"212 years of the alien calendar, March 20."

"All the goods have been loaded, and we will set off on time at 6 o'clock in the afternoon. This voyage is a long way, and I am afraid that I will not be able to dock and rest for a long time. There is still some free time before departure, maybe I will Can go into town and relax…”

…

On the central control display in the command room of the bridge of the Sea Locust,

A thin middle-aged man with a slightly drunk look on his face sat in front of the camera and left a short video.

This is what Meng Lei found in the logbook from the command room of the ghost cargo ship.

Regarding the shipping list of the transport ship, Simon and others searched most of the corners of the cabin, but found nothing.

It may have been eroded by the thalamic fungus, or it may have been buried in the flesh and mycelium that spread all over the ship. With the clean-up work of everyone, it disappeared forever in this world.

In conclusion, the investigation of the shipping manifest was inconclusive and no useful information could be obtained from it.

But none of that matters anymore.

Fortunately, the data black box in the center console of the command room was not damaged too badly.

As soon as Meng Lei got the black box, he immediately returned to the Sea Locust with Gina, and then began to interpret the data content.

The interpretation process went smoothly.

It didn't take long for Meng Lei to get the logbook video of the ghost cargo ship.

However, judging from the number of videos, the captain of the ship did not record much content, and he does not know whether there is any information about the batch of genetically modified equipment.

At about ten o'clock in the evening, Meng Lei made himself a cup of coffee, sat alone in the command room of the bridge, and patiently investigated.

The first video is very simple. It is not difficult to find out from the words of the middle-aged man. This is a record before the submarine sailed.

There is nothing worth scrutinizing about the content,

The only useful information is a specific sailing date.

Judging from the sailing date, it has been a long time since the ship set off, and nearly half a month has passed since now.

It was probably on the way back to Meng Lei and the others after the Rongyan Outpost Incident broke out.

From this it can be seen that

The emergence of this batch of genetically modified equipment has nothing to do with the conflict between the alliance and the separation organization.

However, the relationship cannot be completely ruled out.

It is certainly not easy to get this batch of equipment, so the delivery time is not everything.

Perhaps, this is a long-planned part of the separation organization plan?

After emptying his messy thoughts, Meng Lei patiently clicked on the second video.

"212 Years of the Alien Calendar, March 20, 6 pm."

"The preparations before departure are all over, and the contents of this mission are as follows.

This voyage is mainly responsible for the food support work for the Mond gathering place on the 66548 channel. It departs from the Xenia Food Processing Factory and passes through the 66623 and 66671 channels. The total voyage is 5,400 kilometers. It is expected to take one month.

Goods, 3,500 tons of food resources, and 500 tons of various food raw materials.

A total of 42 crew members participating in the transport mission have been registered at the Sinia Food Processing Outpost.

All the staff are in good condition, without any symptoms of the case, all the test values ​​have reached the standard, there is no hidden danger of navigation, and you can set sail at any time..."

A templated sailing record, spoken in the slightly hoarse accent of a middle-aged man.

It was only less than six hours before and after the content of the first video, the middle-aged man seemed to be more drunk, and his eyes were a little tired, but with a different kind of satisfaction.

At the end, the middle-aged man added another sentence.

"Oh, I love the Xenia Food Processing Station so much, the bar here is like paradise, the girls are so hospitable, and the quality is higher than that of Sill City, which is really unique!"

After this sentence is finished, the video ends here.

Although there is no nutrition, it can be seen that the middle-aged captain is indeed inspired.

Meng Lei directly ignored the last part of the video, with his right hand holding a cigarette, his left hand tapping lightly on the tabletop of the center console, his eyes fell into deep thought.

From what this video provides, there is nothing special about this ghost cargo ship.

Except the total voyage distance is extremely long, more than 5,000 kilometers, which is more exaggerated than the voyage of the sinking of the Ceres, everything is normal.

Among them, there is no mention of the genetic modification equipment.

Meng Lei had no way of judging whether this batch of goods existed when they set sail, or whether they were secretly added somewhere along the way.

