Through "official" channels.
Boarding the ship.
Ken Maruyama found almost no one on the deck.
Tang Qing took Ken Maruyama to a structure in the upper part of the deck.
The entire area below the deck of the ship had been converted to a ’work zone’ without any dormitories; the few dormitories were all above, just six in total, as the ship’s fighters needed little sleep.
However.
The conditions of the dormitories were beyond reproach.
The decoration was all done in the style of hotel apartnts, with clean wooden floors, soft beds and sofas, ship-borne TV, and a full set of washing facilities. These were originally prepared for personal leisure and as residence in case there was no return, so the conditions had to be good.
Ken Maruyama was the first outsider to stay there.
Entering the room.
Tang Qing switched on the light and introduced, "Mr. Ken Maruyama, you can stay here temporarily. The ship is equipped with a satellite phone, so you can call your daughter. We’ll arrange to deliver you to the nearest safe country.
You can also agree with your daughter on a safe country to et in, and we’ll co over to rge."
Tang Qing offered two options.
Ken Maruyama nodded and expressed his thanks, "Thank you."
He didn’t make an imdiate choice; he needed ti to consider.
"Mr. Ken Maruyama, first take a shower and change your clothes. I’ll wait for you outside. There are various sizes in the closet," Tang Qing said, opening the wardrobe filled with standard-sized clothing.
But there were no trademarks; they were manufactured in the Myanmar Economic Zone.
"Understood."
Seeing there was nothing else.
Tang Qing turned and left.
Closing the door, Ken Maruyama stripped off his nearly torn clothes, took a refreshing shower, and changed into a clean set of casual clothes. Looking at himself in the mirror, he had regained his usual style.
Ken Maruyama felt like he had been reborn.
Between life and death, he had seen through many things.
This ti, upon his return.
He was ready to face everything. For the people he cared about, he had to learn to be ruthless. However, he wasn’t out of danger yet, nor had he reached a safe place, so he remained cautiously optimistic.
Picking up the phone.
He walked out of the room onto the deck.
The satellite phone’s signal wasn’t as strong as terrestrial phones; it was quite weak due to the great distance and not nearly as penetrating as ground base station signals. It could only connect outside; there was no signal inside the room.
Unless.
An external signal receiver was connected.
Stepping outdoors.
Ken Maruyama skillfully operated the satellite phone. He had been trained on this device and dialed his daughter’s number directly. At sea, his daughter’s dostic number would surely be bound to the satellite phone.
Of course.
Her phone on the ship was linked to a high-power signal receiver, and the call connected quickly.
...
On the Atlantic Ocean.
A search and rescue ship was sailing along the sea; it belonged to i Heavy Shipping’s own fleet. As a shipping company, they normally handled accidents themselves; relying on governnt search and rescue was a joke.
Twenty-five-year-old Miyuki Maruyama stood at the bow.
She appeared sowhat haggard.
She had refused to believe her father was dead and hadn’t even gone back for his funeral, a defiant act. If Ken Maruyama couldn’t be found, she could carry the stigma of an ’unfilial daughter’ for a long ti.
"Miyuki, I’ll be with you," a gentle voice said from behind. It was her fiancé, Fujita Mao. Accompanying her on this wild venture was also a big risk for him.
"Yeah, thank you."
Miyuki Maruyama pulled her jacket tighter as the cold wind blew in from the North Atlantic.
"It’s what I should do. We will find your father," Fujita Mao reassured her.
"Okay."
At that mont.
A crew mber ca over, "Miss Miyuki, there’s a call for you, from an unknown number."
"Oh."
Miyuki Maruyama showed no emotion; these past days she had received countless calls. Without caller ID like her mobile, often not knowing who was calling, she could only compare it with the numbers in her phone.
She went to the cabin.
Picked up the phone.
Speaking in a weary voice, Miyuki Maruyama said, "Hello, this is Miyuki Maruyama." She had been seasick; for days, she had hardly managed to eat anything, anything she ate ca right back up, leaving her feeling weak.
"..."
Upon hearing his daughter’s voice again, Ken Maruyama was overco with emotion.
He opened his mouth but didn’t know what to say first. On the island, his greatest concern had been for his daughter, wondering how her future would be, whether she would face hardships, whether she would...
"Hello, this is Miyuki Maruyama," she repeated, thinking the other party hadn’t heard her clearly, which was normal since satellite communications at sea were notoriously unreliable.
"I..."
Ken Maruyama spoke, his voice a bit hoarse.
In an instant.
Miyuki Maruyama realized, that was her father’s voice.
"Father, Father, is that you?" Miyuki Maruyama exclaid in surprise, her eyes welling up involuntarily.
"Miyuki, it’s ," Ken Maruyama’s voice was also full of tears.
"Wuh wuh wuh, I knew you were okay, wuh wuh wuh, thank goodness, wuh wuh wuh..." Her tears made Ken Maruyama feel equally helpless, and he could only keep comforting her.
After several minutes of crying.
With consolation from both ends of the phone.
Miyuki Maruyama finally got a hold of her emotions and could speak normally. The news of Ken Maruyama being safe spread quickly across the rescue ship, causing a stir of cheers, everyone agitated with excitent.
Miyuki Maruyama hurriedly asked, "Father, where are you? I’ll co to get you."
"After the plane crash, I was stranded on a deserted island and have just been rescued. They said you could co to get , or we could et in a safe place. After thinking, I’d prefer you co," Ken Maruyama ultimately decided to trust Tang Qing and take a chance.
Then, following the fighter’s advice, Ken Maruyama reported a set of coordinates.
