bioinnovel Chapter 300 Vladivostok!
Chapter 300 Vladivostok!
The sea shark slowed down three kilometers from the coastline.
Zhang Yan glanced at the water temperature data on the holographic screen—eight degrees.
In August, the seawater in the Far East is colder than the wind on your face.
He stopped the mechanical shark at a depth of forty meters, changed into his thermal underwear, and put on a dark-colored windbreaker over it.
The third item on Nie Qingcheng's list is heat-locking fabric, for wearing next to the skin.
He did wear it as she said.
Zhang Yan retrieved the Devouring Shark from the storage space and waded ashore from the shallows.
My boots crunched on the pebble beach, and the sea breeze, carrying a salty, fishy smell, swept over me. The temperature felt like just over ten degrees Celsius.
A dark gray Land Cruiser was parked on the shore, its engine still running.
The car window rolled down, revealing a square face, around forty years old, with rough skin and deep wrinkles around the eyes.
"Mr. Zhang?"
"Was this arranged by Lao Liu?"
"Yes, my name is Zhao Hong. I will fully cooperate with General Manager Nie's instructions."
Zhang Yan opened the passenger door and got in. The car's heater was on full blast, and there was a cup of hot coffee on the dashboard.
Zhao Hong didn't even glance at his wet trouser legs before shifting gears and starting the car.
"Old Liu asked me to tell you that the branch office's safe house is ready and all the supplies have arrived according to your list."
"Have you assessed the situation at the mining area?"
"Touch it." Zhao Hong pulled a brown paper document bag from the armrest box and handed it over.
"The mining area is located in the Sakha Republic, at around 63 degrees north latitude, and is situated in the outer buffer zone of the military restricted area of Party E."
"Nominally an abandoned drilling station, it has actually been the site of small-scale illegal mining activities in the past two years."
Zhang Yan opened the file bag, inside were several satellite images and hand-drawn topographical annotations.
"The latest data obtained by General Nie's intelligence team three days ago," Zhao Hong added. "There are no permanent military facilities within a 50-kilometer radius of the mining area, and the nearest border post is 120 kilometers away."
"Road conditions?"
"It takes about nine hours to drive from Vladivostok to the border by road. After crossing the border, there are no proper roads. It's all permafrost and forest trails. It takes another six to eight hours to drive there."
"Mr. Nie means to arrange a modified off-road vehicle for you, with a raised chassis, a larger fuel tank, and three cans of spare fuel and a set of wilderness survival equipment in the trunk."
Zhang Yan closed the file bag.
"Is the car ready?"
"Stop at the safe house."
The Land Cruiser entered Vladivostok city.
In August, the Far Eastern port city was gloomy and gray. The streets were narrow, and the buildings on both sides had a Soviet style from the last century, with mottled exterior walls and rusty iron railings.
There weren't many pedestrians on the road, and occasionally a few old Lada cars would pass by.
The safe house is located in a three-story building in the port area, and it looks like an ordinary trading company.
Zhao Hong swiped his card to enter the underground parking garage. A black Toyota Land Cruiser was parked in the innermost parking space. The car was at least 15 centimeters taller than the standard version, and the tires had been replaced with wide snow tires.
Zhang Yan walked around the car and patted the reinforced bumper.
"Fuel tank capacity?"
"One hundred and eighty liters, full. Three 20-liter containers in the trunk for backup."
"OK."
Zhao Hong took out his car keys and a satellite phone from his pocket.
"This phone uses a military-grade encrypted frequency band specially approved by General Nie, and it has a signal even in the permafrost zone. Her number is already stored on the first speed dial key."
Zhang Yan took it, turned on the screen, and glanced at it. The first contact in his address book was "her".
Nie Qingcheng's style.
"Is there anything else you need?"
"That's all." Zhang Yan put the keys in his pocket. "I'm leaving now."
Zhao Hong opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something.
"explain."
"Mr. Zhang, General Manager Nie instructed that if you need manpower, the branch office can send six people to go with you."
"Need not."
Zhao Hong nodded and said nothing more.
He walked to the garage door and suddenly turned around.
"Mr. Zhang, President Nie also gave us one more thing to say."
"What?"
She said, "Don't skimp on the compressed biscuits. There's braised beef and tea eggs that I had someone make in the insulated box on the left side of the trunk. Eat those if you get hungry on the road."
Zhang Yan was stunned for a moment.
He walked to the trunk and opened the silver insulated box on the left.
Inside, there were four vacuum-packed boxes of braised beef, two bags of tea eggs, and a jar of honey grapefruit tea, with a sticky note underneath.
The handwriting is very familiar, round and neat.
"The cookies aren't very good, have these for now. I'll make you something better when we get back."
Zhang Yan tore off the sticky note, folded it, and stuffed it into his shirt pocket.
It was placed alongside that list of forty-seven items.
He started the engine, and the garage door slowly rose.
A hazy gray sky appeared in front of the windshield.
My phone vibrated.
Nie Qingcheng: "Have we arrived?"
"We've arrived. Ready to depart."
"Did you see the braised beef?"
"I saw it."
"Is it delicious?"
"I haven't eaten yet."
Why don't you eat one before you leave?
"Let's get going."
There was a two-second silence on the other end.
"Drive carefully."
Zhang Yan placed his phone on the passenger seat and stepped on the gas.
The black Land Cruiser drove out of the garage, merged into the gloomy streets of Vladivostok, and headed north.
In the rearview mirror, Zhao Hong stood at the garage door, watching the car disappear around the street corner.
The highway stretches straight north through the coniferous forest, flanked by endless birch and larch trees.
The further north you drive, the fewer cars there are on the road. By 3 p.m., there were no other cars in sight.
The temperature is dropping.
The external temperature display on the instrument panel dropped from twelve degrees to five degrees.
Zhang Yan tore open a bag of tea eggs, peeled them with one hand, and chewed while keeping an eye on the road.
Salty and savory, flavorful, with a tender and chewy egg yolk.
She had it made.
He took out his satellite phone and pressed the shortcut key.
I answered it after it rang twice.
"have eaten?"
"Tea eggs, delicious."
A soft laugh came from the other end of the phone.
"What about the braised beef?"
"Save it for dinner."
"Alright then." Nie Qingcheng's voice was a little sleepy. "Where are we?"
"After passing the border checkpoint, it will take another five or six hours to reach the outskirts of the mining area."
"Is the road easy to travel?"
"It's alright, better than I expected."
"That's a lie."
Zhang Yan remained silent.
He glanced out the window—the so-called "road" had turned into two tire tracks left by heavy vehicles, riddled with potholes.
Every few seconds, something scrapes the chassis.
I'm not lying to you.
"Every time you say 'it's okay,' it actually means it's not okay."
After chewing the last bite of egg, Zhang Yan threw the eggshell into the trash bag in the passenger seat.
"It's actually not bad."
"...Hurry up and finish your work and come back."
"Know."
The phone hangs up.
Zhang Yan put the satellite phone back in the passenger seat.
As darkness fell, the outlines of the coniferous forest became black silhouettes. The temperature dropped below zero.
He turned on the heater and continued heading north.