ebookland Chapter 1173
Chapter 1173
"So we searched along the direction of the storm and unexpectedly found the island and the mid-air fortress. To our even greater surprise, we also saw the mothership on the secondary island and recognized it as a Chinese naval vessel, which is why we dared to approach it."
Chen Feng suddenly realized: "So that's how it is."
Overwhelmed with emotion, he said with a touch of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a complex emotion encompassing both feelings and reflections): "This boiling point alloy is indeed the key to our ability to establish ourselves on this island."
These are minerals discovered by our team near hydrothermal vents and beneath an oil field. They contain special metallic elements, which our technicians repeatedly tested and purified to create this high-melting-point, high-toughness alloy.
Lin Wei was very surprised: "Is that so! It's not only difficult, but also requires a lot of luck!"
"Yes!" Captain Chen nodded with emotion.
However, he made no mention of the minerals in the hydrothermal vents, which were all brought back by Zhou Shuwan's family.
Although he greatly admired Captain Qin and was very happy to welcome one of his own people.
However, since it concerns Zhou Shuwan's special abilities, we must be extremely careful!
Qin Yue's gaze lingered on Chen Feng's military uniform shoulder insignia for a moment, then he suddenly remembered something and frowned slightly: "Little Chen, I remember that the captain of the South China Sea Fleet back then was Comrade Shang Jingming, right?"
"Old Shang and I were cadets at military academy, but he was a few years behind me, so he was my junior."
When he took over as captain of the South China Sea Fleet, I was still working in the ocean-going fleet, and I sent him a congratulatory telegram.
The last time I received a message from him was at the beginning of the apocalypse; he said he was leading a fleet on patrol in the South China Sea. How come you're the captain now?
Captain Chen's smile froze instantly, his eyes darkened, and his voice was filled with uncontrollable grief: "Captain Qin, Captain Shang... he has already sacrificed himself."
"What?" Qin Yue was shocked, but also felt that it made sense.
Captain Chen then told him about Captain Shang's passing.
Captain Qin looked sorrowful, but this was because he had also experienced too many departures over the years.
So her emotions didn't fluctuate much, and she calmly said, "He's a few years younger than me. I thought I was going to see an old classmate again, but I didn't expect..."
As a senior who was a few years older than Shang Jingming, Qin Yue had always admired his junior brother's composure and decisiveness.
Before the apocalypse, although the two were stationed in different sea areas and had few opportunities to meet, they always kept in touch and often exchanged fleet management and combat experience.
Hearing of the passing of his old friend, he felt a mix of emotions, including grief at losing a dear friend and a sense of the impermanence of the world.
"I've been clinging to life for so long, only to watch my junior brother, who was younger than me, pass away first." Qin Yue sighed heavily, his tone still tinged with desolation. "The apocalypse, ah, it's truly an endless calamity."
Captain Chen remained silent and did not speak.
He knew that any words of comfort would seem pale and powerless in the face of the grief of death.
Captain Shang was his former leader and role model, and his passing remains a deep sorrow for everyone in the fleet.
After calming down for a while, Qin Yue managed to suppress the sadness in his heart: "Xiao Chen, these past years haven't been easy for you either, have they?"
"Yes," Captain Chen nodded, his tone heavy. "After Captain Shang's sacrifice, the fleet was leaderless and faced multiple crises, almost being wiped out several times. We've managed to hold on until now thanks to the soldiers' faith and luck."
"We weren't much better off." Qin Yue's voice was a little hoarse: "When we received the evacuation order, we were on a mission in the Atlantic Ocean, rushing to the northern Indian Ocean day and night. But we never expected that the apocalypse would break out when the evacuation mission was only half completed."
"The chaos over there was far beyond our imagination. In the early days of the apocalypse, the order of various countries collapsed, and in order to compete for limited survival resources, the fleets and armed forces of many countries acted recklessly at sea. When we were returning with thousands of overseas Chinese, we were intercepted and attacked by other countries' fleets many times, and fierce gun battles broke out between the two sides."