Super Zoo-Chapter 378 - 374: Blowing Up the Ship

During WWII, Chinese and Japanese forces clashed on the Yangtze River more than once, even going so far as the authorities deliberately sinking decommissioned navy ships and numerous fishing vessels to block the river entrance. Consequently, there are many remnants of the war beneath this section of the Yangtze River.

This mortar shell, for some reason, did not explode and is one of them.

Initially, when Overlord Turtle was catching fish at the bottom of the Yangtze River, it stumbled upon some sunken shipwrecks. At the time, out of a sense of fun, Su Ming had it look around, suggesting that it might find treasure.

After looking for a long time, it didn’t find a single penny’s worth of treasure, but it did find this shell.

Strictly speaking, there were several shells, along with some rusted ship armaments. Among them, this mortar shell seemed to have the least power.

Overlord Turtle lurked at the bottom, cautiously using its front paws to gently push the shell toward the direction of the dredger, fearing that any sudden movement might detonate the thing, which would mean it was digging its own grave. At that distance, no matter how thick Overlord Turtle’s shell was, it would be of no use.

Su Ming didn’t know much about guns and ammunition. In fact, the shell itself had explosion protection. It wouldn’t explode even if it were hit with a stone. Furthermore, having been submerged for so many years, causing it to detonate would not be easy. Still, safety first, he commanded Overlord Turtle to move the shell as little as possible, inching it toward the dredger’s submerged tracks.

Twenty meters away from the tracks, a large hole had already formed under the river surface, and a strong suction coming from the direction of the tracks caused the aquatic silt to flow towards it. Below the tracks was a rotating crusher that would pulverize any oversized rocks to prevent blockages.

This distance was already the limit for Overlord Turtle. Further movement risked getting sucked in and ground into turtle mush. Su Ming directed it to give the shell one last push forwards before hurriedly turning to flee in the opposite direction from the tracks.

With vigorous kicks of its three legs, Overlord Turtle quickly moved away from the dredger, found a large rock on the riverbed, and hid behind it.

Instinct told the creature that something ’big’ was about to happen. The large rock didn’t provide enough safety, so it frantically dug itself a hole on the riverbed, revealing only its thick shell.

Under the suction of the dredger’s tracks, the round mortar shell slowly rolled towards the entrance, moving in circles again and again, another circle and yet another...

...

On the deck, a few lackeys were gathered around Wu Dacheng, constantly sucking up to him.

"Brother Wu really has a way with words. He dealt with that old expert from the province in just a few sentences, watching them leave with their tails between their legs made me want to laugh."

"And that Su asshole, thinking that bringing an expert would do any good? Dream on!"

"However, the buff guy that came with him was tough as nails, damn, probably a retired special forces operative..."

Standing amid his men, Wu Dacheng’s face was sullen.

Being kicked in the stomach by Su Meng was bad enough, but the kick that knocked out one of his teeth was even worse. On his own turf, he was beaten to a pulp by a young man, and the humiliation was too great!

"Tough? What good is being tough if you’re not bulletproof?" Wu Dacheng said spitefully through a whistling gap in his teeth. "Find someone to dig up some dirt on them, locate his family, then hire some migrant workers from another region to waste them on the road!"

Wu Dacheng became the top thug in Baihe Town because he was ruthless. Common hoodlums relied on beer bottles and steel pipes in brawls, and rarely dared to kill. But Wu Dacheng was different.

Sand mining was a lucrative business with many people eyeing a piece of it. In the early days, several bosses with forces similar to Wu Dacheng’s competed with him for business, and all ended badly, inexplicably crippled or even killed. Police had been investigating these cases, but Wu Dacheng was cunning. He never used his own men for such tasks, leaving no evidence behind.

The brawl with Su Meng left Wu Dacheng full of pent-up rage. He had never incurred such losses in his life, which spurred him to murderous thoughts.

"Remember, get someone from Heimei Coal Mine. The miners there don’t use their real identities. Once you find out who they are, do not let that big guy and Su get away. Damn it, if we don’t teach them a lesson, soon everyone will dare to mess with me..."

Wu Dacheng was speaking when suddenly, a muffled sound came from beneath the water.

At the same time, a wave shot up from the stern, and the tracks transporting sand and stones snapped apart. The debris on top flew about like shrapnel, striking the deck with a pelting sound. The ship shook violently.

"What the hell’s going on!" Wu Dacheng staggered, lost his balance, and fell onto the deck, only to realize in shock that the ship was slowly tilting to one side.

"Brother Wu, it’s bad, it’s so bad!" a lackey tumbled up from the stern, his forehead gashed open by a flying stone, screaming in panic, "Looks like we hit a mine, there’s a big hole in the hull!"