Soon.
Maruyama Miyuki calculated the distance between the two ships.
"Father, we are nine hours of sailing away from you. I’ve already directed our ship towards your location. You stay put and report your coordinates every two hours," Maruyama Miyuki said.
"Be careful on the way," Maruyama Takeshi instructed.
"I got it, Father. Who is the person saving you this ti?" Maruyama Miyuki asked curiously.
Maruyama Takeshi shook his head, "Not sure yet, but they don’t seem to be a bad person; that’s my intuition. Also, the bargaining chip I offered is quite substantial. And, don’t notify our family about this for now."
"What bargaining chip?" Maruyama Miyuki was shocked.
"A company given to him," Maruyama Takeshi said bluntly.
"Which company?"
"icho Shipping," Maruyama Takeshi replied.
A company worth around four hundred million dollars was just given away—it was indeed sowhat expensive. Yet, compared to her father’s life, Maruyama Miyuki quickly dismissed the thought.
"Father, if it really can save you, a company is worth it."
"Yes, my dear daughter..."
The father and daughter talked for nearly an hour before Tang Qing interrupted. These calls do cost phone bills, and a minute is quite expensive, Tang Qing joked. Maruyama Takeshi knew it was in jest, but he had already said all that needed to be said.
He hung up the phone.
He went to the deck.
He saw Tang Qing standing at the bow.
Maruyama Takeshi walked over.
"Young man, what’s your na?" Maruyama Takeshi asked.
"You’ll know when you transfer the company," Tang Qing wasn’t ready to reveal himself just yet.
"I look forward to that day," Maruyama Takeshi said with a wry smile.
Tang Qing nodded and smiled, "So do I."
He looked around, neat and tidy, with four massive cranes standing barren. Maruyama Takeshi curiously asked, "Did you find any treasure in your hunt? It’s hard to salvage anything with the water this deep."
"It’s alright, just a hobby, the treasure cos second," Tang Qing said nonchalantly.
"Seems like you’re definitely a rich man, young friend," Maruyama Takeshi laughed.
"Perhaps."
"Got any food?" Maruyama Takeshi suddenly felt an emptiness in his stomach.
Tang Qing turned and pointed in a direction, "We’ve passed alti, but look, they just hauled up a tuna. I’ve heard Mr. Maruyama Takeshi is skilled in cooking; we have everything here.
There’s fish, knives, soy sauce, mustard—help yourself, and you’ll be well-fed."
"Ha, alright then. Let repay your kindness and impress you with my cooking skills..." Looking at the bluefin tuna about a ter and a half long nearby, Maruyama Takeshi was astonished.
This kind of fish is widely distributed in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
A tuna of this size is a rarity on the market in Japan; just one fish could be worth at least four hundred thousand dollars. Having it for dinner, even he felt a twinge at such extravagance.
Such luxury.
Having said that,
Maruyama Takeshi approached the tuna, tied on an apron, and began skillfully slicing. Though it had been a while since he last cooked, the size of the tuna ant that even a bit of rustiness on his part wouldn’t matter much.
Watching Maruyama Takeshi enthusiastically take on the role of ’cook,’ Tang Qing smiled slightly and turned his gaze back to the rolling sea, the boundless ocean soothing his mood.
He had picked up several hundred million. In dollars, too.
Converted to gold,
it was only about twenty-so tons, but still, it was money. Otherwise, the Maruyama Clan would never sell the company through normal channels. Corporate culture in Japan is different from that in the United States.
In Japan’s corporate culture, the goal is to found century-long enterprises, or even older. To get them to sell a company they hold is sotis impossible, no matter if you offer double or multiple tis the price.
They simply won’t sell to you.
It’s like changing jobs.
In Japan, that’s quite unacceptable because, in Japanese corporate culture—and in the country’s culture as a whole—loyalty is highly esteed across all social classes.
Employees loyal to their bosses.
Samurai loyal to their lords.
Citizens loyal to their Emperor.
An employee who switches jobs frequently is seen as disloyal, and a disloyal person is considered to lack integrity. Such individuals are looked down upon by Japanese society.
It’s this culture of ’loyalty’
that gave birth to almost the only work-for-life corporate environnt globally.
Therefore,
out of all the countries in the world,
Japanese businesses are the hardest to acquire.
Unlike other countries where money talks and businesses are seen rely as tools, the ease with which Tang Qing managed to acquire one gave him an odd sense of triumph.
Half an hour later.
The sashimi by Maruyama Takeshi was ready.
The two sat down.
Savoring the al slowly, with a glass of fruit wine on the open sea and the sea breeze blowing—even though the food was a bit bland, it was still quite enjoyable. They chatted about many things, and while Maruyama Takeshi kept probing, Tang Qing remained mum.
In the end, Maruyama Takeshi could only talk about his own story.
Growth.
Insights.
Business.
Life.
His many perspectives, like soul-nourishing chicken soup combined with his experiences, captivated his listener. Tang Qing listened attentively, especially when the conversation turned to his mother.
It wasn’t that he knew her.
Just that,
according to the Command Room’s investigation,
Maruyama Takeshi’s mother was working for the intelligence departnt of Huaxia, and though it was secretive, with no leads on the Huaxia side, an analysis of his mother’s actions over the years, combined with so supporting evidence,
suggested that this guess was very likely.
As for the purpose,
it was not anything significant.
Just the regular provision of insider information about Japan’s upper classes, relationships between families, and other such minor matters. She wasn’t asked to carry out any specially dangerous tasks, just an ordinary intelligence agent.
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