360: Chapter 358: Take Down the Nisshin Maru 360: Chapter 358: Take Down the Nisshin Maru After a long period of large-scale commercial whaling, whale species around the world are now endangered.
Therefore, in 1986 an international convention was passed banning whaling.
After the convention came into effect, the vast majority of countries ceased their commercial whaling activities.
Currently, the main countries that still engage in large-scale whaling are two, one is Norway, the other is Japan.
Norway has always openly opposed the ban on whaling and indeed continues to carry out commercial whaling.
As for Japan, it has continued its style of acting like a whore while setting up a chastity archway.
Japan declared an end to commercial whaling, and then the Japanese chose to continue extensive whaling under the guise of scientific research.
The amount of whaling Japan’s research institutes need reaches at least a thousand whales per year, and at times, it can surpass three thousand.
Subsequently, the whales caught would directly appear as meat on the Japanese dining table for “research.”
After most countries ceased commercial whaling, the less competitive Japanese whaling ships could hunt even more whales.
Yet, under the pretense of scientific research, Japan sends critically endangered species like humpback whales, blue whales, and gray whales to the dining table.
Compared with the Japanese, the Norwegians’ whaling activities are rather cute, because they are true scoundrels, openly admitting their commercial whaling without hypocrisy, and at the maximum scale only around six to seven hundred whales, far fewer than Japan, which claims ‘research’ only and not commercial.
In the skill of seriously confusing right and wrong, no one in the world can compare with the Japanese; they manage to bury their faces in their crotches and then make you unable to differentiate between their faces and their asses.
After that, the Japanese can put on a spirited performance as a peculiar species without a face, making it impossible for you to slap them.
Therefore, the Japanese are a very special species that simply cannot be classified as human.
In this case, calling the Japanese hypocrites would be an insult to the true meaning of the word hypocrite.
When it comes to the technical handling of shamelessness, the Japanese are more clever than the Koreans.
The Koreans have thick skin; you can beat them up, and they won’t feel pain.
As for the Japanese, they have no shame to begin with, without a face, where can you hit?
This is called ‘winning without a move,’ and indeed, the Japanese have outdone the Koreans.
Protests are useless; national-level denunciations cannot harm Japan even slightly.
So, Japan’s ‘research’ whaling continues to flourish, while methods like Greenpeace’s peaceful protests are simply farting in the wind to the Japanese; hence, a more radical environmental group was established: the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
The actions of the Sea Shepherd have seen some success.
They entangle the propellers of whaling ships with ropes, throw butter stink bombs onto the whaling ships, and even ram the vessels to stop Japanese whaling operations.
The so-called butter stink bombs involve bottling rancid butter and throwing it onto the deck, where it releases an unbearable stench that prevents the crew from working on deck.
The Sea Shepherd is a non-profit organization.
After a dispute over Greenpeace’s ‘witnessing’ stance towards the killing of whales, Paul Watson, one of the early members of Greenpeace, founded the Sea Shepherd in 1977.
Greenpeace adhered to avoiding destruction or physical hindrance of whaling ships at sea; in contrast, the Sea Shepherd directly engages in actions that include damage and other physical obstructions to whaling operations.
The Sea Shepherd has had some success in the protection of whales; at least they have saved the lives of many whales from the hands of the Japanese.
However, compared with the mild approach of Greenpeace’s protests, the practices of the Sea Shepherd have sparked considerable controversy.
The Sea Shepherd’s funding comes from donations, and its personnel are volunteers willing to partake in conservation actions; Yelena is one of these volunteers.
Before meeting with Uriyangko, Gao Yang took the opportunity to learn about the Sea Shepherd.
Of course, his primary focus was on those few Japanese whaling ships.
The whaling fleet operates in a mother ship-one large, three small arrangement.
The mother ship is the 8,000-ton-class whale processing vessel, Nisshin Maru, while the three smaller ships are equipped with whaling cannons, Whale Finders, direction finders, and Whale Trackers.
Though smaller in tonnage, they are fast and have good maneuverability.
The smaller vessels lack refrigeration and processing equipment; after catching whales, they transfer the whales to the Nisshin Maru for processing.
Gao Yang’s main target, and minimum requirement, is to take down the Nisshin Maru.
There is a seasonal limit for whaling in the South Pacific, typically around three months, from mid-November to the end of January.
Although the Nisshin Maru hasn’t stopped whaling and remains in the South Pacific, Gao Yang was worried that after the recent incident, the Japanese whaling fleet might end their whaling operation ahead of schedule.
So, if Gao Yang wanted his revenge to be fresh, he had to act quickly.
