Unfortunately, someone reported ’Big Smart’, causing an uproar in the US media, and even the Japanese media caught wind of it and expressed their dissatisfaction.
The United States Ministry of the Navy was utterly humiliated. The Minister of the Navy was furious and immediately ordered a thorough inspection of all materials for this exercise.
This order was both a warning and a threat, clearly implying: Anyone in the fleet hiding anything shady better clean it up immediately, or wait to be exposed and humiliated.
Friends within the fleet specifically reminded Zhou Qingfeng to either get rid of the goods before the fleet reached Tokyo or face the ten heavy trucks being tossed into the Pacific Ocean as fish feed.
To make matters worse, this was considered "force majeure", meaning the 20 million US Dollar shipment fee already paid could not be refunded at all.
Zhou Qingfeng’s eyes turned red with rage. He suddenly stood up, kicked open Monica’s office door with a bang, causing the door to slam against the wall with a resounding clatter.
Monica was smoking by the window and was so startled by the sudden noise that she jolted, causing hot ash to burn a hole in her clothes. She shouted angrily, "You kicked my door?"
Zhou Qingfeng strode over to her, demanding aggressively, "Explain to me, my 300 million—US Dollars! Why is it now going to be thrown into the sea to feed the fish?"
Monica was momentarily overwhelmed by his aggression and stepped back, but still retorted, "Sudden incident, I can’t control it. What do you want me to do?"
"What do I want? Of course, I want to find a way to get the goods ashore!" Zhou Qingfeng pressed closer, "Isn’t the Department of Homeland Security backing you? Are you seriously going to let the Navy jocks throw my money into the sea?"
Monica bit her lip, knowing the situation was tricky. She shook her head, her voice lowering, "That’s out on the ocean; we don’t have anyone there.
The carrier fleet’s route is fixed and can’t be changed mid-course. We’ve tried our best to find solutions, but if you have the skills, figure something out yourself."
"You haven’t lost anything, so you’re not worried, right?" Zhou Qingfeng stared at her for half a minute, the fire in his eyes almost blazing. He sneered, turned around, and left:
"I thought your ’Tree of Justice’ was capable, but now I see clearly—just a bunch of useless idiots who can’t even come up with an emergency plan.
Give me the contact info for that transport ship’s captain, I’ll handle it myself." With that, he slammed the door shut, skewing the wall-mounted decorations.
Monica sat in her chair, gritting her teeth, and grabbed the phone, dialing Dias with barely restrained anger in her voice:
"That punk is getting harder to control. He actually yelled at me."
Dias, however, remained calm, "I’m already aware of the situation with the fleet. We can’t completely ignore it, we need to cooperate where necessary."
Zhou Qingfeng returned to his office, grabbed the satellite phone, and directly called the captain of the "Watson" vehicle transport ship to inquire about the specifics.
The captain was equally unflustered, "I just received the notice that upon docking in Tokyo, all cargo will be inspected. If necessary, those ten heavy trucks might have to be discarded into the sea for destruction.
The next stop is Guam, so if you want to save the cargo, you’d better come up with a solution within a week, or it’s hopeless."
After a pause, he added, "I do have an idea—use a heavy-duty helicopter to airlift the cargo.
I can have people help you unload the cargo from the trucks and also arrange for a helicopter. But it’s going to cost extra.
Additionally, you’ll need to find a flat-deck ship on your own, capable of helicopter landings, and arrange subsequent transportation."
"Alright, I got it, thanks." Zhou Qingfeng hung up the phone, his mind racing. He turned to Jennifer and commanded:
"Find a way to get a ship, between Hawaii and Guam, with a flat deck? It must be able to land a heavy-duty helicopter, whether rented or bought, we must get one!"
This order wasn’t just given to Jennifer; he also directed it at Marco and Kelly.
Marco, now just a vice president of the company, was bewildered upon receiving the order: "Buy a ship? A flat deck ship? But I don’t even know what the shipping industry is about!"
Kelly, however, was different. Having been in the financial circle for a long time, she never tried to solve tricky problems by herself.
She had already guessed Xiao Jinlang’s identity, and when faced with an unsolvable issue, she directly called him...
"Do you guys want the goods or not? Victor is very angry with your lack of effort. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
That guy has an overly rich imagination and a lot of money; don’t let him wield his financial power lightly. The consequences would be uncontrollable!"