Travel through Hong Kong variety shows, starting with unlocking all kinds of beauties.

……

Lei Yaoyang smiled and agreed to "play the piano." Just as Dong Tianbao was about to hang up, a sudden thought struck him, as if he'd remembered something crucial, and he abruptly spoke:

"Wait, Master Bao!"

"Hmm?" Dong Tianbao's hand stopped on the hang-up button.

"I've thought of something."

Lei Yaoyang's voice turned serious. "Ivan Tanzai is only responsible for sending us out of the Turkish Straits."

Once it left the strait, the ship was just a 60,000-ton iron lump with no power, no weapons, and no communication.

From the Mediterranean to the Cape of Good Hope, then across the Indian Ocean to Singapore, this journey...

He paused, took a deep breath, and said, "Pirates, warlords, the American fleet, even some ill-intentioned coastal nations—anyone can come and take a bite. We can't just walk away naked."

Dong Tianbao was silent for two seconds on the other end of the phone.

"Go on."

"I suggest recruiting a large number of mercenaries to provide escort throughout the entire journey."

Hearing this, Han Bin almost burned his fingers with his cigarette and stared at Lei Yaoyang with wide eyes.

He thought to himself, "Holy crap, how much money is going to be burned here?!"

Forget it, Dong Tianbao has a lot of brothers and a lot of money anyway, so he doesn't need these things.

Lei Yaoyang ignored him and continued, "During my years in Holland, I got to know a few old South African mercenaries who came from the Annihilation Mercenary Organization."

They have boats, helicopters, and heavy firepower. As long as the money is right, they can protect you from the Cape of Good Hope to the Strait of Malacca.

"cost?"

"This kind of job requires at least 500 private armed personnel, plus armed tugboats and helicopter platforms, and takes six months in total... It won't cost less than 30 million US dollars."

"Thirty million US dollars," Dong Tianbao repeated, his tone flat.

Lei Yaoyang thought he was hesitating and was about to explain when Dong Tianbao spoke up: "I'll give you a hundred million US dollars to hire a few more companies."

Then I'll give you another hundred million US dollars, and you can tell Han Bin to buy two decommissioned armed patrol boats from Ivan Tanzai.

When registered in Panama or Liberia, the ship's name will be listed as... "Distant-water fisheries protection."

Lei Yaoyang was taken aback for a moment, then laughed: "Brother Bao, your mind works faster than mine."

"Go on, who was leading the team again?"

"His name is Fan Debiao. He worked in the Annihilation Army back then. Later, he formed his own team and helped protect oil tankers in the Mozambique Channel."

This man is greedy, but he keeps his word. Once the contract is signed, his people and the ship are yours.

"Okay, you contact him. Let's find two companies and give each one 40 million, with a 3 million deposit. After the contract is signed, we'll pay the remaining 7 million."

The rest will be settled when the ship arrives in Singapore.

"clear."

Lei Yaoyang was about to hang up the phone when

This time, Dong Tianbao suddenly called out to him again: "Wait."

"Is there anything else you need, Master Bao?"

"As for hiring mercenaries, ask Ivan Tanzai if he's interested."

Han Bin was puffing on a cigarette when he heard this and almost choked on his breath, the smoke coming out of his nose.

Lei Yaoyang's eyes lit up upon hearing this. "Brother Bao, you mean the retired naval soldiers under Ivan Tanzania's command?"

"Yes!" Dong Tianbao's voice on the other end of the phone was unhurried. "Mercenaries are mercenaries after all, but the retired soldiers under Ivan Tanzai's command are more professional at sea than mercenaries."

Lei Yaoyang thought about it and realized that made sense: "I'm just afraid he won't agree."

Dong Tianbao smiled. "Give 40 million to the retired military personnel who are employed, and another 10 million to him personally. He can gain a group of loyal subordinates and also enhance his prestige in the navy. Do you think he would agree?"

Han Bin, listening nearby, felt his eyelids twitch and mouthed to Lei Yaoyang: "You can play it like that?"

Lei Yaoyang ignored him, his mind racing: "Brother Bao, you're really good at understanding people..."

He gave a small compliment.

"Be careful!" Dong Tianbao said and hung up the phone.

Lei Yaoyang took a deep breath. "Brother Bin, contact Ivan Tancai and negotiate according to the price Brother Bao just gave us."

Han Bin stubbed out his cigarette, his face contorted in a grimace: "Fine, I've really gone all out. We just finished negotiating the ship purchase, and now I'm talking about hiring mercenaries. Ivan Tanzai probably thinks I've switched careers to become a headhunter."

"This is what you do anyway." Lei Yaoyang smiled and handed him a cigarette. He lit it, turned around, walked back to the table, picked up the satellite phone again, and said, "I'm going to send a notification to Fan Debiao."

"Aren't you afraid that Ivan Tanzai will expose the fact that he took too much money?" Han Bin suddenly asked.

Lei Yaoyang paused for a moment while dialing.

"He won't."

"Are you so sure?"

Lei Yaoyang looked up at Han Bin: "Brother Bin, do you remember the last thing Ivan Tanzai said when he left?"

Han Bin thought for a moment and nodded.

"He said that this ship is the culmination of ten years of hard work by tens of thousands of workers in Nikolayev and should not rot in the dock."

Lei Yaoyang put down the phone, his voice very soft, "A person who can say such things wouldn't hand the ship over to the United States. He's more afraid of something happening to the ship than we are."

Han Bin was silent for a while, then suddenly laughed.

"Alright, you're all shrewd people, I'm just destined to be an errand boy." He stood up, grabbed his coat and draped it over his shoulders. "I'll go find Ivan Tanzai, you contact Fan Debiao."

Let's split up and do it.

As Han Bin reached the door, he stopped again and glanced back at Lei Yaoyang.

"By the way, you just said that Master Bao is going to give you a villa and a piano?"

"Um."

"Remember to call me when you play the piano. I may not understand it, but I love joining in the fun. I'll send you a few pretty girls then."

Lei Yaoyang, unusually, laughed out loud: "Get lost."

The door closed.

Lei Yaoyang dialed the South African number, listened to the dial tone, and looked out the window.

The snowstorm subsided somewhat. The outline of the Varyag in the distance became clearer than before, its gray-black hull appearing even larger and more silent against the snow-covered backdrop.

Nineteen days.

He wanted to get this sleeping behemoth moving within nineteen days.

The call connected, and a rough South African accent came through: "Ray, long time no see!"

"Fan, I have a big job offer here, want to take it?"

"Ray, really?"

"Forty million US dollars, six months, armed escort. Location: from Türkiye to Singapore."

There was a full ten seconds of silence on the other end of the phone.

Then Van der Sar's voice rang out again, tinged with amusement: "What ship?"

You'll see when you see it.

"Is there cargo on board?"

"have."

"What goods?"

Lei Yaoyang thought for a moment, then said calmly, "The future."

Van der Sar fell silent again.

After a long pause, he suddenly burst into laughter: "Lei, you're still as crazy as ever. Fine, once the deposit is in your account, my men will be on their way within forty-eight hours."

"Okay, I'll call you right after I hang up. You got such a big order, and you didn't even say thank you!"

Lei Yaoyang joked.

"Say thank you, you're too kind! I'll bring you some local specialties when I come over, they'll definitely be delicious!"

"You can keep it for yourself! Get lost!"

……