Chapter 218 - Unforeseen Circumstances

The captain of the Neptune Trader apparently had a spender for a wife. Since she was left to take care of the children on her own, her husband showered her with money. It was his way of making up for his absence. Although the captain had a generous salary, because of his lifestyle and that of his family, he remained to be a mere employee, having never diversified his income. 

Alfred reached out to a business partner in France. One of his shareholders was in the car dealership industry and this was how he came up with the initial plan. His business associate willingly helped due to their long partnership with the Davies Group of Companies. 

The ship was on its way to once again stay afloat in the English Channel when the captain received an urgent call from his wife. "Darling you won't believe what just happened! I need you to come home right away. Just for a day. It is all that we need. Darling, please. Please."

It confused the captain. His wife was not alarmed nor worried. Instead, she was more excited. He had longed informed her to call only in cases of emergency. The ship's owner was very particular about receiving personal calls. 

"What happened?" He asked. "And why are you calling me when I told you to call only on emergency cases -"

"Daring, you just won a Mercedes-Benz Maybach Exelero! You won a car worth 8.5 Million Dollars! Ahh!"  

His wife was practically screaming from excitement, unable to control herself. The captain, however, remained puzzled. He immediately reconfirmed the news, " What? Are you sure? Maybe that is just a hoax!"

"No! Definitely not! Darling, I already went to the showroom and met with the store manager. He said you simply need to sign a few papers then they can have the car ready for us within the week! Darling, you just need to come here for a day. That's all!"

"Can't that wait till my scheduled vacation?"

"No, darling! No! They said the offer is only available within three days and if you don't come, they will pick another random name to award the car. Darling, please. I've always wanted a Mercedes-Benz Maybach."

While the captain and his wife were arguing about the prized car, Li Wen was at her computer room, pleased after having identified which satellite serviced the captain's phone. Chances are, all employees, or at least those who were provided with satellite phones would have the same service provider. 

It took the captain a little more convincing before getting affected by his wife's plea. He thought, what was a day of docking the ship? An 8.5 Million Dollar car was a rare opportunity to come by. He figured he would collude with the chief engineer and declare an engine problem. 

The ship's owner and his boss, Bertrand Duval, just left on another boat the other day and it was the perfect time to make an unplanned stop. His boss could not check on the engine himself. 

As they waited for the captain to change the ship's course, Li Wen had identified more individuals on the vessel that had satellite phones including scientists, doctors, and high-ranking officers. She began to create more trouble for ship's employees that would force the ship to stay longer.

Lu Fang, Hanxi, Han-joon and Yeong arrived in France a day after they learned about the Neptune Trader. Alfred remained in the UK as his role included taking over the Duval's shipping company. He would soon follow after identifying the individuals who he can buy the shares from. As necessary, he was willing to take it from them by force. 

The Neptune Trader finally arrived at the docks of Normandy, which was a province next to Paris. The captain was a Parisian and so was his family. He only needed to drive two hours from Normandy to get to his destination, sign the documents for the car and would return to the ship, spending only less than six hours in total. 

An hour after the captain got off the vessel, the chief mate, who was second in command, took off after receiving a call that his wife had met an accident. Then, shortly after, their chief security officer also had to leave due to an emergency. That day, the ship had too many unforeseen circumstances. 

Since the shipping company was based in France, most of its high-ranking officials were from the same country and Li Wen took advantage of that. 

Li Wen was taking longer than predicted to hack into the ship's network. It was expected that the ship had an exceptional firewall. Thus, to expedite their plans, they first needed to plant two men onboard - Hanxi, and Han-joon. Only after Hanxi can connect Li Wen directly to the boat's network can she have full access to their data and cameras. 

"This is the stupidest idea amongst the stupid ideas in the world, Hanxi," Han-joon was complaining as they walked towards the Neptune Trader.

"Oh, yeah? What plans do you have that is so much better? Climb on the boat? We are coming in on broad daylight, Han-joon. The moment we step on that ship with our assassin attire, guns would aim at us in no time!" 

"This like more of Andrea's idea," said Han-joon as he shook his head while trying to fix his skinny jeans.

They were dressed as women, headed towards the ship. Since both men were toned, they could not wear skirts. The best way for them to pretend like girls was to wear fitted clothes, a jacket to hid their biceps and high heels.  They were long-hair wigs and had put on make-up. 

"Mister!" Called Hanxi in his modulated female voice. He waved at armed men guarding the deck. "Yohoo! Sir, you are so handsome. Would anyone of you want to have a piece of me?"

Hanxi was wearing fake breasts. As he called out to them, he cupped his boobs and winked at the men, smiling. As a former actor, he was a natural at it. With his handsome face, he looked beautiful as a girl. 

Most of the guards ignored them, but there was one in particular who was responsive. Hanxi immediately shifted his attention to the said man and pulled Han-joon over. He gave him a flying kiss and said, "Hey mister, how would you like to have a threesome?"

Han-joon nearly coughed out blood, but he had to play along. Otherwise, it will take them much longer to get into the boat.