say?! Wait a minute..."

He covered the microphone, looked at Song Yu again, and asked seriously, "Are you sure it's cruise ship T30292?"

"Yes, absolutely right!" Song Yu nodded quickly.

Lin Ping gave a light snort, then released the receiver and spoke into the phone, "From now on, this matter will be taken over by the Public Security Management Team."

“If this happens again, I will report it to the association's higher-ups and have your company's ship qualification revoked. You'd better watch yourself!”

After saying that, Lin Ping hung up the phone with a gloomy expression.

"It's incredibly foolish that the shipping company would try to cover up such a huge incident!"

"What happened?" Zhang Hui couldn't help but ask. "Judging from your expression, it's probably not just a disappearance."

“Yes.” Lin Ping nodded, took a deep breath and looked at Song Yu beside him, “The person you’re looking for probably won’t be available for the time being.”

"what?!"

Song Yu's face turned pale, and even Qin Lang and the others' expressions changed.

What does this mean?
Is it...

"Don't think too much."

Seeing that Qin Lang and the others seemed to have misunderstood, Lin Ping quickly explained, "The reason we say we can't find them for the time being is because it's not just Qu Dong who has disappeared; the T30292 cruise ship and all the passengers on board have also disappeared."

"That means there must be hundreds of people missing, right?" Zhang Hui's eyes widened in shock. "How serious is that?"

“Yes.” Lin Ping nodded. “Such a big thing happened. If I hadn’t called to inquire, the shipping company would have wanted to keep the news hidden to avoid a large-scale refund from passengers on other cruise ships.”

"These guys only care about their own profits!"

After uttering a few curses, Lin Ping shook his head, his expression regaining its composure. "There's probably nothing we can do about this."

"I'll call Zang Feng right now; I need his help."

"Zang Feng?" Zhang Hui looked thoughtful. "Is he the captain of the public security management team in Guanling City?"

“Yes.” Lin Ping nodded. “The last stop of the T30292 cruise ship was Guanling City. According to the shipping company, the cruise ship disappeared in the waters near Guanling City and never arrived at the corresponding dock in Guanling City.”

"This matter may need to be handed over to Guanling City for investigation."

At this point, Lin Ping looked apologetically at Qin Lang and the others, "I'll have to ask you to wait a little longer." "I hope they haven't encountered any danger," Qin Lang sighed.

Originally, with Qu Dong's return, the problem with Hai Ba Wang could have been gradually resolved, but now such a critical situation has arisen.

Qu Dong has disappeared, and the food supply channels he found have also disappeared.

"Deputy Manager Song Yu, Hai Ba Wang will need your full attention next." Looking at Song Yu, who looked bewildered, Qin Lang said in a deep voice, "Since there are no new food supply channels for the time being, we can only maintain the status quo."

"Everything remains the same. Signature dishes that are missing ingredients have been removed from the menu. At present, Haibaowang Restaurant is focused on maintaining its reputation."

“I understand.” Song Yu sighed. “Manager Qu Dong is a lucky man, I believe he will be fine.”

"In that case, I should head back to the restaurant as soon as possible."

"I still need to look after the restaurant business."

After saying this, Song Yu took his leave.

As Song Yu left, Qin Lang and the others also bid farewell and left the Public Security Management Office.

"How could such a large cruise ship just disappear without a trace?" Zhao Qian's face was full of doubt. "This is too strange."

“It is indeed very strange.” Cao Dongdong nodded, then stroked his chin. “But I feel like I’ve heard something similar before.”

“I feel the same way…” Qin Lang frowned and pondered.

Following closely behind, Egg Baby seemed to have thought of something, nudging Qin Lang's cheek with its tail, "Gurgle~"

"You mean..." Qin Lang paused for a moment, then a look of realization dawned on his eyes, "The Qili Bay Monster?"

Previously in Lanqiu City, after the story of the Silver Nightingale was revealed, Fatima and Zog, the two scholars of legends, parted ways with Qin Lang and the other two.

Fatima returns to the Feri region to track down a legendary creature based on clues provided by the Leaping Fish.

Meanwhile, Zoge learned of the existence of the "Qili Bay Monster" from his friend, a scholar of legends, which was a creature that seemed to be a legendary being.

Legend has it that when cruise ships are sailing at sea, if they hear the song of the Qili Bay Monster in the fog, they often deviate significantly from their course.

This sounds very similar to the disappearance of the cruise ship that Qu Dong was on.

"I knew I'd heard something similar before!" Cao Dongdong slapped his forehead, a look of sudden realization on his face.

"How about we ask Zuo Ge?" Zhao Qian's eyes lit up. "It's been several days since we parted ways, he should have made some progress by now, right?"

"can."

Qin Lang nodded and quickly picked up his phone to call Zuo Ge.

"Hopefully he won't disappear along with the cruise ship," Cao Dongdong muttered to himself. "Otherwise, it'll be troublesome."

"You jinx!" Zhao Qian slapped Cao Dongdong on the back of the head. "Quickly, 'Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!'"

“…Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!” Cao Dongdong quickly spat out several times.

The situation the three feared did not occur. The call was quickly answered, and Zuo Ge's voice came through, "Haha, Qin Lang, receiving your call at this joyous moment is truly a wonderful coincidence!"

"Happy?" Qin Lang raised an eyebrow slightly. "Where are you now? What happy thing happened?"

"I've just arrived at the Qili Islands in Qili Bay. It's truly a beautiful place. It's a pity you weren't here with me," Zog grinned. "As for the happy things..."

"I just received some good news. The lake monster I'm tracking has been spotted in the area in the last two days. It's like a godsend."

(End of this chapter)