Chapter 307

Chapter 307: South China Sea Tyrant Soup

“Wait a minute, we need to check!” A duty soldier from the Marine Corps rushed over to the all-steel staircase, scanning Xiaotao with a scanner. After confirming there were no issues, he waved his hand, saying, “Position 021. Remember, you can only stand outside the yellow line—no stepping over.”

Reflective signs at the elevator and staircase entrances clearly read, “Hangar Restricted Area, Unauthorized Personnel Prohibited.”

Under normal circumstances, only the maintenance crew, aviation crew, and on-duty Marines were allowed access to the hangar. Even the weapon crew was only permitted to bring their weapons to the elevator or up to the flight deck for attachment.

The lower level of the hangar was designated for the weapon crew and equipment group, while the combat departments occupied the top three levels of the deck. After all, an aircraft carrier is a large combat weapon, and all departments served the members of those three decks.

“Yes, yes, yes!” The cafeteria worker Xiaotao saluted and followed the brightly painted walking path marked in yellow through the hangar.

“Hmm? What’s the matter?” Lin Mo paused his operation in the aviation tactical helmet, saying “pause” aloud. Since it was in test mode, all operations immediately halted.

“You, you are Officer Lin!” Seeing the head of a J-15 "Dark Sabre" poking out from the cockpit of Aircraft 021, the cook Xiaotao was startled. Whether it was a terminator or a star soldier, the advanced equipment and technology deployed on the Shilang aircraft carrier training ship felt a bit too much like science fiction.

With blue glowing eyes locked on him, chills ran down Xiaotao’s back.

“It’s me. What? By the way, how did the fish turn out?”

Even though he was stopped, the tiger shark Lin Mo caught was substantial. It couldn’t be handled as easily as the squid caught days earlier, which could just be cleaned and tossed on the deck to dry. Only the cafeteria staff had the right space and plenty of tools for that work.

“Yes, there were quite a few things inside the fish. The head chef said you should have a look when you have time.”

“Something inside?”

“Right, that fish will eat anything. It’s not picky at all. We often find strange things in its belly.”

Sharks are known as the least picky predators in the ocean; they’ll consume anything that fits into their stomachs, regardless of digestibility. It’s common to find bottles, digital cameras, watches, rings, and even gold bars in their stomachs.

“Oh! Looks like this guy has some goods in there? And good ones too.”

Lin Mo stroked his chin. If it weren’t something special, the cafeteria wouldn’t have sent someone to tell him. There was an 80% chance there was something valuable inside.

He nodded and said, “Alright, keep them for me. I’ll drop by before dinner.”

“Sure!” Task completed, Xiaotao did not linger; the pressure from Officer Lin was too great, and the Marine Corps members were watching him closely, so he quickly turned to leave.

“What kind of fish is it? Why does it eat so recklessly?” Qiu Zhengjun, an engineer onboard with Shen Fei, fiddled with various data cables attached to the "Dark Sabre," glancing at a data display screen while pulling buttons.

“It’s nothing. I spent two days on the Jing Ke and caught a tiger shark this morning—about two meters long.”

Qiu paused, his expression turning one of surprise. “Really? Those things eat people! How did you catch that?”

“With nylon rope and a special steel hook. The Shilang has those fishing tools, and there are even spearguns on board. The cafeteria is adding shark fin soup for lunch, so let’s get back to work.” Lin Mo grinned, then switched to a serious tone, saying, “Pause active!”

The screen before him resumed action immediately.

The testing continued for over two hours, and just as lunch break began for the third round, Lin Mo and the engineers from the maintenance crew completed their tests.

Thanks to Lin Mo, they made rapid progress, completing nearly a day’s worth of work. Lin Mo was eager to learn about all the latest news regarding fighter jets.

The cafeteria on the Shilang aircraft carrier was located on the fifth deck, perfectly positioned in the middle of the carrier. It occupied nearly an entire deck with storage rooms, a dining area, and a kitchen.

Due to the large number of crew members on the carrier, the cafeteria, with a nearly 60-member staff, ran almost around the clock to meet dining needs. Besides late-night snacks, they arranged three seating times for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for each department throughout the day.

For lunch alone, there were three shifts from 11 AM to 12 PM, 12 PM to 1 PM, and 1 PM to 2 PM.

The main dishes included rice, noodles, and rice cakes, with around fourteen to fifteen different side dishes available buffet-style. There were also some special dishes requiring a card swipe for extra charges, like cake, pizza, or grilled steak—these needed to be made fresh.

If one avoided the special dishes, they could easily fill up without spending a dime.

