Chapter 251: 250, Arriving In San Francisco To Win The Bet, Caribbean Pirates’ Treasure
At 5 a.m., the Xuan Ming Seaplane, which had rested for two hours, took off again.
This leg of the journey was also more than 3800 kilometers, arriving in San Francisco after 18 hours.
The final leg of the journey is often the most interesting.
The passengers perked up again, playing cards, sightseeing, chatting, or enjoying free airline food.
The reporter whom Fang Wen had always suspected took the initiative to reveal his identity this time.
He took out his identification and found Wu Yingzong.
“Hello, I am from the National Government’s Party Affairs Investigation Section, ordered to protect your general manager’s safety. Obviously, my presence here was completely unnecessary, and I was targeted by those two. To avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, it’s better for me to explain proactively.”
The two he mentioned were the two military officers from the 19th Army. After the Majuro incident, they shifted their attention to this reporter’s identity, which had been bothering him endlessly.
Wu Yingzong carefully examined the man’s identification, then picked up the wired telephone inside the aircraft to report to Fang Wen.
“Got it. Whether he is or not, keep surveilling him.” Fang Wen gave the order and hung up.
The Party Affairs Investigation Section was established in Republic of China year 16 by Chiang Kai-shek’s sworn brother Chen. In the future, it would be renamed Zhongtong.
Chen was also the secret major shareholder holding 70% of Taishan Airlines Domestic Company shares, so naturally he wouldn’t let a business talent like Fang Wen have an accident during the company’s major development.
So sending a special agent from the Party Affairs Investigation Section to protect him was understandable.
The last suspect cleared, which could be seen as perfectly concluding this flight.
Not quite.
Traversing the Pacific Ocean, yet not receiving any mysterious energy signals like those from the four-faced golden Buddha, amber cross, or Shang Dynasty bronze ware—it was truly a pity.
Fang Wen thought again: the Pacific Ocean is so vast, the airplane only flies a single line, and his ability’s range for receiving mysterious energy is limited, so encountering one would require luck.
Thinking this way, the regret in his heart faded.
Until after flying more than 1000 kilometers, with still more than 2000 kilometers to the West Coast of the United States, the surprise appeared.
The suddenly received mysterious energy made the bored Fang Wen perk up while driving.
Where is it?
In mechanical perception state, he concentrated highly and looked downward.
On the vast blue sea surface, there seemed to be a small black dot.
From the angle of receiving the mysterious energy, Fang Wen felt it was that, but the distance was too far to see clearly.
He controlled the airplane to approach the black dot, and as the distance closed, he finally saw it.
It was a decayed large sailboat; the cables on the mast were still there, but the canvas was gone. The ship hull outside was full of seaweed and barnacles.
That mysterious energy was coming from inside it.
Fang Wen immediately thought of an ocean legend: “Ghost Ship”
Ghost Ship, also known as Nether Ship or ghost ship, refers to ships that mysteriously disappeared or sank at sea many years ago, and when rediscovered years later, were empty of anyone aboard, presenting a mysterious and eerie phenomenon.
The appearance of these ships often comes with mysteries that cannot be explained by science, thus becoming part of maritime legends.
The Xuan Ming Seaplane encountering a ‘Ghost Ship’—the two names were evenly matched.
Fang Wen had no time to explore this ghost ship now; he took out the sextant and recorded the latitude and longitude coordinates.
An ancient sea vessel without sails shouldn’t drift too far. After the airplane landed in San Francisco and the race was completed, he would return along the latitude and longitude coordinates to find it.
Thinking it still wasn’t safe enough, Fang Wen took out the camera, lowered the flight altitude, and snapped a photo of it as he flew past the ghost ship.
After doing this, Fang Wen readjusted to the course and continued flying toward San Francisco.
San Francisco, sun high in the sky.
Many people were waiting at the seaside dock.
Among them were no shortage of local Chinese residents, all wanting to see if the pilot from the East could defeat Pan American Airways’ pilot and claim the feat of the first commercial civil airliner crossing the Pacific.
If it arrived today, the race would be a sure win.
Because according to newspaper reports, Pan American’s airplane had some minor issues in Guam and was waiting for an aircraft mechanic to come repair the engine malfunction.
In other words, as long as the Xuan Ming didn’t have issues, they would win no matter what.
Of course, waiting at the seaport to welcome Fang Wen and the others were also gamblers who bet on the Xuan Ming to win, newspaper reporters, race supervisors, Pan American Airways personnel, and others.
In the waiting, the sun grew harsher, and everyone moved to shady spots.