"Torpedoes? Where the hell did the torpedoes come from?!" Wu Dacheng was completely flabbergasted. He had been mining sand in the river for more than a day or two, and he had never heard of torpedoes in the Yangtze River. It wasn’t wartime; who would plant torpedoes to blow up whom? Was the government trying to blow up fishermen?

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He was aware that there were sunken ships from wartime in the river center, which could contain unexploded bombs that had been salvaged by fishermen before.

However, the sunken ship zones are concentrated in the deep water of the river center, while sand mining boats usually operate in shallow areas about ten meters deep. It was utterly impossible for them to encounter such things.

He couldn’t have guessed, even if he racked his brain, that when he was just about to ruin Suming with a wave of his hand, an Overlord Turtle was sneakily moving an old unexploded shell from the river center to the diving zone below.

No matter how well the bomb was protected against explosions, it couldn’t withstand the intense pounding of the crusher equipment on a sand mining boat. It would be strange if it didn’t explode.

Wu Dacheng didn’t even have time to think too much. The sand mining boat’s cabin was filled with heavy sand and stones, and it was sinking at an alarming rate. In the blink of an eye, it had already sunk by half.

"Lifeboats?! Lifeboats!"

"Brother Wu, the lifeboats got blown away..."

...

Not far away, Professor Chu and his team were sulking aboard the fisheries enforcement boat when they heard a loud bang in the distance. Before they could understand what had happened, the enormous sand mining boat began to tilt and sink into the Yangtze River.

"What’s... happening..." Old Chu’s eyes nearly popped out.

Mr. Song looked at Suming in astonishment, and Suming gave a sly smile, spread his hands, and winked at Song before rushing to Chu and shouting, "Professor Chu, we’ve got to rescue them! If we don’t get there soon, they’re all going to drown!"

Although the sand mining boat was operating in shallow water, it was still dozens of meters away from the riverbank. The sinking boat would create a vortex in the water, generating suction. Even a person who was an exceptionally good swimmer could be pulled under and drowned alive.

"Yes, yes, yes, Su is right. Hurry up and drive the boat to rescue them!"

The fisheries enforcement boat was a slightly larger speedboat and quickly reached the side of the sand mining boat.

By this time, seventy to eighty percent of the sand mining boat’s body had already tilted and disappeared into the river, and it was sinking faster and faster. Wu Dacheng and a group of his underlings huddled on the last bit of deck that was still above water, screaming frantically for help.

The wicked will hardly go unpunished; although there were many fishing boats on the river, not a single one came to the rescue. They all watched from a distance.

Seeing the fisheries enforcement boat returning, Wu Dacheng grasped at it like a lifeline, waving frantically and yelling at the boat.

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Suming grabbed a megaphone and stood at the bow, speaking in an unhurried tone, "Attention people over there, attention people over there, mind people over there..."

He repeated the phrase at least a dozen times, and by then, the sand mining boat had sunk even further. Wu Dacheng and his crew were left with no foothold as the water reached their shins, becoming as frantic as ants on a hot pan.

Wu Dacheng cursed internally, I’ve been paying attention for ages, what are you shouting for, come rescue us!

"Hello, hello, hello... this is a soundcheck... hello, hello, hello... can the people opposite hear me, this is a soundcheck..."

Wu Dacheng was nearly furious enough to spit blood. What is this, some kind of joke? You going deaf, kid? With the megaphone’s volume so high, the other side of the river could hear it, and you’re still asking if we can hear? I’m not deaf!

However, he realized that Suming was deliberately stalling for time. After a few hellos, the water had almost risen up to their thighs...

Chu was startled on the boat, but then he immediately understood Suming’s intentions. He exchanged looks with Mr. Song, and both shook their heads with laughter. That kid Su sure knows how to play dirty.

The fisheries enforcement boat was less than twenty meters from Wu Dacheng and his group, yet it wouldn’t move a step closer. Suming stood with one hand on his hip and the other holding the megaphone, lazily shouting, "Ol’ Wu, you said earlier that you released the sturgeon, but our boat is about to go look for it, no time to rescue you. Don’t worry, don’t be afraid, we’ve already called the police for you. Just wait patiently, I estimate the police will arrive in at most half an hour..."

"Hey, hey, hey, don’t leave, don’t leave!" Wu Dacheng’s voice took on a sobbing tone, the water having risen to their lower abdomen. Forget half an hour; in five more minutes, he’d be drowned alive. After half an hour, they could only retrieve his body.

Luckily, he still kept his wits about him. Hearing Suming mention the sturgeon, how could he not understand? At this critical moment, saving his own life was paramount. He couldn’t afford any other concern and could only shout at the top of his lungs, "I didn’t release the sturgeon, hurry to save us, I’ll give the sturgeon back to you!"