"From the food processing station, when the goods are loaded on the ship, there must be many people. If it is smuggled goods that are not visible, in order to avoid being discovered, they should not have existed at the time. From this point of view, this batch of goods is very Maybe halfway on board..."

Meng Lei pondered to himself, and suddenly a sense of powerlessness rose from the bottom of his heart.

If his guess is correct, the source of this shipment is almost impossible to study.

The deep and dark alien ocean is vast and boundless, not to mention that there are no cameras in the channel to monitor along the way, just find a hidden corner far away from the safe channel, and quietly complete the transfer of smuggled goods in the dark. No way to check.

In such an environment, smuggled goods can be transported in an open and fair manner, and the alliance does not have so much manpower and energy to conduct inspections on the way.

As a result, with the death of the insider, any suspected smuggled items will lose clues.

The information about the client will be a secret forever, buried in this endless darkness.

Meng Lei sighed heavily,

After pondering for a long time, he clicked on the third video and continued to watch it patiently.

Although this discovery made him feel very helpless, he still had a glimmer of hope and tried to find some other clues from the next logbook.

Sadly, however.

The logbook on this ghost cargo ship is very limited, and the captain doesn't seem to like to record what happened during the voyage.

All the content is the same, simply explain the sailing location and cargo safety.

Other than that, there is no more information.

In only one video, there was a little more episode than other videos, which caught Meng Lei's attention.

That was the penultimate video of the entire logbook divided by time, and it happened three days ago.

At the time, the ghost cargo ship had not yet entered the cargo channel of Channel 66671 and was still navigating through a tunnel in the rock formations of another channel nearby.

When the thin middle-aged captain was reporting the current coordinates, a crew member who looked like a chief mate suddenly walked in from outside the command room.

When the hatch opened, he didn't know that the captain was making a video recording, so he opened his mouth to report:

"Captain, here they come!"

After saying this, he noticed the scene in the command room.

So he shut up immediately, turned around and walked out.

Just after he left, the middle-aged captain immediately left a concluding remark, and the video content came to an abrupt end.

This sudden episode didn't explain anything, but Meng Lei faintly felt that something was wrong.

"They are coming", who is this "they" referring to?

At that time, the submarine was in a tunnel in a rock formation far from the outpost. Under normal circumstances, it is impossible to encounter other passing ships.

Taking a step back, even if it is a chance encounter along the way, the two ships will pass by when they meet.

When you go to the sky, you can also use the short-distance communication system to say hello politely.

There are more cases of strangers missing, after all, no one knows anyone.

But the feeling revealed in the words of the first mate crew member in the video clearly knew the other party, and even seemed to have a taste of waiting for the other party in it.

This situation is obviously not normal.

"Is it possible that the 'them' the crew member refers to is the client of the batch of genetically modified equipment? The two sides chose to transfer the equipment in a remote sea area far away from the outpost, and then transport it to another place by transport boat?"

Meng Lei frowned slightly, lying on his back on the seat in the command room, staring at the ceiling, and fell into deep thought.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that this possibility was very high, and the facts might be as he guessed.

However, there is currently no evidence to support this fact, and everything can only stay at the stage of speculation.

And, even if he finds evidence, his guess is correct.

But the identity of the consignor of this batch of goods includes the destination to which the goods are to be delivered, and the ultimate purpose of the other party's smuggling of this batch of goods.

everything is still unknown,

The answers to these questions cannot be analyzed from the logbook alone.

"Forget it, all the members of the ghost ship have become vegetative, the clues are completely cut off, and the truth is completely impossible to study. Let's end this matter..."

In the end, after checking the contents of the log several times, Meng Lei had no choice but to give up.

The existence of this batch of smuggled goods is very secret, and it was deliberately hidden by the captain.

Even if there are still people alive on the ship, it is estimated that it is difficult to understand the inside story.

And now, all the more than 40 members of the ghost ship have been parasitized by the thalamus and turned into strange plant life forms.

Under such circumstances, it is easier said than done if you want to investigate and collect evidence?