Some couldn’t stand it anymore and prepared to leave.
Suddenly, a Chinese person spotted a black dot in the sky getting closer.
He shouted loudly: “It’s here, definitely the Xuan Ming.”
Everyone followed his direction and looked over.
The black dot grew larger—it was the Xuan Ming Seaplane.
People cheered, some happy for their hometown’s honor, some delighted at winning their bets.
Under their gaze, the airplane slowly landed on the sea surface, then dropped anchor to moor.
Next, the crew members and passengers on the airplane boarded the dock together by boat.
Reporters who had prepared for a long time surrounded the passengers and crew members, eagerly starting interviews.
Fang Wen became the most popular person, with the most passengers wanting to interview him.
Facing so many reporters and their excited demeanor, Fang Wen was somewhat puzzled.
Lin Shuiwang, who came to welcome him, whispered an explanation: “General Manager, it’s all my fault. To make the bet with Pan American Airways, I told the media about you, originally to boost you and make them take you seriously, but I didn’t expect them to be so interested in your exploits and report them with exaggerations.”
So that’s how it was—no wonder.
Fang Wen didn’t mind having this effect.
In an era without the internet, newspapers were an important channel for people to learn about the world; publicizing himself through newspapers wasn’t a bad thing.
Fang Wen understood the allure of traffic and influence better than anyone in this world.
He calmly accepted this effect and gave public interviews.
The reporters didn’t expect such a cooperative boss and were delighted, asking questions one after another.
“Mr. Fang, what are your thoughts on this trans-Pacific flight?”
“I don’t have too many thoughts; to me, this was just an ordinary flight.”
“From Guangzhou to San Francisco, how long did it take you?”
“The officials haven’t announced yet; my calculation is 91 hours, nearly 4 days.”
“You say it only took 4 days? As far as I know, taking a passenger ship from the United States to Asia takes a month. Does this mean people can choose this more convenient way to cross the Pacific?”
“Yes, but there will also be issues. For example, in this flight, due to the airplane’s rapid movement across time zones, it caused time-shortened jet lag reactions. Many passengers experienced discomfort, and prolonged time inside the airplane also caused claustrophobia symptoms. For this, Taishan Airlines will make adjustments when officially commencing operations.”
After answering a few questions from the reporters, Lin Shuiwang came over: “General Manager, it’s time to announce the race results.”
Then, he walked to the temporary podium set up at the dock.
Under the gaze of the reporters and audience, a lawyer recognized by both sides announced the results.
“According to the telegram from Guangzhou, the Xuan Ming airplane departed at 9 a.m. Eastern Time on November 4, taking 92 hours. After calculating the time difference, the landing time is 11 a.m. San Francisco time on November 7. Meanwhile, Pan American Airways’ China Clipper had an accident in Guam. Pan American Airways has decided to withdraw from the race. Taishan Airlines wins.”
This announcement gave Pan American Airways’ withdrawal some dignity; Fang Wen said nothing and gladly accepted.
Next came the moment to fulfill the bet.
Pan American’s president came over to shake hands with Fang Wen and whispered: “3% of the shares—we can pay in cash, 10% above market stock price.”
Fang Wen nodded and whispered back: “Fine, but I have a request: can I meet your major shareholder?”
The president was surprised and shook his head: “No, that kind of behavior would be a provocation to them. I hope you won’t do that.”
“It’s unrelated to the aviation bet; it involves the interests of an archipelago country and related business plans.” Fang Wen quickly explained. If the Rockefeller and Wellington families were willing to join, with their influence, the Marshall matter would be settled.
Moreover, as long as people of this level entered the game, the breakdown in US-Japan relations would accelerate, which would be great for China.
But obviously, an archipelago country couldn’t pique the interest of the two financial magnates. The Pan American president ultimately didn’t agree to pass on the message.
But he left a contact telephone number for private communication; after all, someone as young and promising as Fang Wen was worth befriending.
After receiving Pan American president’s business card, the two sides’ lawyers and finance personnel completed the share-to-US dollar transfer: 3% of Pan American shares delivered for 700,000 US dollars, equivalent to the cost of 5 Xuan Ming units—worth it.
With the aviation bet ended, Taishan Airlines gave each arriving passenger a return cruise ship ticket, serving as their resolution.
The passengers were also willing to take the cruise ship back, so no disputes arose.
Next, Fang Wen prepared to explore that mysterious ghost ship.
He had Taishan International’s legal director John Harvey and president Lin Shuiwang stay for a discussion.