Gao Yang called Yelena’s cell phone many times, but she did not have a satellite phone, so he couldn’t get through.
He also called Catherine many times, but the result was the same—no connection.
Gao Yang had been hoping that Yelena would initiate a call to him, or that someone else would, just to let him know some news, but not a single call came through.
Any news about Yelena could only come from the television, yet now there was no latest development on TV either.
There wouldn’t be any new news until the Bob Barker docked.
To save time, Gao Yang took the fastest way to meet Uriyangko in Al Mukalla, Yemen, and then the two took a flight to Djibouti, the only place with flights to Cape Town, South Africa.
Gao Yang tried dialing the number again to no avail.
He had no idea how to get in touch with the Bob Barker, so before any new information came in, Gao Yang could only try to reach out to Yelena or Catherine herself.
The plane to Cape Town, South Africa, was about to take off, and watching Gao Yang holding the phone in silent contemplation, Uriyangko—who already knew what had happened and what Gao Yang intended to do—looked around and finally couldn’t help but say, “Gao, are you really not going to think it over again?”
Gao Yang shook his head and said, “There’s nothing to consider.”
After tugging at his hair vigorously, Uriyangko said with a pained expression, “I’ve never tried to turn a big customer away but as a friend, Gao, I must advise you that what you’re doing will not do you any good.
Think about the consequences this will bring, let alone…”
“Thank you for being willing to give up a big deal despite your greed; I am touched, thank you.
But I’ve really made up my mind, no need to persuade me anymore.”
Uriyangko said with an anguished face, “Gao, you’re insane, utterly insane.
Think about what you dare to do, God, you’re going to make the whole world jump, you’ll get no benefit other than venting your anger.”
Gao Yang said earnestly, “Being able to vent this anger is the biggest benefit to me.
The most important thing to me is the person I love and to make the person I love and myself happy.
Now that my girlfriend has been hurt, I am extremely angry.
I’m not one for the saying that a gentleman’s revenge can wait ten years; vengeance must be taken immediately.
Whoever hits me, I must hit back immediately.
Whoever hurts the person I love, I want their life.
So, I must send the Nisshin Maru to the bottom of the sea and as soon as possible.”
Uriyangko shook his head helplessly and said, “You’re not one to hide your heart’s turmoil, but you look calm even in extreme anger.
Okay, a person with such an expression can’t be persuaded.
As a friend, I will try to speak on your behalf in front of Grand Ivan.
Gao, tell me, have you already considered the bastards on the whaling ship as dead men?”
Gao Yang smiled slightly and said, “If I don’t manage to take revenge this time, although it would be very disappointing, it doesn’t matter.
I’m at odds with those people, and if it doesn’t work once, I’ll try twice, if not twice, then ten times, and if not ten times, a hundred times.
In the end, I will send the Nisshin Maru and its crew to the bottom of the sea.
If they dare not go out to sea, then I will go to Japan.”
After speaking with Uriyangko, it was time to board the plane.
Gao Yang tried the phone one last time before boarding, but the result was still disappointing.
The flight took off at night, and most passengers had fallen into slumber.
Gao Yang and Uriyangko kept silent, and after several hours of flight, they arrived at Cape Town Airport.
Upon leaving the Cape Town Airport, it was dawn.
Gao Yang followed Uri in an inconspicuous sedan, and the car passed through the urban area of Cape Town, eventually stopping at a large estate in the suburbs.
The estate seemed unremarkable, but only after entering the estate could one see the many armed guards.
After confiscating any electronic devices and undergoing three thorough searches to ensure there were no bugging devices on Gao Yang, it was seven in the morning.
Then, Gao Yang and Uri were led by a black maid into a large living room.
A middle-aged man in his fifties was sitting on the sofa.
Upon seeing Gao Yang and the others enter, the man on the sofa stood up and stretched out his hand with a smile, “Welcome, I know of you, Ram.
You’ve been quite the talk, and I’ve heard your name many times from Uri.
You’re a good customer of Uri, and of course, of mine too.
You can call me Grand Ivan like the others do, and feel at home here.
I just hope the search didn’t offend you, you know, too many people want to take me in, I just have to be a little careful.”
Gao Yang shook hands with Grand Ivan and smiled, “I understand your situation, and I’m very grateful that you agreed to see me.”
Grand Ivan shrugged and said, “Although I haven’t been seeing visitors for a long time, Uri is my best regional manager, and you’re his friend, his good customer, so it’s completely appropriate to make an exception for you.
Please sit, I know you’re in a hurry, so let’s get right to discussing what you need.” (To be continued.
If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to vote for it on Qidian.com.
Your support is my greatest motivation.
Mobile readers, please go to m.qidian.com to read.)