It is no exaggeration to say that even if you find all the ancient and modern Chinese and foreign plus two-dimensional detectives, you will be helpless in the face of this kind of thing.

What's more, Meng Lei is not a professional in this field.

However, the attentive Meng Lei silently recorded the coordinates of the location of the ghost ship three days ago.

This incident was strange from beginning to end. He planned to report the situation to Chen Yu and Roger after the communication was restored, to see if they could analyze anything from it.

It's better if you can find some useful information about the current situation, and no loss if you can't.

Anyway, this time I bought two expensive genetically modified equipment, and I already made a lot of money.

Even if the value of these two pieces of equipment itself is not mentioned, these two pieces of equipment are of great significance for the future development of the Chongming fleet.

At least it opened a new door for Meng Lei, giving him the opportunity to step into the field of genetic modification and get in touch with this cutting-edge biotechnology in advance.

In particular, he also has a bigger advantage than the league in this regard!

For this alone, the value of these two devices cannot be measured in monetary terms, which is the most critical.

Turn off the video of the logbook and take out the data black box from the console.

Meng Lei looked at the time, it was already more than eleven o'clock in the evening.

At this time, the maintenance personnel of the expedition fleet were still working overtime on the ghost ship, and the combat team was also continuing to clean up.

This E-class transport boat has been severely eroded by the thalamus, and it is not so easy to restore normal operation.

According to the judgment of the two A-level engineers of Byron, judging from the current maintenance progress, it will take at least a dozen hours to completely repair the ship, or at least allow it to go on the road stably.

However, if you simply restore the power system of the ballast tank, let the water pump run normally, and maintain the buoyancy of the submarine, it can be completed in only six hours of work.

Once the water pump in the ballast tank is repaired, the beacon station can be repaired with confidence.

Before going to bed, Meng Lei arranged the shift sequence for night work.

Then he explained to Byron and the others that, after restoring the buoyancy of the submarine, they would give priority to the problem of the beacon station.

The maintenance of the transport boat is not in a hurry. Anyway, the boat can't run here, but the signal can't be restored for a while, and he always feels a little uneasy.

In such a deep-sea environment, losing contact with the outside world is a terrible thing.

It seems to be abandoned by the whole world and turned into a rootless duckweed, and it seems to be exiled in the desolate and lonely deep space of the universe. The endless loneliness and depression can easily lead to mental problems.

After explaining the work arrangement, Meng Lei stopped staying up late.

Back in the captain's room, the exhaustion accumulated from the previous battle against the vegetative burst out, and he didn't even bother to change his clothes. Meng Lei fell on the bed in plain clothes and fell into a deep sleep.

This sleep can be said to be a dark night.

With the injury of the left arm and the dual exhaustion on both the physical and mental levels, the quality of sleep was surprisingly good.

When I woke up, my whole body felt a lot clearer and radiant.

At eight o'clock in the morning, Meng Lei got up and washed briefly, then went to the restaurant to prepare breakfast.

During the period, he inquired about the progress of the work through the headset.

Overnight, the power system of the E-class transport boat has returned to normal under the emergency repairs of everyone.

The reactor and sonar signal transmitter of the beacon station were also repaired one after another under the guidance of two A-level engineers, but there were still loopholes in the outer structure, and water would seep into the site from time to time.

It is estimated that in about an hour or so, it can be completely repaired.

But at least, the signal has been through at this time, and everything has returned to normal, including the navigation system.

Meng Lei was quite satisfied with this result.

After making breakfast, he immediately took the tablet in his hand, ready to report Chen Yu's safety first.

It has been almost a day since the expedition fleet lost contact with her hometown. Mother Chen must have trouble sleeping and eating. She felt extremely anxious and had to say hello first.

However,

The moment the lock screen was opened, Meng Lei was holding Kuaizi's right hand, and his heart skipped a beat.

Seeing the position in the middle of the screen, there are more than 70 unread messages!

Meng Lei suddenly had an ominous feeling that something was wrong.

"It's less than 24 hours, how come there is so much information, is there an accident at home?!"