In the San Francisco hotel, Fang Wen placed several developed photos on the table and said to John Harvey and Lin Shuiwang: “Take a look at the photos.”
The two picked up the photos to view.
Lin Shuiwang spoke first: “This ship is old.”
“It should be a 17th-century galleon,” John Harvey said.
“Where do you think I got these photos from?” Fang Wen asked with a smile.
Lin Shuiwang suddenly had a flash of insight: “No way, General Manager—you encountered a ghost ship and even dared to photograph it.”
John Harvey was also startled: “Ghost ships are very terrifying; I heard those legends as a child.”
“I also think it’s a ghost ship, but I want to find out its origins. You two help me investigate.”
The two accepted the request and went out immediately.
With their current identities and social connections, doing this kind of thing was much simpler.
Ultimately, they found San Francisco State University, where the marine department had deep research on sailboats and 17th-century maritime dominance history.
After resting a day, Fang Wen went to the state university’s marine department accompanied by Lin Shuiwang and John Harvey.
They found a senior sailboat research professor in the marine department; Fang Wen directly placed the photos in front of the professor.
“I want to know about the ship in the photos.”
The professor took the photos, put on his glasses, and examined them carefully.
The more he looked, the more surprised he became.
“This is a 17th-century galleon, but it’s been modified—a technique Caribbean pirates often used to make the ship more stable during boarding combat.”
“Caribbean pirates?”
Fang Wen was surprised. The Caribbean Sea was at the junction of North and South America; in the 17th century, pirates were rampant there. In the future, he had even seen a movie named after it.
But at that time, since the Panama Canal hadn’t been built, for Caribbean pirates to reach the area he discovered—western Atlantic to eastern Pacific—they’d have to sail around South America’s southern tip and northward for tens of thousands of miles.
Fang Wen thought 17th-century pirates couldn’t do it, but the professor firmly identified it as a 17th-century ship.
To prove it, the professor even brought out the history of 17th-century Caribbean pirates.
With the discovery of the New World, European countries vied for colonies and wealth, encouraging private ships to conduct privateering to strike at rivals’ trade.
This policy support provided fertile ground for the rise of Caribbean pirates.
The Caribbean region, with its unique geography and climate, became the ideal hideout and attack target for pirates.
As Caribbean pirates grew out of control, their attack targets diversified—from initial Spanish treasure fleets to trans-Atlantic robberies of Indian Ocean ocean-going fleets and triangular slave trade fleets.
These fleets usually carried large amounts of valuable cargo, becoming the pirates’ main targets. Pirates acquired wealth through sneak attacks and robberies, greatly impacting maritime trade at the time.
After receiving large amounts of treasure, pirates would spend part of their wealth to modify their sailboats for future combat victories.
Their specially modified pirate ships were more aggressive, faster, and once became the nightmare of merchant fleets.
Until European countries realized these pirates affected everyone’s business and sent powerful national fleets to exterminate them.
But these pirates were very cunning; even when killed or captured and hanged, they never revealed their individual treasure hiding spots.
Thus, stories of Caribbean pirate treasures have circulated to this day.
There are many versions: Blackbeard Edward Teach’s treasure, Captain William Kidd’s treasure, Bartholomew Roberts’ treasure, and so on.
In the end, the professor even concluded that this was the legendary pirate treasure ship that was never found, also the mysterious ghost ship.
He sincerely requested: “I know you must have found its real location. Please let me join this exploration. I don’t want any remuneration or reward—just take me aboard.”
Faced with the professor’s fanatical display, Fang Wen pondered.
His demand for that ghost ship was only for the specific mysterious treasure inside; the rest didn’t matter much.
After all, treasures plundered by 17th-century pirates weren’t just gold and silver, but also large amounts of spices, even silk and ceramics.
So the actual value might not be that high.
But from the professor and John Harvey’s reactions, Fang Wen discovered something else.
That was, the legend of Caribbean pirates had deeply rooted itself in the minds of every child in America; even grown up, they remained very interested in Caribbean pirate treasures.
This joy in exploring mysterious treasures existed widely across classes, perhaps useful for something else.
Then, he told the professor to wait for news, returned to his hotel guest room, and called Pan American Airways’ president.
He asked him to pass a message to the major shareholders: Were they interested in exploring Caribbean pirate treasure and the nether ship?
Pan American president initially thought Fang Wen was joking, but after confirmation, he immediately relayed it to the major shareholders.
As Fang Wen expected, the two financial heirs who originally wouldn’t meet him contacted him proactively.