Balancing a large tray overflowing with food, Lin Mo, like everyone else, queued up to receive today’s especially popular shark fin soup, freshly prepared by the chef, dubbed “South China Sea Tyrant Soup.”

Not only did they put shark meat into the soup, but they also added a lot of other seafood. The kitchen put in quite a bit of effort to make this ordinarily simple, free soup special.

The thick, milky-white broth simmered with various delicious main ingredients, exuding rich and fragrant aromas. With a sprinkle of chopped green onions and cilantro, it was incredibly tempting.

For this lunch, Lin Mo contributed half of the shark he caught, throwing everything he could into the pot.

As soon as each person received their bowl of the delicious “South China Sea Tyrant Soup,” the sound of slurping filled the cafeteria, along with calls for “another bowl, please!”

Unfortunately, with five thousand people on the ship, the nearly eight hundred pounds of tiger shark was insufficient. After removing the internal organs and waste, there wasn’t even a few grams of meat per person; it could only be used for soup, and that meant just one bowl per person.

The cafeteria worker in charge of serving soup could only apologetically point to a small board with white chalk writing that read, “One bowl per person, no extra servings.”

For those wanting more to wet their throats, sorry, but only the boiled cabbage soup was available for self-serving.

Carrying his tray, Lin Mo went straight into the cafeteria and saw Xiaotao, who had previously come to relay a message, wearing a pair of large white latex gloves and leaning over a sink, hurriedly washing vegetables. To ensure long-term sustainment, the supply ship brought food, including some semi-processed or fully processed items for extended storage, as well as fresh fruits and vegetables that could last.

The sink was filled with Napa cabbage, and nearby were cabbage heads and potatoes—all good supplements. Unlike America, which had military bases everywhere, the South China Sea relied solely on the local base on Hainan Island for supplies.

“Officer Lin! You’re here!”

Seeing Lin Mo enter with his tray, Xiaotao quickly waved her hand.

“Hmm, I came to check on things.” Lin Mo replied while rapidly eating.

“Okay, follow me!”

Xiaotao led Lin Mo in a few twists and turns to what seemed to be a meat processing room. The walls were lined with thawing fresh meat—slices of pork and beef. A stainless steel table held several large cutting boards and an array of shiny cleavers, bone saws, and knives.

Ignoring the strong smell of blood and various fishy odors, Lin Mo calmly held his tray and continued eating while watching Xiaotao dig through things.

From a drawer, Xiaotao pulled out a large fabric bag filled with beef tendons and dumped it onto the stainless steel table, causing a large pile to spill out.

“This is what we found inside the shark’s belly,” Lin Mo said, his eyes widening as he pointed at the mountain of jumbled items spread out on the table.

The items had obviously been rinsed in clean water and looked relatively clean, allowing them to be identified.

“Yep, it’s all here. Don’t worry; no one took anything!” Xiaotao used a steel rod to poke through the pile, showing it to Lin Mo. She was clearly used to it, describing the shark’s stomach as having a chance of being a random treasure chest, filled with either disgusting trash or valuable treasures.

Whoa!

There were two complete condoms, and one was clearly labeled Durex, but the other was unidentifiable, probably consumed by this indiscriminate eater a while ago.

Three beer bottles were found, with the big one likely being champagne—the label had already been digested away.

There were over ten beads, possibly from a bracelet or other adornment, made of materials like agate, with a few being quite lightweight.

One diamond ring stood out as likely the most valuable item since the metal band still shone brightly, with no scratches—definitely not platinum, but a very hard metal. The possibility of it being crystal or glass was very low, and it was quite sizable.

A few damaged books were there, with one appearing to be an English version of the Bible.

Several plastic boxes were found.

There was a radio, an MP3 player, and even an iPod—what a find! Plus, there was a metal spoon.

And surprisingly, there was an egg-shaped rock, about the size of a soccer ball, shimmering with a bluish hue. A mineral rock?

Could this shark also be a variant of the gold giant dragon that gnawed on metal?

Lin Mo found himself speechless.

His watch on the left wrist began vibrating intensely, and he heard a desperate voice in his mind: “Morin, Morin, I don’t want anything else; I just want that piece of meteorite! Hahaha! If you get me that meteorite, I promise you anything!”

Lin Mo never expected that, without realizing it, the metal-sensitive gold giant dragon would recognize the treasure—a piece of meteorite—though it looked surprisingly light for meteorite material.

“Promise anything? Can you agree to be my mount?” Lin Mo’s face turned extremely strange at that moment.