Chapter 1178: Chapter 1177: Aftermath of the Whaling
The incident of executing Yueyou Ancestor at Peach Blossom Temple may not be fully hidden from the Court’s higher-ups, but as long as the news doesn’t leak broadly, it will suffice to keep the attention of many old ghosts from the Netherworld focused on Taohua Temple.
Moreover, these old ghosts from the Netherworld aren’t friendly souls, with practices extremely different from those in the mortal world. They might even find the hidden Demon Cave Secret Realm in Pingdong Dao, achieving two goals at once.
Thus, Lu Zheng and his group leisurely returned to Tonglin County to rest and visit friends.
The ladies prepared gifts for Du Yueyao, as well as ones for Wang Xiaowan, those from Five Beauties Manor, for the duo Bi Xinyu, for Ning Zhiqui and his wife, and for Zhu Yushan and his wife.
What? Yue Honghai... of course, he got none; not charging him for food and lodging was already kind enough!
Only Liu Qingquan was sulking so much she almost pouted her lips to the sky. It took Liu Qingyan quite an effort to calm her down by promising to take her on the next trip.
Lu Zheng inquired Yue Honghai, and Shen Ying asked Peach Blossom Celestial Maiden. During the month and more they were gone, nothing major happened in the county.
Well, nothing substantial happened.
Two wild ghosts entered the city to cause harm and ended up in a fierce battle with a passing traveling monk. With Wang Xiaowan’s help, they jointly took down those wild ghosts.
An abnormal person traveled here, discovering Yue Honghai to be a demon and attempted to subdue him, but instead got a beating from Yue Honghai, who then invited him to experience the VIP service of Yu Ling Garden.
Seeing how the entire Yu Ling Garden treated Yue Honghai like a big shot, and after witnessing Yue Honghai lavishly spent dozens of strings of coins after watching a show, the abnormal person felt his own empty pocket and silently left.
Lastly, two bandits from out of town attempted to rob and kill, but ended up targeting the top patron of Yu Ling Garden. Eventually, the top patron easily subdued them and sent them to the County Government Office, adding to Chief Liu’s accolades.
If these incidents occurred ten years ago, Lu Zheng might have eagerly gotten involved. But hearing them now felt like children’s play, too weak for his taste.
Just like a first grader finds kindergarten games trivial.
Thus, indeed, nothing happened in Tonglin County.
So Lu Zheng personally whipped up a grand feast for the group to enjoy at night.
...
"Check out this video..."
Back on Blue Star, as soon as Lu Zheng lay down on the sofa and turned on the TV intending to unwind with some variety shows, Lin Wan sat beside him and handed him her phone.
"What video?"
Taking Lin Wan’s phone, Lu Zheng saw a vast ocean in the clip, with a tiny spot in the distance which seemed like a ship.
Then, suddenly, a tall water column erupted from where the ship was, raising huge waves even causing the filming boat to sway despite its distance.
After the waves subsided, the distant ship disappeared.
Lu Zheng: (*°ω°*)ﾉ
Looking at the video’s title "Sea God Rages, Whaling Ship Destroyed," Lu Zheng stroked his chin, deep in thought.
"So... it’s the Sea Covering Curse I left on that whale... the talisman’s power hasn’t fully depleted?"
Lin Wan sighed, "This is already the fourth ship."
Lu Zheng was shocked, "What?"
"After this video came out, I did some research. Four of Japan’s whaling ships have mysteriously disappeared," Lin Wan explained.
"The first three vanished without a trace. This one happened to be caught by a New Lan country’s environmental group who couldn’t stop it and were hit by a water cannon, so they kept their distance and captured this footage," she continued.
"The video initially went viral overseas, then got re-uploaded internally, but there’s minimal attention to this domestically, so it hasn’t caused much of a stir."
Lin Wan added, "But it’s quite a commotion overseas; some suspect an extreme environmentalist group used a small submarine for close-range detonation against whaling ships."
Lu Zheng was speechless, "Now they’re just imagining things?"
"However..."
What stunned Lu Zheng more was another realization, "In less than half a year, that whale encountered whaling ships four times?"
Lin Wan facepalmed and sighed, "It seems so, if the second and third incidents involve the same whale."
"Did Japan’s whaling ships have records of disappearing before this year?" Lu Zheng asked.
Lin Wan shook her head, "No."
Lu Zheng, "..."
"So what’s the current situation?"
Lin Wan chuckled, "All of Japan’s whaling ships have returned to port. Reportedly, they intend to investigate exactly which extreme environmentalist group is involved. I even saw people buying information on the dark web.
The video’s distance was too far to capture the whaling footage, and the towering water wave looked much like an explosion,"
"And quite a big one," she emphasized.
"Indeed," Lin Wan nodded, "It seems like an amateur’s work, using too much explosive."
"Sounds off," Lu Zheng was speechless, continuing, "So nothing’s been uncovered yet?"
"Of course not; this happened a month ago," Lin Wan stated, "Japan has already voiced its condemnation internationally, branding it environmental terrorism."
Lu Zheng nodded, "Just like Korea claims against them."
Lin Wan reported, "Until the truth is revealed, the remaining nine of Japan’s whaling ships dare not set sail, causing domestic whale product prices to soar in Japan."
"Hmm?" Lu Zheng looked up, "Only nine whaling ships left in Japan? Did they initially have... only thirteen ships in total?"
"Thirteen isn’t few; a few years ago, it was even fewer, with quota limits," Lin Wan mentioned, "With Japan’s continuous economic decline, whaling is profitable, so they’ve extended the commercial whaling quota, thus having more whaling ships."
"More importantly..."
Lin Wan scoffed, "Japan’s whaling efforts in recent years haven’t met as much protest or boycott as they’d anticipated."
"Why’s that?" Shen Ying inquired, "Didn’t most countries join that anti-whaling convention?"
Lin Wan shrugged, "Because the main funder behind the most famous environmental group spoke up. The Lighthouse Country hasn’t joined the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, so speculation falls on extreme environmental groups."
"Makes sense," Lu Zheng nodded, "So they’re in for a long investigation. Why, no extreme environmental group claimed responsibility?"
"None," Lin Wan shook her head, "Extreme environmental groups are just that, extreme, not actual terrorist groups, hence no one claiming such explosive whaling activities."
"Understood," Lu Zheng nodded, "In that case, I might as well add more pressure, where are those nine whaling ships now?"
"What, planning to blow them all up?"
"Of course, I went out of my way to save that whale, can’t let it end up on Japanese tables again," Lu Zheng said matter-of-factly.
Comments