The Fisherman Who Never Catches Fish-Chapter 290 - 186: Forty Tons of Gold! (Please Subscribe)

"The Apowan was an ocean liner built in the 1940s, 154.9 meters long, 20.2 meters wide, 12.6 meters deep, with a gross tonnage of 11,249.4 tons."

"It was later commandeered to evacuate people from Southeast Asia, but then, it was discovered by the Queen Fish Submarine and hit with several torpedoes, sinking the liner in less than three minutes."

"Apart from one crew member who was rescued, the more than two thousand passengers, including forty tons of gold, twelve tons of platinum, about forty boxes of jewelry and cultural relics, three thousand tons of tin ingots, three thousand tons of rubber, and several thousand tons of rice, all sank to the bottom of the sea."

"Since the 1970s, we began the salvage operation, but until today, those forty tons of gold, twelve tons of platinum, and about forty boxes of jewelry and cultural relics have vanished without a trace, as if they disappeared, becoming an enigma to this day."

This was also the past understanding of the Apowan by many.

Later generations had various speculations about the Apowan.

One theory was that there was a self-destruct mechanism on board the ship, and upon realizing they were under attack, they would activate the self-destruct switch, and then the gold would be blown up and scattered around the nearby sea.

If so, the difficulty of the salvage operation would increase dramatically.

Another speculation suggested that not one ship but at least two were involved; the one carrying the gold was the real Apowan, while the one carrying the people was just an ordinary liner, disguised as the Apowan. They purposefully leaked information during the voyage to attract attention.

Once everyone’s attention was diverted by the fake Apowan, the real Apowan would take advantage of the night and slip away.

In that case, the salvaged vessel people thought was the Apowan was actually the decoy,

which is why there was no gold onboard.

And at the time, the lone surviving sailor said nothing, keeping his lips sealed about the incident ever since.

It remained a mystery.

No one knew the truth.

However, it is said that the torpedoes from that era didn’t carry a large charge, and they didn’t hit the Apowan’s vital areas. Moreover, although the Apowan was nominally a merchant vessel, it was actually built to military standards and was quite strong. Even if hit by a torpedo, it would not have sunk so rapidly, in less than three minutes.

Before this incident, the ship had been attacked multiple times and was reputed to be unsinkable.

The most puzzling part was that, after being hit, the attackers sent a rescue signal, but the people on board declined, as if to protect "some secrets" on this extraordinary ship.

Until now...

Another Apowan has been discovered.

The mysteries of the past are gradually becoming clear.

Perhaps the likelihood of the second theory is quite high.

That is, there were not just one Apowan, but two – one in the public eye, the other hidden.

One garnered everyone’s attention, the other escaped quietly.

Perhaps the Apowan that was sunk had been deliberately fed misinformation.

To protect the other one loaded with gold.

But...

Things did not go as smoothly as expected.

Their actions incurred widespread fury, and the real Apowan also sank, never returning to its homeland.

Maybe it was just fate.

At this moment, the discovery of this sunken vessel.

The real Apowan has finally surfaced once again.

Capturing everyone’s attention.

Many people flooded into Fang Hao’s live broadcast room after hearing about the Apowan, all curious about the fate of this sunken ship.

They feared that this too might just be another Shadow Ship.

Even though the name Apowan was emblazoned on the ship, people couldn’t help but worry, their hearts in suspense.

Captain Zhou, too, had to suppress his excitement until the ship’s identity was confirmed; he simply couldn’t get ahead of himself.

It was crucial to get clarity.

A mistake could not be afforded.

"Enter the sunken ship to investigate."

Captain Zhou sent two deep divers down to inspect the sunken vessel.

Currently, all that was known for sure was that this sunken vessel was named Apowan, but whether it contained anything was yet to be discerned.

What if inside was just an empty ship?

That would be a premature celebration.

Likewise, this was the concern of many.

Everyone held their breath, all eyes were on the situation, all wanting to know if this indeed was the ship carrying forty tons of gold.

Once the details were confirmed, Captain Zhou would report the situation upwards.

The news was far too important.

After all, the salvage of the Apowan had been a costly endeavor, both in resources and time.

The two deep divers approached the massive sunken liner slowly, equipped with instruments.

Because the liner was so large, they couldn’t rush the dive.

Safety had to be a priority, as locating the gold on such a vast ship was no small feat.

After searching for more than half an hour, the divers below were reaching their limits and had to opt for return; Captain Zhou then arranged for fresh personnel to descend, taking over from them.